Official · Video · Department of War
Aircraft Sensor Captures a Dot Moving in the Opposite Direction
A report described a small, fast-moving dot that appeared briefly in a video.
Released to the public July 10, 20262 min readALIENS editorial
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A report described a small, fast-moving dot that appeared briefly in a video.
Video from a sensor aboard a civilian aircraft shows a small dot moving quickly. When the sensor changes its display, the dot slips off the left side of the screen.
A small area near the center of the screen. When the sensor changes its display, the area moves off the left side.
No. The report does not identify it or explain what caused it to appear and move.
A small dot appeared on a sensor display aboard a civilian aircraft flying in the eastern United States. Filmed in 2019, the 20-second video shows a thermal image.
The report described a dot moving in a straight line at high speed in the opposite direction. An experienced observer said its movement differed from anything he had seen during his service. But what exactly does the video show, and what does “the opposite direction” mean? Those details make the brief clip especially strange.
The US Navy filed a report on the phenomenon. It described the dot as small and moving in the opposite direction, but did not say relative to what. The observer described flight characteristics he had never seen during 28 years of service in the Air Force and the US Navy.
At the start of the video, a small area near the center of the screen looks different from its surroundings. The sensor displays heat, making temperature differences across the image visible. The video offers no details that identify the dot, but viewers can follow its movement as the display changes.
A few seconds later, the sensor changes its zoom and how it displays the image. The screen flashes white, then comes back on. During the change, the dot moves off the left edge of the area visible to the sensor.
The sensor later changes its settings again, and the screen flashes once more. This time, no image appears. The video ends without the dot returning to view.
The dot’s identity is unknown, and the report does not explain what caused it to appear or move. The phrase “opposite direction” also does not clarify what the direction was measured against; the record offers no answer.
The dot left the image on the left. Beyond the edge of the frame, the video offers no clue about what was there.