Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman, September 8, 2021 — Department of War Video (DOW-UAP-PR122)
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 26 seconds of video footage. This footage is a secondary capture, recorded via a cellular device, of an infrared sensor display aboard a…
Incident Overview
On September 8, 2021, in the Gulf of Oman, the Department of War preserved a sensor video that was declassified and published on August 7, 2026 as part of the fifth tranche of the Department of War’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE).
What the government released
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 26 seconds of video footage. This footage is a secondary capture, recorded via a cellular device, of an infrared sensor display aboard a U.S. Special Operations Forces AC-130J Gunship. This footage does not represent native primary sensor data, and the secondary recording method introduces limitations in fidelity, resolution, and overall visual quality. Artifacts inherent to filming a screen, such as blurring or flickering, may be present. The footage contained within DOW-UAP-PR117 through DOW-UAP-PR122 was captured contemporaneously. An accompanying Intelligence Information Report, DOW-UAP-D101, describes the phenomena as “cold orbs” approximately four feet in diameter.
Video description:
00:00-00:05: An area of contrast remains generally within the center of the sensor field-of-view. Visual elements of the sensor display enter and exit the frame throughout the duration of the video.
00:06-00:07: A relatively larger area of contrast transits from the bottom of the frame to the top of the sensor’s field-of-view, then re-enters from the top left to the bottom left of the frame. The relatively smaller area of contrast exits the bottom of the frame, and re-enters from the upper-right quarter of the frame.
00:08-00:26: The sensor adjusts, and an area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the top of the frame, and remains generally within the center of the frame.
AARO Comment: This video footage significantly overlaps in content with DOW-UAP-PR121.
This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
Related records
This footage does not stand alone. The Department of War released it alongside Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman (DOW-UAP-PR117), Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman (DOW-UAP-PR118), Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman (DOW-UAP-PR119), Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman (DOW-UAP-PR120), Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman (DOW-UAP-PR121), and Intelligence Information Report, Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman, the Intelligence Information Report describing the aircrew’s observation, so the narrative account and the sensor record can be read together.
Status of the case
Records released under the PURSUE program are designated unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which means the federal government has not concluded the events were anomalous, has not concluded they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility. Where AARO has offered a likely source for an item — an infrared sensor aboard a military aircraft, a commercial camera, or a known optical effect — that attribution is the agency’s working assessment rather than a final determination. Conventional candidates such as drones, balloons, flares, satellites, parallax and forced-perspective artifacts, and ordinary aircraft remain on the table for any unresolved case absent better data than a single sensor pass or a witness recollection.