Case File · Department of War · AARO Disclosure Era (2022-present) Declassified September 18, 2026 · PURSUE Release 06

Unresolved UAP Report, Yellow Sea, 2023 — Department of War Video (DOW-UAP-PR150)

UFO Photographic / Video Evidence

The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 57 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023.

2023
Yellow Sea
A still frame from the declassified sensor video, Unresolved UAP Report, Yellow Sea, released by the Department of War.
A still frame from the declassified sensor video, Unresolved UAP Report, Yellow Sea, released by the Department of War. · Source: declassified document

Incident Overview

In 2023, in the Yellow Sea, the Department of War preserved a sensor video that was declassified and published on September 18, 2026 as part of the sixth tranche of the Department of War’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The released copy carries redactions.

What the government released

The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 57 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023.

Video Description: 00:00-00:05: No content. 00:06-00:07: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of view from the bottom edge. 00:08-00:51: A rectangular digital overlay, or “focus box,” appears near the center of the frame. This display element is a graphical component of the sensor system and does indicate a physical change in the environment. The sensor pans to track the area of contrast. 00:52-00:57: The collection platform geometry occludes the sensor, blurring the display and blocking the right side of the screen.

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.

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.

Sources