// OPEN INTELLIGENCE — PUBLIC ARCHIVEPHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD · PLATES GRADED AT SOURCE
FRFRFR
DISPUTEDCRAFT

The Desert Track

2020 · Middle East (CENTCOM)

◈ PUBLIC DOMAIN · FREE TO DISPLAY

WHAT IT IS

A bright object is tracked across mottled terrain for nearly five minutes; zoomed in, it becomes an irregular glowing shape.

THE CASE FOR

A long continuous track, with the operator reacquiring the object after losing it.

THE CASE AGAINST

No report accompanies it. It comes from a set AARO found on a classified network and says lacks a substantiated chain of custody.

WHERE IT STANDS

Disputed. Serious questions remain about how it was made or what it shows, and neither side has settled them.

STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 4 OCT 2026

THE RECORD

DATE
2020
PLACE
Middle East (CENTCOM)
RECORDED BY
DOW-UAP-PR059 · released by the Department of War via AARO
TECHNICAL
Infrared sensor, US military platform · 1 June 2020 · DOW-UAP-PR059 · 4 min 51 s · PURSUE Release 2, 22 May 2026

MORE FROM VOL. I · THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The Desert Track, 2020 · Fractured Realities