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DOW-UAP-PR053, "Cigar Shaped or Fast Sherical UAP clip 15 OCT 22"

This Release 02 item is an official Department of War video row from the 5/22/26 WAR.GOV/PURSUE manifest: release row 112, kind VID, DVIDS video ID 1007709. The manifest title is DOW UAP PR053, "Cigar Shaped or Fast Sherical UAP clip 15 OCT 22"; the manifest lists the incident d…

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DOW-UAP-PR053, "Cigar Shaped or Fast Sherical UAP clip 15 OCT 22"

Investigation reading

This Release 02 item is an official Department of War video row from the 5/22/26 WAR.GOV/PURSUE manifest: release row 112, kind VID, DVIDS video ID 1007709. The manifest title is DOW-UAP-PR053, "Cigar Shaped or Fast Sherical UAP clip 15 OCT 22"; the manifest lists the incident date as 2022 and the incident location as CENTCOM.

The DVIDS page for the same asset resolves to the matching PR053 title and exposes a direct official MP4 under filename DOD_111719723. DVIDS lists date taken 10.15.2022, date posted 05.22.2026 07:30, category B-Roll, VIRIN 221001-D-D0360-8038, length 00:00:21, and location (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION). The date-taken field aligns with the title's 15 OCT 22 wording, but it is still source metadata rather than independent confirmation of event timing.

AARO's published description says this video is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Central Command area of responsibility in October 2022. It also says a user uploaded the video to a classified network in June 2024, that many responsive materials lack a substantiated chain of custody, and that this media was digitally altered before upload and is presented as received. Those custody limits are central: this page treats the released MP4 as a source artifact for review, not as proof of object identity, speed, anomalous behavior, or origin.

What the released item appears to contain

The released MP4 is a 21.9-second monochrome, infrared-like sensor-display clip over a built-up scene. The official description divides the video into three segments: 00:01-00:04, where an area of contrast transits the sensor field of view from left to right; 00:06-00:14, where the video replays at a slower speed; and 00:15-00:21, where it replays again at an even slower speed.

Sampled-frame review supports cautious visual language only. The frames show an overhead or oblique sensor view with dark rectangular roof/building-like areas, lighter paved/open areas, vehicle-like rectangular shapes, a central reticle/crosshair, an N orientation marker, small green display markers, black mask/display-boundary areas, and a small dark elongated contrast feature that is visible in some sampled frames against a lighter background. The background scene remains largely stable across the samples, consistent with a stabilized sensor view and/or replayed presentation segments.

Time windowSource-described contentSource-review note
00:01-00:04An area of contrast transits the sensor field of view from left to right.Sampled frames show a small dark elongated contrast mark appearing against lighter ground in a built-up sensor scene. Still samples alone do not establish object identity, range, speed, altitude, or physical size.
00:06-00:14The video replays at a slower speed.Sampled frames retain the same built-up scene and overlays, with the small contrast mark visible in selected samples. This supports the source's replay description, not an independent motion analysis.
00:15-00:21The video replays again at an even slower speed.Later samples show the same sensor-view context with the contrast mark again visible in selected frames. The feature is subtle and not continuously resolved in every sampled still.

Derived contact sheets from the downloaded official MP4 are included for page-level visual context. They are sampled source frames only; the center-crop sheet is a crop/resizing aid for review, not an enhancement that changes the underlying evidence.

Sampled full frames across the official PR053 MP4

Sampled center-crop frames across the official PR053 MP4

Source asset review

The individual official media file was downloaded from the direct DVIDS/CloudFront MP4 URL exposed on the DVIDS page, not from the full 5.3 GB Release 02 video ZIP. The HTTP source response returned status 200, Accept-Ranges: bytes, Content-Type: binary/octet-stream, Content-Length: 2,770,399, Last-Modified: Fri, 22 May 2026 11:45:48 GMT, and ETag "336f31003ca444cb61dbf113aa08994e".

Downloaded source-media facts:

FieldValue
Direct MP4 byte size2,770,399 bytes
Direct MP4 SHA-2567bb8a3cc62cbe19948db606702b2c227263b860db4466e3b45fce7c619baf818
ContainerQuickTime / MP4 / M4V-compatible (mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2)
Video streamH.264, 1920×1080, 30 fps, 657 frames, about 21.90 seconds
Audio streamAAC stereo, 48,000 Hz, about 21.85 seconds
Audio signal checkThe full decoded AAC stereo stream measured RMS 0.0 and max absolute sample 0.0; the public MP4 audio is effectively silent.

The Release 02 video ZIP central-directory inventory also lists video_2605_DOD_111719723_DOD_111719723.mp4, CRC32 3b99fa8b, size 2,765,075 bytes. That ZIP-entry size is close to, but not byte-identical with, the direct DVIDS MP4 size above; the direct MP4 is 5,324 bytes larger. Treat the direct MP4 and ZIP entry as related official distribution paths that still deserve exact byte-level reconciliation before any final custody claim.

The MP4 duration of about 21.90 seconds is consistent with DVIDS length 00:00:21 and the official description's rounded 00:00:21 duration. The public asset remains a compressed, edited/digitally altered presentation video; it is not a raw sensor export with telemetry.

Source custody and provenance

Primary provenance is the official WAR.GOV/PURSUE Release 02 manifest and the official DVIDS video page. The row is redacted, and the official description states that many responsive materials lack a substantiated chain of custody. It also states that this particular media was digitally altered prior to upload to a classified network and is presented as received.

Important custody points:

  • WAR.GOV/PURSUE Release 02 manifest: release date 5/22/26, row 112, Department of War, kind VID, DVIDS ID 1007709, incident date 2022, incident location CENTCOM.
  • DVIDS page: title DOW-UAP-PR053, "Cigar Shaped or Fast Sherical UAP clip 15 OCT 22", filename DOD_111719723, VIRIN 221001-D-D0360-8038, date taken 10.15.2022, date posted 05.22.2026 07:30, length 00:00:21, location (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION).
  • Direct official MP4: 2,770,399 bytes, SHA-256 7bb8a3cc62cbe19948db606702b2c227263b860db4466e3b45fce7c619baf818.
  • Release 02 video ZIP inventory entry: video_2605_DOD_111719723_DOD_111719723.mp4, CRC32 3b99fa8b, size 2,765,075 bytes.
  • The DVIDS/manifest title uses Sherical, while the official description text quotes the uploader-defined title as Spherical. That spelling tension should be preserved as source metadata rather than silently corrected.
  • The phrases Cigar Shaped, Fast Spherical, and UAP are source labels. They should not be converted into findings about shape, speed, or anomalous origin without sensor context and source-chain corroboration.

Graph context

The current graph check found no exact Release 02 graph node for this slug, title, or DVIDS ID. That absence is not a blocker for the wiki page: this investigation draft is grounded in the official manifest, DVIDS page, and downloaded MP4 review.

Any future graph entries for PR053 should preserve the source distinction between the manifest row, the DVIDS page, the direct MP4, the Release 02 ZIP entry, the official descriptive claims, and the Open Sky source-review notes. Title-related or dataset-wide graph records, if added later, should be treated as leads unless they are tied to this exact DVIDS ID or source-media hash.

Leads to check

  • Reconcile the direct DVIDS MP4 byte size/hash against the Release 02 video ZIP entry size/CRC without downloading the full release ZIP unnecessarily.
  • Seek an unaltered source export, if one exists, because the released source says the media was digitally altered before upload.
  • Clarify whether the DVIDS date taken 10.15.2022 is the exact event date, a source-file label date, or a DVIDS publication metadata field derived from the uploader-defined title.
  • Obtain or model sensor context: platform, field of view, look angle, stabilization state, replay/edit timing, range, and whether black masks, reticle marks, and green markers are display overlays, redactions, or targeting annotations.
  • If a precise event time/location becomes available, run ordinary-source correlation: aircraft/drone activity, ground vehicles, sensor/display artifacts, weather, satellites/reentry, and local operational context.
  • Preserve the Sherical/Spherical title spelling discrepancy as a provenance-cleanup lead.

Limits

This page does not assert that the video shows an anomalous object. The public MP4 is a compressed presentation video with replays, digital alteration, display overlays, silent audio, no public telemetry, no exact public event time, no precise public location, no platform geometry, no range, and no substantiated public chain of custody.

The small contrast mark visible in selected sampled frames may represent a physical object, a sensor/display artifact, compression artifact, shadow/thermal contrast, replay/edit artifact, ground-scene feature, or some combination of those possibilities. Still-frame contact sheets are useful for source review, but they do not replace frame-by-frame motion analysis against validated sensor metadata.

Sources