DOW-UAP-PR071, "USAF ANG F-16C (callsign [CALLSIGN]) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with [Weapon System], 12 Feb 2023"

Investigation reading

This Release 02 item is an official Department of War / AARO video record from manifest row 131, published in the 5/22/26 WAR.GOV/PURSUE release and mirrored through DVIDS video ID 1007784. The uploader-defined title says USAF ANG F-16C (callsign [CALLSIGN]) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with [Weapon System], 12 Feb 2023. That is source/catalog wording. It should not be converted by itself into a finding about the platform, weapon, object identity, location precision, or event validity.

The official description says eight U.S. House members requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related records allegedly held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community. AARO identified responsive materials held on a classified network and warns that many of these materials lack a substantiated chain of custody. For this row, AARO assesses that the video is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Northern Command area of responsibility in 2023, and says a user uploaded it to a classified network in February 2023.

The manifest lists incident date as 2023 and incident location as NORTHCOM. The DVIDS page lists date taken 02.12.2023, date posted 05.22.2026 07:31, category B-Roll, filename DOD_111720731, VIRIN 230212-D-D0360-2776, location (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION), and length 00:00:46. The title's Lake Huron wording, the DVIDS undisclosed-location field, and the manifest's NORTHCOM field should be reconciled before any more precise geography is asserted.

The released source description identifies two key moments: at the 11-second mark, the sensor focuses on an area of contrast in the center of its field of view; at the 20-second mark, the footage appears to depict a kinetic interaction between two distinct areas of contrast, with the initial subject fragmenting in a radial displacement pattern that suggests a high-energy event. The same description explicitly says it is informational only and should not be read as an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the event's validity, nature, or significance.

What the released item appears to contain

The downloaded direct MP4 begins with dark frames and a thin green line along the bottom edge, then shifts into a grayscale / infrared-looking sensor-display or processed-video view. The visible display includes a central reticle, a small white tracking gate in some frames, and large black rectangular masks or overlays along the top and sides. Those display elements are treated here as presentation, redaction, tracking, or sensor-display features unless original records prove otherwise.

In sampled frames from roughly 18 to 20 seconds, a compact dark spot appears near the central reticle and inside or near the tracking gate. Around 20.0–20.25 seconds, that spot appears to shift toward the upper-right edge of the gate and becomes less distinct. By about 20.5 seconds, a larger dark high-contrast region enters the crop from the right, with visible banding or image artifacts, and the original compact spot is no longer clearly identifiable. Subsequent frames show scattered dark flecks, streaks, or mottled regions near and around the reticle before the view returns to a mostly pale-gray field.

This sequence is broadly consistent with the source description's 00:20 interaction language, but the public MP4 does not support a standalone conclusion about object identity, range, speed, weapon type, impact mechanism, debris, smoke, explosion, or anomalous performance. The contact sheets below are derived review aids from the downloaded public MP4, not independent evidence.

Source asset review

The individual official DVIDS/CloudFront MP4 was downloaded and inspected directly; the full Release 02 video ZIP was not used as a substitute. The direct media response returned 200, content-type: binary/octet-stream, accept-ranges: bytes, content-length: 4882300, last-modified: Fri, 22 May 2026 11:31:09 GMT, and ETag "faca85f95e0032d5a1d7fd4c8b5cae4c". A byte-range probe returned 206 with content-range: bytes 0-0/4882300.

The Release 02 remote video-ZIP central directory lists video_2605_DOD_111720731_DOD_111720731.mp4 as 4,876,916 bytes with CRC32 21367684, stored uncompressed. That does not match the downloaded direct DVIDS MP4 size or CRC32. Until the ZIP entry is byte-compared against the direct DVIDS object, this should be treated as a source-custody/versioning lead, not as a substantive finding about the imagery.

Source custody and provenance

Primary public provenance for this page is the official WAR.GOV/PURSUE Release 02 landing page, the Release 02 manifest row, and the DVIDS page for video 1007784. The DVIDS page resolves to https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1007784/dow-uap-pr071-usaf-ang-f-16c-callsign-callsign-shoots-down-uap-over-lake-huron-with-weapon-system-12-feb, with title DOW-UAP-PR071, "USAF ANG F-16C (callsign [CALLSIGN]) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with [Weapon System], 12 Feb 2023", category B-Roll, date taken 02.12.2023, date posted 05.22.2026 07:31, location (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION), filename DOD_111720731, VIRIN 230212-D-D0360-2776, and listed length 00:00:46.

The custody story is intentionally bounded. The public release says many responsive materials lack a substantiated chain of custody. The title names a USAF Air National Guard F-16C, Lake Huron, and a redacted weapon system; the body description more generally says AARO assesses the video is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating in the United States Northern Command area of responsibility in 2023. This page preserves those source claims without converting them into findings about the platform, sensor, weapon, target, or shootdown mechanics.

Graph context

No exact Release 02 graph record was returned for this slug, title, or DVIDS ID during this run's read-only graph context check. That is not a source-access problem; it means this page is currently anchored to official manifest/DVIDS provenance while graph ingest for Release 02 catches up. Future title-related or dataset-wide graph hits should be treated as leads until their provenance links resolve back to this exact official asset.

Leads to check

• Reconcile the title's Lake Huron and USAF ANG F-16C wording with the manifest's NORTHCOM location, the DVIDS (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) field, and any original NORAD/NORTHCOM or AARO custody records before asserting precise geography or platform details.
• Byte-compare the direct DVIDS MP4 against the Release 02 video-ZIP entry because the direct-file size/CRC32 and ZIP central-directory size/CRC32 do not match.
• Review the 18–22 second window frame by frame at original resolution, separating the reticle/tracking gate and black masks from scene content before interpreting the apparent dark spot, high-contrast region, and scattered flecks or streaks.
• Seek original sensor/custody metadata if available: platform, sensor model, field of view, line of sight, range, altitude, timestamp continuity, weapon system, track files, and any radar or aircrew records.
• Run prosaic and context checks before escalation: balloon/debris recovery records, airspace restrictions, intercept timeline, known aircraft and weapon employment records, sensor/display artifacts, compression effects, plume/smoke ambiguity, clouds or terrain background, and platform-motion artifacts.

Limits

This is a compressed, redacted public MP4 with no released platform telemetry, radar track, original sensor file, range, altitude, azimuth, field of view, weapon metadata, impact assessment, or independent corroborating sensor record on this page. Persistent masks/overlays, low scene detail, silent audio, a direct-vs-ZIP size/CRC mismatch, and the release's chain-of-custody warning all limit interpretation. The contact sheets are useful for source review, but they are not a substitute for full-motion sensor analysis. This page is a source-review draft and not a finding.

Sources

• WAR.GOV/PURSUE Release 02 landing page: https://www.war.gov/UFO/
• DVIDS video page: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1007784
• DVIDS direct media asset: https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/video/2605/DOD_111720731/DOD_111720731.mp4
• Release 02 document bundle: https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/052226/release_02/release_02_document_bundle.zip
• Release 02 video bundle: https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/uap052226.zip
• Official Release 02 manifest row 131, DOW-UAP-PR071, "USAF ANG F-16C (callsign [CALLSIGN]) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with [Weapon System], 12 Feb 2023", release date 5/22/26, agency Department of War, kind VID.