Six objects reported at 480 mph in a declassified military infrared video show brightness flicker at bird wingbeat rates

Abstract

In September 2026 the U.S. Department of War released an infrared video recorded from a military aircraft over the Middle East, with a mission report describing six small spherical objects moving at an estimated 480 miles per hour. We measure the brightness of each object in every frame. All six brighten and dim steadily at 7.1-7.9 times per second, each at its own rate and out of step with the others. Tests with planted constant-brightness objects show that neither compression nor the sensor produces this flicker. The same analysis, applied to the Galileo Project's ground-based infrared cameras near Las Vegas, finds flying animals beating steadily at 3.4-10.0 times per second, within the range of bird wingbeats. A nearly stationary object at 60-80% of the aircraft's height would produce the reported ground-projected speed of 480 miles per hour. The six objects are best explained as a small flock of birds flying nearer to the aircraft than the crew assumed. More broadly, this work shows that even heavily redacted videos of unidentified anomalous phenomena can be analyzed using reproducible, quantitative methods to test specific hypotheses. Releasing the redacted sensor and platform data would provide information that could refute these hypotheses.