DOW_UAP_PR103 - Triangle that seems to "Open Up"

[flarkey]

This one is weird.

https://www.war.gov/UFO/?releaseDat...103-Unresolved-UAP-Report-East-China-Sea-2024

The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 1 minute and 16 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024.

Video Description:

00:01-01:16: The sensor pans to track an area of contrast, keeping it generally within the center of the frame.

00:12-01:16: An auto-tracking reticle surrounds the area of contrast. The sensor tracks the area of contrast, keeping it generally within the center of the frame.

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1014099/dow-uap-pr103-unresolved-uap-report-east-china-sea-2024

It seems to be pyramid shaped, just drifting along (could be a balloon I suppose) but at the 0m37s point it appears to open up like a flower for 5 seconds, and then close again.

Trimmed and zoomed video:

 

[John J.]

This one is weird. ...at the 0m37s point it appears to open up like a flower ...

Maybe a focus change?

 

[RobertBillyBob]

Maybe a focus change?

It happens around the time when the objects stop moving from left to right in the frame and just before the drone start banking the other way. I think a change in the angle of reflected light is more likely.

 

[Ann K]

To me it (being roughly triangular) looks like it was always three objects. If it changes when they appear to be changing position somewhat, that looks like three birds (possibly four or more, as there seems to be a fourth one at their farthest spread), changing position relative to each other.

 

[RobertBillyBob]

Could this video not be IR but TV mode (visible light)?

I've been trying find the FOV by matching the corners* to frames in PR091 and the only match I get is the narrow field of view (0.47°x0.63°) in TV mode.

*corners position on the OSD varies with FOV and IR/TV mode

 

[John J.]

Could this video not be IR but TV mode (visible light)?

The DoW/ AARO say it's IR,

The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 1 minute and 16 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024.

https://www.war.gov/UFO/release/04/#DOW-UAP-PR103-Unresolved-UAP-Report-East-China-Sea-2024

 

[RobertBillyBob]

The DoW/ AARO say it's IR,

The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 1 minute and 16 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024.

https://www.war.gov/UFO/release/04/#DOW-UAP-PR103-Unresolved-UAP-Report-East-China-Sea-2024

They say it's from an IR sensor, not that it's an IR video.
The MTS-B could technically be called an IR sensor but it can also film in visible light.

PR091 description says :

this video, whose uploader-defined title is, "21 AUG 2020 [CALLSIGN] Observes UAP in Persian Gulf," is likely derived from an infrared sensor

but it's clearly switching between IR and TV during the video

 

[John J.]

They say it's from an IR sensor, not that it's an IR video. ...PR091 description says

...is likely derived from an infrared sensor

:but it's clearly switching between IR and TV during the video

Do we know that the DOW-UAP-PR097 footage switches between IR and visible spectrum? It looks like it could all be IR to me, but I won't pretend to be an expert, and the AARO DOW-UAP-PR097 description does say "likely derived from an infrared sensor", i.e. not certainly I guess.
The description gives reasons why the appearance of the footage changes, but doesn't mention changes in spectrum

00:37-01:37: The sensor cycles through several contrast and zoom levels while tracking the area of contrast.
... ...
02:11-03:06: The sensor changes contrast settings several times, causing the screen to flash black and white. The sensor continues to track the areas of contrast.

DOW-UAP-PR097, "Hi-Res: [CALLSIGN] Observes UAP on 25SEP19 at 2135Z", DVIDS website https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1007728/dow-uap-pr097-hi-res-callsign-observes-uap-25sep19-2135z

The DOW-UAP-PR103 description from AARO says it is

...1 minute and 16 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform...

https://www.war.gov/UFO/release/04/#DOW-UAP-PR103-Unresolved-UAP-Report-East-China-Sea-2024
...but without a "likely" or other qualifier.

I'm open to AARO making a mistake, but I feel it would be misleading to say footage was taken by an IR sensor, without further explanation, if it is known or suspected to be visible spectrum footage. It changes how the imagery might be interpreted.
The Raytheon MTS series can also generate fused visible/ IR images, which complicates things.

 

[Fritzkquzerk]

I'm not getting it.
An "IR sensor" that makes a video is an IR camera.
No?