CENTCOM UAP Report, Middle East (2025) – “White Round Orb” – PURSUE Files

CENTCOM reported this UAP to AARO with an accompanying mission report. A Mission Report (MISREP) is the standard form U.S. forces use to record what happened on a mission; its free-text “GENTEXT” section is where crews describe anything unusual, and it is a common way UAP reports reach the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). The operator said the object “look[ed] like a white round orb… moving as fast as 500 miles per hour.”^[1]

The video

DOW-UAP-PR133, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2025 — official upload on DVIDS (public domain).

Over 4 minutes 58 seconds the sensor tracks a single area of contrast, zooming in and out, losing it off the edge of the frame several times and reacquiring it. An auto-tracking reticle briefly engages at about 2:29 but does not lock on. By about 3:23 the object appears much smaller in the frame.^[1]

Analysis

Possible explanations. A round, featureless “orb” in infrared is the single most common UAP type in AARO’s files, and the majority of resolved ones have turned out to be balloons (including party balloons and weather balloons) or small drones.^[2] The failed auto-track lock is typical of a small, low-contrast target. Because the platform is moving and the range is unknown, the apparent 500 mph could largely be the aircraft’s own motion.

About the speeds. A single infrared or camera sensor cannot measure distance by itself. Speed estimates like these usually come from how fast the object crosses the screen combined with a guess about its range and size. If the object is closer and smaller than assumed, it is also much slower; this parallax effect is why AARO has resolved many similar “fast” objects as balloons, birds or small drones.^[2] AARO’s own description warns that the operator’s wording “reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time.”^[1]

Data note. The official file title says 2025 while the video description says the footage was taken in 2024.^[1]

New or previously released? New.

Released files

See also

• AARO
• AARO Historical Record Report
• INDOPACOM UAP videos, 2023
• PURSUE Release 06 overview
• PURSUE

References

1. ^ U.S. Department of War (2026). PURSUE Release 06 files and official descriptions. war.gov/ufo.
2. ^ All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, Consolidated Annual Reports on UAP (2023–2025), discussion of resolved cases (balloons, birds, UAS) and sensor/parallax effects.