On November 23, 2020 at 11:13 UTC, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance platform passively tracked an unidentified object over the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border near Asmar, Afghanistan at coordinates 35°02.91'N, 71°17.86'E. The object was captured on thermographic FLIR sensors and officially catalogued within Intelligence Community investigations as "disc" shaped.
The FLIR footage shows a large circular object moving through cloud cover before making an abrupt right-angle turn from its original course. The object appeared to use clouds for concealment, and its passage produced visible atmospheric disturbance. Critically, no heat plume or thermal propulsion signature was detected, despite the FLIR sensor's ability to pick up such signatures from conventional aircraft at significant distances.
This case is historically notable as the first time military-filmed footage of a disc-shaped UAP officially designated by the Department of Defense has been captured and released to the public. The DoD formally designated the object as an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP), a classification that remains in effect.
The footage was obtained and publicly released by investigative journalists Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp on their WEAPONIZED podcast in June 2025, accompanied by the official documentation describing the object's characteristics and the circumstances of its capture.
According to documentation obtained by Corbell and Knapp, the Department of Defense case files describe a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance platform tracking the object, which official notes characterize as "navigating through the clouds." The documentation reportedly describes the UAP as using cloud cover for concealment and notes that its passage appeared to disturb the surrounding atmosphere.
DoD analysts documented the following characteristics in the case file:
- Shape: Circular / disc-like
- Maneuver: Sudden right-angle deviation from original course
- Propulsion: No detectable heat plume or exhaust signature
- Environment: Visible atmospheric disturbance surrounding the craft
The case was designated as UAP by the Department of Defense and remains active within Intelligence Community investigations. The object's origin, intent, and capabilities are still unknown. AARO has been made aware of the case, and its classification and investigation status remain active.
Corbell stated publicly that the documentation indicates this was not a sensor artifact or equipment malfunction. The official designation of the object as a "disc" by the Intelligence Community represents one of the few documented instances of the U.S. government formally describing an unidentified object in specific geometric terms in its official case records.
The Department of Defense maintains its designation of this object as an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon. The case remains open and unresolved, with no conventional explanation issued that accounts for the disc-shaped geometry, abrupt right-angle turn, lack of thermal propulsion, or observed atmospheric disturbance.
The release of this footage and its documentation marks a significant milestone in public UAP disclosure. Disc-shaped objects have long been the classic image of UFOs in popular culture, but military FLIR footage of a disc officially designated as UAP by the Department of Defense had never before been released. This case bridges the gap between anecdotal "flying saucer" reports and authenticated military sensor data.
The lack of a thermal propulsion signature is one of the most significant aspects of this case. FLIR sensors are built to detect heat from aircraft engines and exhaust. An object capable of powered flight, sudden direction changes, and cloud penetration without any detectable heat signature performs in a way no known manned or unmanned aircraft in the U.S. or allied inventories can match.
- Q.01What is the true size of the disc-shaped object captured in the FLIR footage? The footage contains depth-of-field cues that may allow independent analysts to determine range and approximate size. Preliminary discussions have suggested the object could potentially be in the range of 200-400 feet in circumference, but no authoritative size estimate has been established.
- Q.02What propulsion system enables an object to maneuver at right angles through cloud cover without producing any detectable thermal signature? The absence of heat plume or exhaust is the central unresolved technical question of this case and has no publicly known conventional aerospace explanation.
- Q.03Why was this specific case designated as UAP by the Department of Defense but not included on the public list of AARO cases? The case was officially designated as UAP yet remained outside the publicly acknowledged AARO caseload until its release by journalists, raising questions about the completeness and transparency of official UAP tracking mechanisms.
- Q.04What additional sensor data was collected during the tracking of this object beyond the released FLIR footage? The reconnaissance platform that captured this footage likely carried multiple sensor systems. Radar, electronic intelligence, and other onboard sensors may have recorded additional data about the object's performance characteristics that remain classified.
- Q.05Does this case correlate with other documented disc-shaped UAP encounters in the same region or time period? The Afghanistan-Pakistan border region has been the site of multiple UAP encounters documented by military personnel. Whether this object is connected to a broader pattern of unidentified activity in the region remains an open analytical question.
