PURSUE Record · Release 02

DOW-UAP-PR071

Agency: Department of War · Type: Video · Date: Feb 12, 2023 · Location: Lake Huron (NORTHCOM) · Status: Unresolved

Official U.S. Government footage (DOW-UAP-PR071), served from DVIDS. If the player does not load, watch it on dvidshub.net.

Official description

Sensor footage of a USAF Air National Guard F-16C engaging and shooting down a UAP over Lake Huron on February 12, 2023. AARO assesses the 46-second video is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in the NORTHCOM area of responsibility. The file remains in the unresolved category: recovered debris did not lead to definitive identification as a man-made craft.

Curator's note

The archive's strongest file. Everything around the mystery is documented — a real date (February 12, 2023), a real airframe, an engagement acknowledged at the time as part of NORAD's first live air-defense actions over the continent, and recovered debris. What keeps it open is one carefully worded sentence: the debris did not lead to a definitive identification of the object as a conventional, man-made craft. Resist over-reading that — recovery over winter water is hard and inconclusive forensics are common — but note equally that the most scrutinized air event in NORAD history is still filed as unresolved three years later. The 46-second infrared clip is short and narrow, as real sensor footage always is; it shows the track and the engagement, not the whole story. Read it alongside the recovery question, not instead of it.

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The record above is an official U.S. Government work served from war.gov/UFO. Curation and notes are independent. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the United States Government.