A study of six unidentified objects in a military infrared recording has grown into a wider examination of released UAP footage. An October 16 update to the preprint led by Jacob Haqq-Misra reports bird-like brightness rhythms in 19 additional objects across nine more videos, bringing the total to 25 candidates in ten recordings.
The expansion is the new development. Dark Fires previously covered the team’s analysis of the six-object video, DOW-UAP-PR135. The latest version adds measurements from other recordings rather than simply restating that earlier result.
Looking for a wingbeat signature
In his account of the expanded work, co-author Avi Loeb explains the underlying clue: a bird’s infrared brightness can vary as its moving wings change the area and orientation presented to a camera. That periodic signal can be examined without first knowing the object’s distance.
Loeb says the ten videos represent roughly eight percent of sensor videos released through the first six PURSUE batches. He highlights PR097, with several candidates appearing at different points, and PR141, whose infrared and visible-light views show similar variability.
A testable interpretation, not a blanket resolution
The updated paper gives brightness frequencies of 2.3 to 11 cycles per second for the additional objects. Its authors report checks against background signals and video encoding effects. They also acknowledge that a tumbling object could produce periodic changes and that the recordings lack range measurements needed to determine physical sizes and speeds.
The manuscript is listed as submitted to Scientific Reports. Its appearance on arXiv should not be confused with completed journal peer review or an official resolution of every case.
For readers, the useful advance is an expanded set of measurements that others can challenge. The eight-percent figure describes this released collection under this particular test; it should not be treated as a measured bird fraction for all UAP reports. Stronger case conclusions will require the underlying sensor and aircraft information alongside the pixels.
Reporting checked October 20, 2026 (UTC). Catch-up coverage of the October 16 research update.
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