Six bright targets in military infrared video PR135 may be birds rather than unusually fast craft, according to a new preprint by Jacob Haqq-Misra and five co-authors. Submitted October 6 and revised October 7, the paper measures brightness cycles of 7.1 to 7.9 hertz, with each target varying independently. The authors compare those cycles with wingbeat-like fluctuations in Galileo Project recordings of flying animals.
The analysis challenges the mission report's estimated ground-projected speed of 480 mph. Aircraft motion and uncertain target range can create apparent speed through parallax. Artificial constant-brightness targets inserted into the footage did not reproduce the measured flicker, the authors report. Their comparison animal recordings showed frequencies between 3.4 and 10 hertz, encompassing the PR135 measurements.
The footage concerns a 2025 Middle East observation released in September, not a new October encounter. The paper is submitted to Scientific Reports, not a completed peer-reviewed finding or an official resolution. Redacted platform data and uncertain range remain important limitations; the crew's altitude estimate is a challenge for the bird hypothesis. Further sensor data could test or refute it.