A newly released video offers a rare glimpse of the US military operation to locate and rescue an Air Force officer who spent nearly two days injured and hiding in mountainous terrain after his F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran.
The video, marked “UNCLASSIFIED” and dated April 5, 2026, shows aerial surveillance imagery of the rugged Iranian landscape during the operation. The footage accompanies the account of the rescue reported by CBS News.
Watch the footage of the rescue operation
The thermal imagery shows a barren, mountainous landscape as US forces searched for the stranded airman. The footage gives a visual sense of the difficult terrain in which the officer was hiding after ejecting from his damaged aircraft.
