YouTuber says aircraft audio can locate recordings within 100 meters

YouTuber Colsto has demonstrated a technique that can estimate where a video or audio recording was made to within 100 meters, using aircraft sounds, flight data and Doppler effect measurements.

The method focuses on aircraft audio that may be inaudible to listeners but still present in a recording. Colsto says those sound traces can be matched with publicly available flight data. Comparing Doppler measurements from multiple aircraft can then help narrow down the recording location. The technique was demonstrated using US flight data.

Colsto describes the analysis in a video, including how aircraft data was used, how the measurements were filtered and what corrections were applied. He has not published software or other tools to carry it out. He also discusses why common processing methods, including high-pass filters and noise reduction, may not remove the relevant audio.

Colsto says the video is intended to explain open-source intelligence (OSINT), not to cause alarm. He said the odds of someone actually using the technique are “pretty slim” and that there are easier ways to find someone. The demonstration used audio from a security camera, but Colsto said footage with no visible clues could also potentially be located this way.