According to the temporal and spatial features of transient optical targets, an optical target detection and location method based on templates is proposed. By using weighted average to estimate the background and using a Robinson filter for secondary filtering of the residual image, the method has effectively reduced the target templates segmented by the cross projection method. In light of the local spatial characteristics and temporal characteristics of transient targets, multiple hypothesis testing is conducted on the potential target templates and the ultimate target templates generated. Finally, the real targets are extracted from the background by using these templates and their barycentric coordinates are calculated. Experimental results show that this method can locate several targets with a higher accuracy at the same time.