DISCLOSURE / FILE
Round Object's Erratic Moves Over Persian Gulf
A U.S. Navy Range Fouler Debrief Form documenting a night sighting of a solid white object making erratic movements above the Persian Gulf on May 14, 2020.
DISCLOSURE / FILE
A U.S. Navy Range Fouler Debrief Form documenting a night sighting of a solid white object making erratic movements above the Persian Gulf on May 14, 2020.
DOW-UAP-D38, Range Fouler Debrief, Middle East, May 2020
A U.S. Navy Range Fouler Debrief Form documenting a night sighting of a solid white object making erratic movements above the Persian Gulf on May 14, 2020.
During an ISR tasking at 20:40Z on May 14, 2020, a Navy crew operating an ATFLIR sensor at 22,000 feet observed a single round, white object fly through the field of view over the Persian Gulf. The crew lost and re-acquired the object, tracked it as it made erratic movements above the water, and achieved 4x zoom before losing track. The form was declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, under USCENTCOM MDR 26-0019, approved for release to AARO on January 26, 2026.
While preforming an ISR tasking (UL TN/Black Hot/Lin), a solid w ite 1 object flew through the FOV.p.1
There was a temporarily lose of the object but re-acquired shortly there after.p.1
The crew was able to follow the object as it appeared to make erratic moments above the water.p.1
During the follow, crew was able to obtain 4x zoom on the object but lost the object due to poor track place ent.p.1
While following, the sensor operator was continuously manipulating the sensor to maintain eyes on th1 e object. This is apparent by the waves of the water in the background being visible and not being visible.p.1
USCENTCOM MDR 26-0019 Approved for Release to AARO 01/26/26p.1
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Declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison USCENTCOM Chief of Staff Plea , o , us.~ ,;t , 13- 02 Range Fouler Debrie Form "submit" button above. Save and email the complete file manually (see below). Please complete this form to the best of your ability. If you do ot have the requested information, please leave the field blank. If there was more than one "group " please report each on a separate form for data collection purposes. You should receive a respons within 5 business days. Last Name, First Name Rank Squadron SIPR Email Address Crew Position This information is for contact only. SPEAR sanitizes all r ports of identifying information. Absolutely no identifying information for aircrew or squadmn will be recorded for analysis. 05/14/20 20:40:00 Night Date (mmldd/yy) Time of detection Day I Night (hh:mm:ss Z) 28314 Contact Working Area (Ex: W-72 1A) 28314 Contact Latitute (DD:MM:SS) ISR Side No. Buno Mission Description (GAS, BFM, etc) N 49524 E 20000 Yes NIS Contact Longitude EM' ' ontact Altitude Altitude (DD:MM:SS) ( : 22000) Constant? Wind Dir at Contact Alt (From) LFE? Wind Speed Please attempt to determine a Lat I Long for the contact at initial detection. We recommend using JMPS to reference the sensor-derived bearing and range relative to the bullseye you had in use. If that method is not available, any reasonable derivation of location will worl<, but please be as specific as possible and make a note in the comments section. These locations may be used to cue other means of tracking. Was the contact moving? Yes Radar Equipped: Stable Trackfile?: Intermittent # of Contacts in "Group": 1 EA Indications (Check all that apply): □ ECM □ □ False □ Letter Other/ Arc Identifier Trackfi/es Ambiguous AIM-9x Self-Track: ATFLIR Autotrack: Tally Achieved: □ □ □ Direction/Speed (Ex. 090/15) Please check all that apply: Round: [Z] Square: D Balloon-shaped: D Wings/Airframe : D Other Shape:O Apparent Propulsion : □ Moving Parts: D Metallic: D Markings: D Translucent: D Opaque: D Reflective: D Please use the field below to describe the contact and any inte ri action in your own words with as much detail as possible. Please be sure to include any detail not incl ded in questions above. While preforming an ISR tasking (UL TN/Black Hot/Lin), a solid w ite 1 object flew through the FOV. There was a temporarily lose of the object but re-acquired shortly there after. The crew was able to follow the object as it appeared to make erratic moments above the water. During the follow, crew was able to obtain 4x zoom on the object but lost the object due to poor track place ent. While following, the sensor operator was continuously manipulating the sensor to maintain eyes on th1 e object. This is apparent by the waves of the water in the background being visible and not being visible. Don't use the purple "submit" button! Save this form with filenam "Date_Squadron_RF.pdr' and email it t oj 3.sc, (b)(S) I (Also in the global) For troubleshooting, cal/I 3.Sc, (b)(B) Thank you for your time. Please ensure all display tapes are rip11ed for the entire time of interaction and saved as a .wmv (Example: 4 May VFA-106 HUD.wmv). Squa 1 ron lintel personnel shall upload those files to the repository located at this link. I 3.5c, (b)(B) I USCENTCOM MDR 26-0019 Approved for Release to AARO 01/26/26 001
Concatenated page-by-page transcript. Born-digital pages came through pdf.js; scanned pages were transcribed by Claude vision OCR. Pages marked unreadable failed multiple OCR retries (heavy redaction, microfilm artifacts, or blank separators) and are kept in place for audit.
Declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison USCENTCOM Chief of Staff Plea , o , us.~ ,;t , 13- 02 Range Fouler Debrie Form "submit" button above. Save and email the complete file manually (see below). Please complete this form to the best of your ability. If you do ot have the requested information, please leave the field blank. If there was more than one "group " please report each on a separate form for data collection purposes. You should receive a respons within 5 business days. Last Name, First Name Rank Squadron SIPR Email Address Crew Position This information is for contact only. SPEAR sanitizes all r ports of identifying information. Absolutely no identifying information for aircrew or squadmn will be recorded for analysis. 05/14/20 20:40:00 Night Date (mmldd/yy) Time of detection Day I Night (hh:mm:ss Z) 28314 Contact Working Area (Ex: W-72 1A) 28314 Contact Latitute (DD:MM:SS) ISR Side No. Buno Mission Description (GAS, BFM, etc) N 49524 E 20000 Yes NIS Contact Longitude EM' ' ontact Altitude Altitude (DD:MM:SS) ( : 22000) Constant? Wind Dir at Contact Alt (From) LFE? Wind Speed Please attempt to determine a Lat I Long for the contact at initial detection. We recommend using JMPS to reference the sensor-derived bearing and range relative to the bullseye you had in use. If that method is not available, any reasonable derivation of location will worl<, but please be as specific as possible and make a note in the comments section. These locations may be used to cue other means of tracking. Was the contact moving? Yes Radar Equipped: Stable Trackfile?: Intermittent # of Contacts in "Group": 1 EA Indications (Check all that apply): □ ECM □ □ False □ Letter Other/ Arc Identifier Trackfi/es Ambiguous AIM-9x Self-Track: ATFLIR Autotrack: Tally Achieved: □ □ □ Direction/Speed (Ex. 090/15) Please check all that apply: Round: [Z] Square: D Balloon-shaped: D Wings/Airframe : D Other Shape:O Apparent Propulsion : □ Moving Parts: D Metallic: D Markings: D Translucent: D Opaque: D Reflective: D Please use the field below to describe the contact and any inte ri action in your own words with as much detail as possible. Please be sure to include any detail not incl ded in questions above. While preforming an ISR tasking (UL TN/Black Hot/Lin), a solid w ite 1 object flew through the FOV. There was a temporarily lose of the object but re-acquired shortly there after. The crew was able to follow the object as it appeared to make erratic moments above the water. During the follow, crew was able to obtain 4x zoom on the object but lost the object due to poor track place ent. While following, the sensor operator was continuously manipulating the sensor to maintain eyes on th1 e object. This is apparent by the waves of the water in the background being visible and not being visible. Don't use the purple "submit" button! Save this form with filenam "Date_Squadron_RF.pdr' and email it t oj 3.sc, (b)(S) I (Also in the global) For troubleshooting, cal/I 3.Sc, (b)(B) Thank you for your time. Please ensure all display tapes are rip11ed for the entire time of interaction and saved as a .wmv (Example: 4 May VFA-106 HUD.wmv). Squa 1 ron lintel personnel shall upload those files to the repository located at this link. I 3.5c, (b)(B) I USCENTCOM MDR 26-0019 Approved for Release to AARO 01/26/26 001