Range Fouler Reporting Form, Gulf of Aden, September 2020
- File
- DOW-UAP-D057
- Type
- Document, 1 pages
- Agency
- Department of War
- Date
- 9/4/20
- Place
- Gulf of Aden
- Released
- Release 1, May 8, 2026
The government's description
This document is a Range Fouler Reporting Form, a standardized reporting form the U.S. Navy uses to record the circumstances surrounding an unauthorized intrusion into controlled airspace during active military operations or training. These reports contain a narrative description of the observer’s experiences. A U.S. military operator reported tracking a “round, cold object” over the Gulf of Aden for eight minutes via “black hot” IR sensor, making the UAP appear “bright white.” The report states that the UAP was “traveling 168 degrees at 277 mph” and “made a few abrupt directional changes” during the encounter. All descriptive and estimative language contained in this report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. Such characterizations should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.
Full text
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Page 1
Range Fouler Reportin Form
Please complete this form to the best of your ability. If you do n~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.
•
Rank
Last Name, First Name
Squadron
0-3
SfPR Email Address
Crew Position
1172 ATKS
Other
This information is for contact only. SPEAR sanitizes all r ports of identifying information.
Absolutely no identifying information for aircrew or squadr, n will be recorded for analysis.
09/04/20
21 :09:00
Night
Date {mmlddlyy}
Time of detection
Day I Night
ISR
Side No.
Buno
LFE?
Mi$$ion Description (CAS, BFM. etc)
(hh:mm:ss Z)
N
Contact Latitute
(DD:MM:SS)
Contact Won,-ing Area
(Ex: W•721A)
N/S
23819
E
Contact LongitrJ<Je
(DD:MM:SS)
E,W
~
, ntact Altitllde
: 22000}
Please attempt to determine a Lat I Long for the contact at initial cJete<;t;on. We recommend
using JMPS to reference the sensor-derived beating and range mtat/ve to the bullseye you had
in use. If that methocJ is not available, any reasonable derivation of location will won,-, but please
be as specific as possible and make a note in the comments section. These locations may be
used to cue other means oftracking.
Radar Equipped:
AIM-9x Self-Track:
Stable Trackfile?:
A TFLIR Autotrack:
# of Contacts in "Group": 1
Tally Achieved:
EA Indications (Check all that apply):
□
□
ECM
. Letter
Identifier
An;
□
False
Trackfiles
W'incJ Dir at
Contact Alt
(From)
Altitude
Constant?
Wind
Speed
Yes
Wes the contact moving?
Direction/Speed
(Ex. 090/15)
□
□
□
168/277
Please check all that apply:
Round:
[l]
D
Balloon-shapecJ: D
Wings/Airframe: D
Other Shape: D
D
Metallic: D
Mar1<ings: D
Translucent: D
Moving Parts:
Square:
□
Opeque:O
Apparent Propulsion:□
Other/
Ambiguous
RefTe<:tive: □
Please use the field below to describe the contact and any inte action in your own words with as much
detail as possible. Please be sure to include any detail not incJJded in questions above.
+
Contact at 21 :09z to 21 :17z 04SEP2020. MGRS location 38P L ?(~a<aoimJ(estimated lat/long
(bJ(1 )1.4a
~. While at 23,819 HAT over the ~ulf of Aden we tracked a round, cold object
in IR traveling 168 degrees at 277 mph. It made a few abrupt dir~ctional changes during the 8 minute
contact. Our sensor was aimed -39 degrees below our altitude w th a slant range of 6.1 ?NM and ground
range of 8.81 KM. The IR sensor was set to black hot and the obj ct in question was a bright white.
I
Don't use the purple "submit" button! Save this form with filenam "Date_Squadron_RF.pdf" and email
it to I
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Thank you for your time. Please ensure all display tapes are rip ed for the entire time of interaction and
saved as a .wmv (Example: 4 May VFA-106 HUD.wmv). Squa ron inte/ personnel shall upload those files
to the repository located at this link.
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USCENTCOM 26.0028
,
I
Approved for Release to MRO - FOUO / PA applies
03/16/26 000001