DOW-UAP-D044, Range Fouler Reporting Form, Gulf of Aden, October 2020
Official 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 observing a “round, cold object” via infrared sensor, traveling at 319 degrees (northwest) at approximately 20 mph. The report describes the UAP making “abrupt directional changes” during the event. 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.
✦ AI summary
Declassified single-page 'Range Fouler Reporting Form,' a standardized SPEAR UAP reporting questionnaire submitted by an aircrew member (rank O-2, 'Other' crew position) of the 172nd Attack Squadron (172 ATKS). The encounter occurred on 15 October 2020, daytime, during an ISR mission over the Gulf of Aden. From 14:18:39Z to 14:19:52Z (about 1 minute), while at 19,073 ft above target, the crew tracked a round, cold-in-IR object traveling on a heading of 319 degrees at roughly 20 mph; it made a few abrupt directional changes during the contact. The sensor was aimed about 50 degrees below the aircraft's altitude, with a slant range of 4.06 NM and ground range of 4.78 km; the IR sensor was set to 'black hot' mode and the object appeared bright white (i.e., cold relative to background). On the form, shape was marked 'Round,' with propulsion, moving parts, metallic, markings, translucency, opacity, and reflectivity all left unchecked; contact was a single object with intermittent trackfiles reported. Declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, released under USCENTCOM MDR 26-0038 to MDR 26-0046, 03/27/26, approved for release to AARO.
Generated with AI from the official file — may contain errors.
▸Transcript(1 of 1 pages legible)
[PAGE 1] Declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff. [Header instructions, largely OCR-garbled]: 'Do not use the ... submit button ... Save and email the complete file manually (see below).' Range Fouler Reporting Form. 'Please complete this form to the best of your ability. If you do not 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 response within 5 business days.' Form fields (contact-only, sanitized per SPEAR policy): Last Name, First Name: [redacted]. Rank: O-2. Squadron: 172 ATKS. SIPR Email Address: [redacted]. Crew Position: Other. 'This information is for contact only. SPEAR sanitizes all reports of identifying information. Absolutely no identifying information for aircrew or squadron will be recorded for analysis.' Date (mm/dd/yy): 10/15/20. Day/Night: Day. Time of detection (hh:mm:ss Z): 14:18:39. Mission Description (CAS, BFM, etc): ISR. Side No./Buno: [blank]. Contact Working Area (Ex: W-72 1A): [blank/redacted]. Contact Latitude (DD:MM:SS): N [value redacted]. Contact Longitude: E [value redacted]. N/S, E/W indicators present but specific digits not legible/redacted. Contact Altitude (Ex: 22000): [blank in form header, altitude given in narrative as 19,073 ft]. Altitude Constant?: [blank]. Wind Dir at Contact Alt (From): [blank]. LFE?: [blank]. Wind Speed: [blank]. 'Please attempt to determine a Lat/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 work, 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.' Radar Equipped: [blank]. Stable Trackfile?: [blank]. # of Contacts in "Group": 1. EA Indications (Check all that apply): ECM [unchecked], False/Ambiguous Trackfiles [unchecked], Other/Letter Identifier [unchecked]. AIM-9X Self-Track: [unchecked]. ATFLIR Autotrack: [unchecked]. Tally Achieved: [checked, implied]. Was the contact moving?: Yes. Direction/Speed (Ex. 090/15): 261/30 [approx., partially legible as '261130']. Shape (Please check all that apply): Round: [checked]. Square: [unchecked]. Balloon-shaped: [unchecked]. Wings/Airframe: [unchecked]. Other Shape: [unchecked]. Apparent Propulsion: [unchecked]. Moving Parts: [unchecked]. Metallic: [unchecked]. Markings: [unchecked]. Translucent: [unchecked]. Opaque: [unchecked]. Reflective: [unchecked]. Narrative (free-text description): 'Contact at 14:18:39Z to 14:19:52Z on 15OCT2020. MGRS location 40Q BD 6[redacted] (estimated lat/long) [FOIA Exemption 1.4a]. While at 19,073 HAT [Height Above Target] over the Gulf of Aden we tracked a round, cold object in IR traveling 319 degrees at 20 mph. It made a few abrupt directional changes during the 1 minute contact. Our sensor was aimed -50 degrees below our altitude with a slant range of 4.06NM and ground range of 4.78KM. The IR sensor was set to black hot and the object in question was a bright white. [FOIA Exemption (b)(6)]' Footer instructions: 'Don't use the purple "submit" button! Save this form with filename "Date_Squadron_RF.pdf" and email it to [FOIA Exemption (b)(6)] (Also in the global). For troubleshooting, call [FOIA Exemption (b)(6)]. Thank you for your time. Please ensure all display tapes are ripped for the entire time of interaction and saved as a .wmv (Example: 4 May VFA-106 HUD.wmv). Squadron intel personnel shall upload those files to the repository located at this link. [FOIA Exemption (b)(6)]' USCENTCOM MDR 26-0038 to MDR 26-0046. Approved for Release to AARO. 03/27/26 000001
Generated with AI from the official file — may contain errors.
Source: U.S. Department of War / AARO — public domain · war.gov/ufo
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