DOW-UAP-D056, Range Fouler Debrief, Arabian Sea, August 2020
Official description
This document is a Range Fouler Debrief 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 an encounter with a group of three “unidentified small air contacts” over the North Arabian Sea. The reporter described the UAP as having “wings/airframe” structure, and as initially bearing on a westerly heading. The operator tracked one UAP before losing sight of it behind a cloud. Upon regaining contact, the operator reported observing two additional UAP to the east of the first. The report states that all three objects then “appeared to maintain their relative course, speed, and altitude.” 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 Debrief Form,' a standardized SPEAR UAP reporting questionnaire, submitted by a pilot (rank O-3) of HSM-73, a Navy helicopter maritime strike squadron. The encounter occurred on 24 August 2020 at night, 00:04:30Z, during a routine SSC (surface surveillance/combat) mission in the North Arabian Sea, working area 21440, at an altitude of 3,105 ft (constant), with the contact moving on a heading of roughly 270 degrees at unknown speed. The pilot observed 3x possible unidentified small air contacts: negative on ES (electronic support), radar track, and IFF track, with distance and precise course unknown (though appearing westerly). No interaction occurred between the aircraft and the contacts. The pilot initially observed 1x unknown air contact and tracked it before losing sight as it went behind a cloud; upon regaining contact, 2x additional unknown air contacts were seen due east of the original contact's location. All three contacts appeared to maintain their relative course, speed, and altitude to one another. On the form, shape was marked 'Round' and 'Wings/Airframe,' with no propulsion, moving parts, metallic surface, markings, translucency, opacity, or reflectivity checked. 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 purple submit button ... Save and email manually (see below).' Range Fouler Debrief 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-3. Squadron: HSM-73. SIPR Email Address: [redacted]. Crew Position: Pilot. '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): 08/24/20. Time of detection (hh:mm:ss Z): 00:04:30. Day/Night: Night. Side No.: 705. Buno: 168122. Mission Description (CAS, BFM, etc): SSC. LFE?: No. Contact Working Area (Ex: W-72 1A): 21440. Contact Latitude (DD:MM:SS): 21440 [reused value, likely OCR duplication error]. N/S: [redacted, FOIA Exemption 1.4a]. Contact Longitude: [blank/redacted]. Contact Altitude (Ex: 22000): 3105. Altitude Constant?: Yes. Wind Dir at Contact Alt (From): [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: Other. Stable Trackfile?: No. # of Contacts in "Group": 3. EA Indications (Check all that apply): ECM [unchecked], Letter Identifier [unchecked], False/Ambiguous Trackfiles [unchecked], Other [unchecked]. AIM-9X Self-Track: [unchecked]. ATFLIR Autotrack: [unchecked]. Tally Achieved: [unchecked]. Was the contact moving?: Yes. Direction/Speed (Ex. 090/15): 270/UNK. Shape (Please check all that apply): Round: [checked]. Square: [unchecked]. Balloon-shaped: [unchecked]. Wings/Airframe: [checked]. Other Shape: [unchecked]. Apparent Propulsion: [unchecked]. Moving Parts: [unchecked]. Metallic: [unchecked]. Markings: [unchecked]. Translucent: [unchecked]. Opaque: [unchecked]. Reflective: [unchecked]. Narrative (free-text description): '[Redacted, FOIA Exemption 1.4a] observed 3x possible unidentified small air contact while conducting routine operations in the North Arabian Sea. Negative ES, radar track, and IFF track. Distance to contact was unknown. Speed of contact was unknown. Precise course of contact was unknown, but appeared to be on a westerly heading. No interaction took place between [redacted] and the unknown air contacts. Initially observed 1x unknown air contact and tracked it before losing sight as it went behind a cloud. When contact on the unknown air contact was regained, 2x additional unknown air contacts were seen due east of the location of the initial contact. All 3x unknown air contacts appeared to maintain their relative course, speed, and altitude.' 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 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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