Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D57, Range Fouler Reporting Form, Gulf of Aden, September 2020
Gulf of Aden·9/4/20
Editorial summary
On September 4, 2020, a U.S. military operator tracking airspace over the Gulf of Aden detected an unidentified object via infrared sensor during night operations. The contact occurred at approximately 21:09 coordinated universal time and persisted for eight minutes. The operator was positioned at an altitude of 23,819 feet above ground level when the detection took place.
According to the file, the operator described the object as round in shape and characterized it as cold when viewed through an infrared camera set to "black hot" mode, a thermal imaging setting that renders cooler objects as bright white. The operator reported that the object traveled on a heading of 168 degrees at a speed of 277 miles per hour and executed what the operator described as "a few abrupt directional changes" during the observation window. The sensor was angled 39 degrees below the operator's altitude with a measured slant range of 6.1 nautical miles and a ground range of 8.81 kilometers at the time of tracking.
This report was filed on the U.S. Navy's standard Range Fouler Reporting Form, a document used to record unauthorized intrusions into controlled airspace during active military operations. The form requests detailed information about contact characteristics, sensor modes, and narrative accounts from trained military personnel. The reporting document notes that the characterizations provided by the observer reflect subjective interpretation at the time of the event and should not be read as conclusive evidence of any particular object features or capabilities.
The document is now in the public record as part of the Department of War PURSUE Release 01, cleared for general release in May 2026.
Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.
Government 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.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Department of War
Record type
Incident date
9/4/20
Incident location
Gulf of Aden
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release