UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D058Range Fouler Debrief, NA, October 2020
This Range Fouler debrief comes from a night defensive counter-air (DCA) mission at 01:12:21Z on October 27, 2020. Its location is listed as “NA.” The squadron box reads “77 EFS” and the reporter’s rank O-3; the name is withheld.
What the pilot reported
A controller using the callsign Kingpin directed the crew to identify an unknown contact. The aircraft obtained a radar lock and targeting-pod video but could not get closer than 16.9 nautical miles to make a better identification. The targeting pod showed two infrared-significant contacts, one of them circling the other, and the narrative says that “in 1/30th of a second, they were gone.” The visual sighting, or “tally,” was of two red blinking strobes. The pilot also reports noise jamming, shown on the display by two chevrons. The first detection is given as a bearing and range from the bullseye reference point, partly redacted.
How the form describes the contacts
The boxes ticked are balloon-shaped, other shape, metallic, opaque and reflective, plus “Other/Ambiguous” under electronic-attack indications. The form says the track file was stable and gives a contact altitude of 26,000 and a direction and speed of “060/20.” The report gives no size and does not say where the jamming came from or whether it was linked to the contacts. The red strobes and the jamming are the crew’s observations; the form does not interpret them, and no explanation is offered.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 8, 2026, quoted in full
This document is a Range Fouler Debrief, 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 two UAP. The operator described the UAP as “balloon-shaped,” metallic, and reflective, characterizing them as “2x red blinking strobes.” The report states that “one range fouler was circling around the other.” 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.