UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 04 · JULY 10, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D091Range Fouler Debrief, Atlantic Ocean, 2020
This Range Fouler debrief accompanies the video DOW-UAP-PR116. It was filed by a weapons systems officer (WSO), rank O-3, after a dusk encounter over the Atlantic Ocean in 2020. The crew was flying from a ship.
What the crew described
Much of the narrative is redacted, but what remains is specific. The object was a darker, maroonish color, approximately 12–15 feet tall, and structurally looked like a large, somewhat deformed balloon. The checklist has many boxes ticked: round, square, balloon-shaped, other shape, metallic, opaque and reflective. AARO’s summary adds that the object traveled with the wind and did not maneuver or change direction. The surviving text ends with the crew heading back to the ship and landing uneventfully.
Reading it
Unusually among the Range Fouler reports in the release, the reporter’s own comparison is to an ordinary object: the WSO likens it to a balloon, and AARO’s summary has it traveling with the wind. The record does not make a final identification, though, and the date, position and altitude are redacted. The video is the best place to judge it. For a very different 2020 Range Fouler report, see DOW-UAP-D058.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released July 10, 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. This report accompanies the video titled “DOW-UAP-PR116.”
A U.S. military operator reported observing an object, describing the phenomenon as “darker, maroonish color, approximately 12-15 feet in height.” The report describes the phenomenon “travel[ing] with the wind” and noted that it did not “maneuver or change direction.” It also describes the phenomenon as appearing as a “large, somewhat deformed balloon.”
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.