Gulf of Aden: ISR aircrew tracks round, cold object making abrupt direction changes
On 15 October 2020 from 14:18:39 to 14:19:52 UTC, a U.S. ISR aircrew at 19,073 feet over the Gulf of Aden tracked on its infrared sensor a round, cold object travelling at 319 degrees at about 20 mph that made a few abrupt directional changes during the one-minute contact.
Background
The Range Fouler Reporting Form, a U.S. Navy (SPEAR) form for unauthorised airspace intrusions, was filed by an O-2 crew member of an attack squadron (squadron designation partly garbled in OCR) for an ISR mission on 10/15/20 with detection at 14:18:39Z in daylight; one contact in the group, shape 'round' checked, contact moving, direction/speed given as 261130 (digits as printed). The narrative states that the contact lasted from 14:18:39Z to 14:19:52Z on 15 October 2020 at an MGRS location beginning 40Q (remainder redacted, estimated lat/long redacted): while at 19,073 feet height above terrain over the Gulf of Aden the crew tracked a round, cold object in infrared travelling at 319 degrees at 20 mph; it made a few abrupt directional changes during the one-minute contact. The sensor was aimed about 50 degrees below the aircraft's altitude with a slant range of 4.06 NM and a ground range of 4.78 km; the infrared sensor was set to black-hot and the object appeared bright white. Names and contact data are redacted; the file name labels the document 'Arabian Sea'. The form was approved for release to AARO in March 2026. The details are taken from the records released by the U.S. Department of War (record code DOW-UAP-D44) and do not represent an independent determination by From Beyond Space.