View original document (0.3 MB) PDF viewer unavailable in this browser. Download the PDF to view. A newly declassified Department of War document from the U.S. military’s PURSUE archive describes a May 2020 incident in the Persian Gulf in which a U.S. military operator reported a “solid white object” making erratic movements above the water, according to the official record released on May 8, 2026.
The document, titled “DOW-UAP-D38, Range Fouler Debrief, Middle East, May 2020,” is a standardized U.S. Navy reporting form used to record unauthorized intrusions into controlled airspace during active military operations or training. According to the Department of War’s official description, these reports contain a narrative description of the observer’s experiences.
The incident is listed as occurring on May 14, 2020, at 20:40:00 local time, during a night Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission. The form, as released, includes the operator’s handwritten narrative: “While preforming an ISR tasking (UL TN/Black Hot/Lin), a solid white object flew through the FOV. There was a temporarily lose of the object but re-acquired shortly there after.
The crew was able to follow the object as it appeared to make erratic moments above the water.” The document notes that during the follow, the crew obtained 4x zoom on the object but lost it due to “poor track placement.” The sensor operator was “continuously manipulating the sensor to maintain eyes on the object,” with the report noting that this was “apparent by the waves of the water in the background being visible and not being visible.” The Department of War’s official description of the document cautions that “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.” The record indicates the contact was moving, with a single object in the “group,” and the operator checked boxes for “Metallic” and “Opaque” characteristics, while leaving other descriptors such as “Balloon-shaped,” “Wings/Airframe,” and “Translucent” unchecked. The contact’s altitude is listed as 20,000 feet, with a latitude of 28 degrees 31 minutes 4 seconds North and a longitude of 49 degrees 52 minutes 4 seconds East.
Context of the PURSUE Archive and the Range Fouler Form
The document was released by the U.S. Department of War under the PURSUE archive, accessible at war.gov. The Range Fouler Debrief form itself is a tool for data collection, with instructions on the form stating that “if there was more than one ‘group,’ please report each on a separate form for data collection purposes.” The form also notes that “SPEAR sanitizes all reports of identifying information.
Absolutely no identifying information for aircrew or squadron will be recorded for analysis.” The document includes fields for contact speed, direction, and radar equipment, with the operator indicating the contact was radar-equipped with an AIM-9x self-track, and that a stable trackfile was achieved. The official summary from the Department of War describes the incident location as the Persian Gulf, and the document itself lists the “Contact Working Area” as 28314, with a “Buno” (likely Bureau Number) of 28314.
The record does not specify the type of aircraft or the squadron involved, consistent with the form’s stated policy of removing identifying information.
Broader Context and Interpretive Frameworks
While the document itself is a straightforward military report, some readers may place such accounts within broader cultural or spiritual frameworks.
Per a Wikipedia summary of the New Age movement, it is “a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s.” Wikipedia’s entry notes that the movement’s “highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult,” and that while many scholars consider it a religious movement, “its adherents typically see it as spiritual or as a unification of mind, body, and spirit, and rarely use the term New Age themselves.” This context is provided as a reference point for how some individuals might interpret unexplained aerial phenomena, though the Department of War document itself makes no reference to such beliefs.
The document’s release is part of the PURSUE initiative, which the Department of War states aims to provide transparency regarding UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) reports. The Range Fouler Debrief form is a standardized reporting mechanism, and the May 2020 incident is one of several documents released under this program. The record’s official summary offers limited detail beyond the operator’s narrative, noting only that the object was “solid white” and made “erratic” movements.
What remains unanswered from this document is the nature of the object itself, its origin, and whether any other sensors or platforms corroborated the sighting. The form indicates that a stable trackfile was achieved, but no further data from that trackfile is included in the released excerpt.
Readers should watch for future PURSUE releases, which may include additional documents from the same incident or related events, as the Department of War continues to declassify records under this program.
