Round cold IR object making abrupt directional changes at 277 mph — Gulf of Aden, 4 September 2020

A SPEAR Range Fouler Debrief form submitted by an O-3 crew member from a squadron conducting ISR over the Gulf of Aden documents a single unidentified aerial contact tracked from 21:09Z to 21:17Z on 4 September 2020 (8-minute contact). The object was described as round and cold (appearing bright white on a black-hot IR sensor) at an altitude of 23,819 ft, traveling at 277 mph on a heading of 168 degrees. The observer reported that the object made several abrupt directional changes during the contact period. No radar, IFF, or visual confirmation is noted; detection was exclusively via ATFLIR-type IR sensor. Contact coordinates are redacted; MGRS location is partially legible.

“"While at 23,819 HAT over the Gulf of Aden we tracked a round, cold object in IR traveling 168 degrees at 277 mph. It made a few abrupt directional changes during the 8 minute contact. Our sensor was aimed -39 degrees below our altitude with a slant range of 6.17NM and ground range of 8.81 KM. The IR sensor was set to black hot and the object in question was a bright white."”

SPEAR Range Fouler Debrief form. Date 09/04/20 and contact window 21:09Z-21:17Z explicitly stated; duration 8 minutes = 480 seconds. Altitude 23,819 ft stated. Speed 277 mph explicitly stated. Object described as 'round' — mapped to 'orb'. IR sensor set to black-hot; object appeared bright white indicating it was thermally colder than background (cold object). Sensor depression angle -39 degrees, slant range 6.17 NM, ground range 8.81 km are stated. MGRS location partially redacted under (b)(1)/1.4a; contact lat/long redacted. Location set to Gulf of Aden theater centroid (11.8N, 45.0E), location_approx: true. The abrupt directional changes are noteworthy; however, lack of corroborating sensors reduces confidence in anomalous classification.