Solid white object with erratic movements observed over water — Middle East, May 2020

On 14 May 2020 at 2040Z, an aircrew conducting a night ISR tasking over the Middle East (approximate MGRS 28314N 49524E, altitude 20,000 ft) observed a solid white object fly through the sensor field of view (IR mode: UL TN/Black Hot/Lin). The crew temporarily lost the object but reacquired it and followed it as it appeared to make erratic movements above the water. The crew obtained 4x zoom but ultimately lost the object due to poor track placement.

“"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."”

Document is a SPEAR Range Fouler Debrief Form submitted by an O-2 pilot from a redacted squadron. Contact working area fields list lat/long as '28314 N' and '49524 E' — these appear to be MGRS-style partial coordinates, possibly Gulf of Bahrain/Saudi Arabian coastal area; treated as approximate. Aircraft working altitude 20,000 ft explicitly stated; altitude constant noted as 'Yes.' Contact altitude stated as 20,000 ft. Object described as 'round' (checkbox) and 'reflective' (checkbox). Direction/speed field partially illegible from OCR. OCR quality is poor — form-field text is garbled. No radar equipment listed ('Other'). Confidence reduced for poor OCR, form-based (vs. structured) data, and redacted coordinates.