Gulf of Oman AC-130J infrared sightings, 8 September 2021
2021-09-08 · Gulf of Oman
Summary
A United States Special Operations Forces AC-130 gunship was conducting live-fire training over the Gulf of Oman on 8 September 2021, during darkness, according to an Intelligence Information Report from AFSOC (doc c466e1e0b4220c68, p. 2). The report gave the location as near MGRS grid 40REN68 and said the coordinates came from the aircraft's sensor feed GPS data (doc c466e1e0b4220c68, p. 2).
The crew first saw the objects after the aircraft dropped a water-activated flare to serve as a mock target. The Combat Systems Officer slewed the infrared sensor back to the flare and saw two cold orbs about four feet across, between 0 and 20 feet above the water and stationary over the flare for about 15 seconds. The report said the officer then fired the 105mm cannon and the pair flew away without changing altitude (doc c466e1e0b4220c68, p. 2). The crew later logged approximately 25 instances during the sortie, including a pair in loose formation, a group of three, and objects described as moving erratically.
The officer calculated speeds with the aircraft's TACTOOL, giving a minimum of 250 mph and a maximum of 1300 mph. The report said no means of propulsion were observed (doc c466e1e0b4220c68, p. 2). It said the crew tried to save all of the infrared footage, but the Digital Video Recorder failed and the data became corrupted (doc c466e1e0b4220c68, p. 2). An attachment was listed as a PowerPoint with six embedded videos (doc c466e1e0b4220c68, p. 6).
AFSOC issued the report on 27 April 2022 and marked it as an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence. It said USDAO Muscat and SOCCENT J2X coordinated on it without comment (doc c466e1e0b4220c68, p. 2). The report offered no explanation for what was seen.
Five clips released as DOW-UAP-PR117 through PR122, titled Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman, 2021, were cellular-device recordings of an infrared sensor display aboard an AC-130J. The catalogue entries put their lengths at 16, 30, 2, 13, 34 and 26 seconds and describe areas of contrast in the field of view (doc dvid-1017793). The entries cite the IIR for the description of cold orbs about four feet in diameter and state no analytical conclusion (doc dvid-1017795).
What the files say
“When the CSO slewed the sensor in IR mode back to the flare they observed two approximately four-foot diameter cold orbs between 0 to 20 feet above the surface of the water stationary over the flare for approximately 15 seconds.”
Page 2 →“The CSO calculated the UAP's approximate speeds using the aircraft's TACTOOL and clocked their maximum observed maneuvering speed at 1300 miles per hour (MPH) and the UAPs minimum observed maneuvering speed at 250 MPH.”
Page 2 →“The AC-130's crew attempted to save entirety of the EO/IR footage of the UAP observations but the aircraft's Digital Video Recorder (DVR) inexplicably failed and the video data became corrupted.”
Page 2 →“This IIR was coordinated with USDAO Muscat and SOCCENT J2X without comment.”
Page 2 →“Geographic coordinates were derived from AC-130 sensor feed GPS data.”
Page 2 →
Also discussed in
- Gulf of Oman UAP infrared video, 16-second clip (2021)
- Gulf of Oman UAP infrared video, AC-130J gunship (2021)
- Gulf of Oman AC-130J sensor screen recording (2021)
- Gulf of Oman UAP infrared video, AC-130J clip (2021)
- Gulf of Oman AC-130 infrared video, cellphone copy (2021)
- Gulf of Oman AC-130 infrared video, cellphone copy (2021)