"Several bright objects" above FL600 seen by a 77 EFS flight (31 March 2023)
An Operation Inherent Resolve flight from the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron was flying at FL265 and 293 knots, north-east of a location abbreviated "RLZ". Starting at 2302:05Z on 31 March 2023 it saw "possibly 10-20" bright objects manoeuvring quickly from west to east, at an estimated FL600 or higher. Each could be held in the targeting pod's TV mode for about 20 seconds before it dimmed and disappeared. The crew noted that the objects were not in the formations seen on earlier sorties. An analyst comment says the flight compared the targeting-pod image of a possible UAP with that of a star, and the results were different. war.gov titles the file "Southern United States, 2020", which does not match the content; the grid zone 37S covers Syria, Iraq and Jordan. No explanation is given. *Method note: war.gov blocks this server. Each mission report was read from the original PDF served by the ufotransparency.com mirror. Quotations come from the PDF text layer and were checked against the page images where the scan is poor. Redactions are shown as [redacted]. Field names such as "Observer Assessment of UAP" are the form's own labels.*
Evidence, in date order (2)
- 31 Mar 2023F-16 targeting pod (TV mode)sensor dataheld each bright object for about 20 s before it dimmed and vanished DOW-UAP-D20
- 31 Mar 2023Unit intelligence analystofficialcompared pod images of the objects with a star and found them different DOW-UAP-D20
How plausible · High
An F-16 flight saw 10–20 fast bright objects above FL600 on the targeting pod; an analyst judged them unlike a star.
- ●●Access The ISR crew tracked it on their own sensor.
- ●●No gain sought An official reporting form.
- ●●Character record Fighter aircrew.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released in PURSUE.
- ●●Physical traces or official reaction Sensor track with video confirmed.
- ●○Restraint Describes motion and signature, no explanation.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- "STARTING AT 2302:05Z" (DOW-UAP-D20, p. 6; OCR slips in the text layer corrected) [redacted] "FLT OBSERVED SEVERAL BRIGHT OBJECTS MANUEVERING QUICKLY" (DOW-UAP-D20, p. 6)
- "FLT WOULD OBTAIN POSS UAP ON TARGETING POD (TV MODE) FOR APPROX 20S BEFORE OBJECT WOULD BECOME DIM AND DISAPPEAR FROM TARGETING POD." (DOW-UAP-D20, p. 6)
- "NONE OF THE OBJECTS WERE SEEN IN ANY FORMATIONS AS PREVIOUSLY SEEN IN PRIOR SORTIES." (DOW-UAP-D20, p. 6)
- "FLT COMPARED TARGETING POD BETWEEN POSS UAP AND STAR. RESULTS WERE DIFFERENT." (DOW-UAP-D20, p. 6) (labelled "ANALYST COMMENT")
- UAP block: Initial Contact DTG 312302:05ZMAR23; friendly aircraft FL265, speed 293; "Operational Range: NE OF RLZ"; "Number of UAP Sighted: POSS 10X-20X"; UAP altitude "FL600+"; "UAP Signatures: No"; "UAP Effects on Persons: (U) NONE." (DOW-UAP-D20, p. 6)
- Originator "77 EFS"; Operation INHERENT RESOLVE; declassification date field 20480401; declassified 8 October 2025 by MG Richard A. Harrison. (DOW-UAP-D20, pp. 1-2)Glare and a "misshapen ball of white light" cross an ISR camera over Syria (20 October 2024)Two range foulers circle each other, vanish "in 1/30th of a second", with strobes and noise jamming (27 October 2020)