"Looks like a balloon": a weapons-quality track on a UAP at 31,000 ft (war.gov "Arabian Gulf, 2020")
A fighter crew obtained a "weapons quality 1 track" on a UAP drifting with the winds at 31,000 ft MSL. They got close enough to make "a NEXT to shoot" on the track and identified it visually in the targeting infrared pod (TFLIR). They described it as looking like a balloon, similar to a UAP previously reported by the 48th Fighter Wing (48FW). Everything else in the six-page report, including date, unit and location, is redacted. The report itself points to a balloon-like object; it does not record any engagement. *Method note: war.gov blocks this server. This mission report was read from the original PDF served by the ufotransparency.com mirror. Most of its pages are image-only or blacked out, so the quotations were read from the rendered page images. Redactions are shown as [redacted].*
How plausible · High
A mission report records a weapons-quality track and TFLIR look at an object the crew said looked like a balloon; balloon not confirmed.
- ●●Access The ISR crew tracked it on their own sensor.
- ●●No gain sought An official reporting form.
- ●●Restraint The crew offers its own balloon reading.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released in PURSUE.
- ●○Character record An official report; crew names withheld.
- ●○Fits the documented skeleton Part of the documented Range Fouler and PURSUE record.
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
- "UAP Description (e.g., size, shape, color, markings, recognizable features): LOOKS LIKE A BALLOON, SIMILAR TO PREVIOUSLY REPORTED UAP FROM 48FW." (DOW-UAP-D7, p. 6; read from the page image)
- "OBSERVED A WEAPONS QUALITY 1 TRACK OF A UAP TRAVELING WITH THE WINDS AT 31,000 FT MSL IVO 323'S. [redacted] WAS ABLE TO MAKE A NEXT TO SHOOT ON THE TRACK AND VISUALLY ID THE UAP IN THE TFLIR." (DOW-UAP-D7, p. 6; read from the page image)
- The Gentext line carries a struck-through (SECRET) marking; pages 1-5 and the rest of page 6 are blacked out under 1.4(a). (DOW-UAP-D7, p. 6; read from the page image)