CASE FILE D-7
The Pentagon Locked Weapons on a UAP, Then Called It a Balloon
2026-08-31 · Declassified UAP records
In 2020, over the Arabian Gulf, a U.S. aircraft acquired a weapons-quality track on an unidentified object.
According to the declassified USCENTCOM mission report, the object was at 31,000 feet, moving with the winds. The crew held the track and visually identified it on the aircraft's targeting FLIR.
The report's own description of the object: it looked like a balloon - and it matched a UAP previously reported by the 48th Fighter Wing.
Even so, it was logged as a UAP and tracked with fire-control precision - a reminder that not every unidentified object is exotic, but every one gets recorded.
Below is the declassified page, redactions preserved.
The Document
SECRET 2020
USCENTCOM Mission Report — Arabian Gulf (2020)
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GENTEXT/UAP
- UAP Description (e.g., size, shape, color, markings, recognizable features): LOOKS LIKE A BALLOON, SIMILAR TO PREVIOUSLY REPORTED UAP FROM 48FW.
- Gentext (UAP Event Description): OBSERVED A WEAPONS QUALITY 1 TRACK OF A UAP TRAVELING WITH THE WINDS AT 31,000 FT MSL IVO 323'S. ████████1.4a WAS ABLE TO MAKE A NEXT TO SHOOT ON THE TRACK AND VISUALLY ID THE UAP IN THE TFLIR.
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Released to AARO under PURSUE — pages 1–5 withheld in full under EO 13526 §1.4(a); released page reproduced below, redactions preserved. · U.S. Department of War — PURSUE UAP release (DOW-UAP-D7)
Where It Happened
Full Transcript
Over the Arabian Gulf, a U.S. aircraft got a weapons-quality track on a UAP — a lock good enough to shoot. Then they got a closer look.
2020, the Arabian Gulf. The object was at 31,000 feet, drifting along with the winds.
The crew held that weapons-quality track and visually identified the object on the targeting camera. The report's own description? It looked like a balloon.
But the same report notes it matched a UAP previously reported by the 48th Fighter Wing. Balloon or not, they logged it — and tracked it like a target.
A weapons-grade track on a 'balloon' — and not the first. What do you think it was? Search Case D-7 at ufodata.org. Subscribe to UFO Data.
Sources
All documents and footage are authentic, public-domain U.S. government releases. Narration is AI-generated text-to-speech.