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DOW-UAP-D42, Range Fouler Debrief, Japan, 2023

Open Sky release file copy of the official D42 PDF — verified as a 295,621 byte, one page PDF with SHA 256 d52431b354af55b1e86cb454e61fd61993af3b023a38f2d9e014a9c9d18d16b4. Derived page render from the official PDF:

Release 01#war-gov#pursue#release-01#official-source#evidence#range-fouler-debrief#pdf

DOW-UAP-D42, Range Fouler Debrief, Japan, 2023

Evidence media

Derived page render from official D42 PDF: one-page Range Fouler Debrief form

The render shows the released form page: typed fields, redactions, checkboxes, narrative text, and USCENTCOM/AARO release markings. It is not object imagery; the released PDF does not include a display-tape frame, still image, map, or radar plot.

Investigation reading

This released file is a one-page Range Fouler Debrief Form. The official title and file URL label the item as Japan, 2023, but the Release 01 CSV row and the visible form fields point to a different incident description: 8/31/20 and Arabian Gulf. This page therefore preserves the official title while treating the date/location mismatch as a provenance lead, not as a resolved fact.

The filled contact section identifies the reporting role as an O-2 pilot from 482 ATKS. The mission field reads ISR, the day/night field reads Dusk, and LFE? is marked No. The form gives a contact altitude of 18,000 with altitude constant marked Yes. It also marks the contact as moving, with Direction/Speed entered as 150/230. The detailed working-area and coordinate fields are mostly redacted; the MGRS line begins with 39RWL26 and then continues into redaction/exemption markings.

The narrative field is the high-signal part of the page. It states: “Saw the initial object fly through the screen and started tracking it. Initial object was surpassed by another object of same size and shape but much higher speed. At one point during tracking the objects, there were three on the screen at the same time moving amongst each other.” That is an operator account of objects seen on a display/screen; it is not, by itself, a resolved identification or performance finding.

What the file appears to contain

The file appears to contain a completed text form, not an image packet. The rendered page contains no object photograph, radar plot, map, sensor still, or video frame. It has one scanned page image with typed fields, checkboxes, redactions, and release markings.

Several form fields are worth keeping separate from the narrative. Radar Equipped is filled as Other, but the page does not show a radar return or radar display. AIM-9x Self-Track, ATFLIR Autotrack, and Tally Achieved are not visibly checked. The descriptor area appears to check Other Shape and Apparent Propulsion; fields such as round, square, balloon-shaped, wings/airframe, moving parts, metallic, markings, translucent, opaque, and reflective are not visibly checked. Because OCR can misread checkboxes, the rendered page should be treated as the better source for these fields.

The bottom instructions say display tapes should be ripped for the entire time of interaction and saved as a .wmv file, with the repository link redacted. That instruction is important because it implies that a display recording may have been expected for the event, but this released PDF does not include that recording.

Source custody and provenance

This is a Department of War PURSUE Release 01 PDF asset tied to official CSV row 55 in the current release metadata. The official source URL is:

https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/release_1/dow-uap-d42-range-fouler-debrief-japan-2023.pdf

Open Sky’s release-file copy is available at:

</api/explore/war-gov/release-file/war-gov-dow-uap-d42-range-fouler-debrief-japan-2023-a0f66631>

The verified file is 295,621 bytes, one PDF page, with SHA-256:

d52431b354af55b1e86cb454e61fd61993af3b023a38f2d9e014a9c9d18d16b4

The PDF metadata and visible release markings identify the document as a March 2026 release copy. The bottom line reads USCENTCOM MDR 26-0028 and Approved for Release to AARO - FOUO / PA applies, with a visible date stamp of 03/16/26 on the rendered page. Personal/contact fields and repository details are redacted.

Graph context

The graph currently has the PDF asset record and a corresponding Release 01 CSV record for this item. The semantic layer extracted 37 claim records, 19 entity mentions, and 1 sensor-event record from the manifest text and OCR.

The single sensor-event cue should be handled carefully. It is based on the form language around Radar Equipped: Other and nearby movement fields. The released PDF does not provide a radar plot, radar track, raw return, or a populated radar narrative. In this draft, that graph sensor event is a navigation cue back to the form field, not evidence that an independent radar record has been released.

The graph also shows related Release 01 material, including a DVIDS-linked Greece PR35/mission-report cluster. The CSV row for this D42 PDF itself has no visible video pairing or DVIDS video ID, while the form instructs personnel to preserve .wmv display tapes. That combination should be treated as a data-cleanup and source-discovery lead rather than as confirmation that a particular video belongs to this PDF.

Leads to check

  • Reconcile the official item title/URL label Japan, 2023 with the CSV and form fields showing 8/31/20 and Arabian Gulf.
  • Determine whether the redacted MGRS prefix 39RWL26... can be corroborated by other official rows without attempting to infer redacted details from this page alone.
  • Check whether any display tape, HUD video, or .wmv file for this debrief was released elsewhere, withheld, or mis-associated with another Release 01 record.
  • Confirm the descriptor checkboxes from the rendered page, especially Other Shape and Apparent Propulsion, because OCR output is noisy around checkboxes.
  • Treat 150/230 as a form-entered direction/speed value pending source-context review; the page does not explain units beyond the form example.
  • If this is later investigated as an event, compare the report against flight/training-area context, sensor platform logs, weather/astronomy, and any available display recording before escalating claims.

Lead check notes

  • Partial — title/date/location mismatch: The official PDF title, URL, and PDF metadata say Japan, 2023, while the current Release 01 CSV row for D42 lists 8/31/20 and Arabian Gulf, and the rendered form itself shows 08/31/20, Dusk, ISR, LFE? No, 482 ATKS, O-2, and an MGRS prefix beginning 39RWL26.... That supports a real release-metadata/source-text tension, not a resolved location or event correction; resolving it needs a corrected official manifest history or unredacted source packet.
  • Partial — MGRS and direction/speed anchors: Searching the linked Release 01 OCR corpus found 39RWL26, 150/230, and the “object fly through the screen” narrative confined to this D42 OCR text. The redacted MGRS prefix and Direction/Speed value should stay source-qualified until an official coordinate, platform log, or display-recording source is available.
  • Blocked — display-tape / video trail: The form instructs personnel to preserve display tapes as .wmv files, but the current D42 CSV row has no DVIDS video ID or video pairing. PR35 / DVIDS 1006082 is source-paired with D35/Greece, and PR47 / DVIDS 1006107 is a separate Japan/INDOPACOM video record without a D42 PDF pairing in the current release metadata. A D42 display tape, HUD video, or repository file remains missing from released sources.
  • Checked — rendered checkbox/form fields: Page-image review supports Radar Equipped: Other, Was the contact moving?: Yes, Direction/Speed: 150/230, AIM-9x Self-Track unchecked, ATFLIR Autotrack unchecked, Tally Achieved unchecked, and Other Shape plus Apparent Propulsion checked. The page contains no object photo, video frame, radar scope, map, or sensor still.
  • Needs external source — operational/prosaic checks: Flight/training-area context, platform track, sensor settings, weather/astronomy, traffic, satellite/launch/reentry checks, and any raw display recording remain outside this released one-page PDF.

Deep investigation — graph + web reconnaissance

Source reread

The public source is still best treated as a one-page debrief form, not a released sensor product. The cached release-file copy verifies as a 295,621-byte PDF with SHA-256 d52431b354af55b1e86cb454e61fd61993af3b023a38f2d9e014a9c9d18d16b4; PDF metadata gives the title DOW-UAP-D42, Range Fouler Debrief, Japan, 2023, one page, an Adobe Paper Capture producer, and March/May 2026 processing dates. Direct official WAR.GOV fetches for the PDF, landing page, and CSV returned 403 Access Denied during this check, so the source reading relies on the verified Open Sky release copy plus the official URLs and release metadata.

Visual review of the page render supports the main fields already summarized above: 08/31/20, Dusk, ISR, LFE? No, O-2 / 482 ATKS / Pilot, contact altitude 18000, altitude constant Yes, contact moving Yes, and Direction/Speed: 150/230. The visible descriptor checks are Other Shape and Apparent Propulsion. AIM-9X Self-Track, ATFLIR Autotrack, Tally Achieved, and the listed EA-indication boxes appear unchecked. The MGRS line is only safely readable as beginning 39RWL before redaction/uncertain characters; the full coordinate should not be inferred.

Graph connections

Read-only Neo4j checks found two exact D42 records: a war_pursue_pdf_asset document for the official PDF URL/hash and a war_pursue_release_record for the Release 01 catalog row currently modeled as release-01-record-52-current-row. Around those records the graph shows 5 text chunks, 37 machine-extracted claims, and 1 machine-extracted sensor event. The sensor event is a deterministic RADAR extraction from the form phrase Radar Equipped: Other and nearby motion fields; it remains machine_extracted_needs_human_review / not_a_finding and is not evidence of a released radar track.

The D42 graph neighborhood also exposes a provenance-cleanup issue: a related DVIDS 1006082 / PR35 video and D35 Greece mission-report cluster appear near the D42 row/modeling context, while the D42 source form itself and the cached CSV-style text do not provide a D42 DVIDS video ID. Official DVIDS metadata for 1006082 identifies DOW-UAP-PR35, Unresolved UAP Report, Greece, October 2023, date taken 10.01.2023, date posted 05.08.2026 07:48, VIRIN 231002-D-D0360-7307, filename DOD_111689022, length 00:00:24, location GR, and its description names the paired mission report as DoW-UAP-D35. Treat PR35 as a D35/Greece source unless a future official manifest explicitly pairs it to D42.

There is also row-number tension across release artifacts: this page and a secondary public mirror preserve 055-style numbering for D42, while the current Open Sky source-pack/graph model surfaces D42 under row 52 and D49/Vandenberg under row 55. That is an audit lead about row indexing/versioning, not a change to the underlying PDF content.

External provenance and context

Official/canonical checks remain anchored to the WAR.GOV PDF URL and the PURSUE Release 01 catalog/CSV URL, but those direct endpoints were not fetchable from this environment during the check. The reachable official external page was DVIDS 1006082, which helps bound the PR35/D35 video cluster and argues against treating that video as D42’s missing display tape.

A secondary Disclosdex page for D42 independently flags the same title/content mismatch — catalog title Japan 2023 versus form content Arabian Gulf / 08/31/20 — and says D42 has no paired video in the release metadata it displays. That page is useful as a mirror/provenance lead only; the controlling sources remain the WAR.GOV/PURSUE files and the verified Open Sky copy.

Prosaic checks and unresolved blockers

Because the released D42 page has no precise time, no unredacted lat/long, only a partial MGRS prefix, and no released display tape, astronomy/weather/launch/satellite checks cannot be dispositive. Narrow graph checks around 2020-08-30 to 2020-09-01 found one NASA/JPL CNEOS fireball entry on 2020-08-30 at 26.0, 133.5 and one SpaceX launch on 2020-08-30 from Cape Canaveral, but those are only date-window context records without line-of-sight or geometry tying them to this report. The current graph had no weather-overlay records for that 2020 date window.

The first prosaic lanes stay practical: display/sensor artifacts, parallax from platform/sensor motion, screen/FOV transition effects, birds or aircraft at range, maritime/atmospheric contrast, training-area traffic, and the possibility that the report’s Direction/Speed: 150/230 field is being read without its operational units/context. Any escalation needs the redacted repository display tape or .wmv, platform track, sensor settings, exact time, and unredacted location.

Follow-up leads

  • Reconcile D42’s Japan 2023 title with the Arabian Gulf / 08/31/20 form content using a canonical manifest history or corrected WAR.GOV release metadata.
  • Keep PR35/DVIDS 1006082 attached to D35/Greece unless an official source explicitly links it to D42.
  • Search for the missing D42 display tape/repository .wmv by official filename conventions or future releases; do not substitute nearby Release 01 videos.
  • Re-run weather/astronomy/launch/satellite checks only after a usable timestamp, platform line of sight, and unredacted location are available.

Audit note

This deep check did not create findings, hypotheses, or resolution decisions. It strengthens the page as a provenance and evidence-quality record: the source is a credible official form preserving a screen-observation narrative, while the public release still lacks the raw sensor media and context needed for identification.

Limits

This page is a graph investigation draft and not a finding. The released source is one form page. It preserves a reported screen observation and a short narrative, but it does not include the underlying display tape, a still image, a radar plot, a map, or independent sensor data. The time-of-detection field is not visibly populated beyond the Dusk day/night entry. Several location and contact fields are redacted. The form’s descriptive language reflects the reporter’s account at the time, and the official manifest cautions against treating those descriptions as conclusive object-feature or performance determinations.

OCR over this page is imperfect, especially in the stamped header, checkbox area, and redacted coordinate line. For contested fields, the rendered page should be checked directly against the PDF rather than relying only on extracted text.

Sources