CASE FILE US-2019-001
Channel Islands Multi-Destroyer Drone Swarm Encounters
Official finding
Reasonably confident that recorded triangular objects correlate with unmanned aerial systems in the area
U.S. Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (hearing transcript, May 17, 2022)
Anomaly Index assessment
Likely identifiedNavy intelligence officials testified under oath that they are reasonably confident the best-documented triangular-light video correlates with conventional unmanned aerial systems, and separate FOIA-released Navy assessments attribute several of the July 2019 encounters to apparent surveillance drones launched from a specific merchant vessel. The classification stops short of Identified because not every night's encounter was conclusively attributed to an operator in the released material, and no single comprehensive report resolves the full two-week series.
Anomaly Index assessments are editorial evaluations of the public record. They are not official government determinations.
What was reported
Beginning around 14 July 2019 and recurring on at least four additional nights through the end of the month, U.S. Navy destroyers operating in a training area off the Channel Islands, Southern California — including USS Kidd, USS Rafael Peralta, USS John Finn, USS Russell, and USS Paul Hamilton — reported groups of small unmanned aircraft flying near and around the ships after dark, in some cases for more than ninety minutes at a stretch. Deck log entries later released under the Freedom of Information Act describe a drone matching a destroyer's 16-knot speed and holding position over a ship's flight deck in conditions of less than one nautical mile visibility, with radar tracks in the encounters reaching altitudes as high as 21,000 feet. On at least one night, a passing cruise ship radioed that it observed several drones nearby and confirmed they did not belong to it. The Navy activated onboard counter-drone systems and opened an investigation involving the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI. Nearly two years later, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday told reporters the objects had not been positively identified. In May 2022, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray told a House Intelligence subcommittee that Navy personnel had recorded, through night-vision goggles and an SLR camera, triangular lights while a Navy vessel observed "a swarm of unmanned aerial systems," and that the Navy was "reasonably confident that these triangles correlate to unmanned aerial systems in the area," attributing the triangular appearance to the recording method itself. Separately, Navy briefing materials released under a later FOIA request assessed that the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier MV Bass Strait was likely conducting drone surveillance of Navy vessels during the July 14-15 encounters.
What is verified
- Between 14 and 30 July 2019, multiple U.S. Navy destroyers operating off the Channel Islands, Southern California, reported groups of small unmanned aircraft flying near the ships at night, in some cases for more than ninety minutes.[3]
- Deck log entries released under FOIA describe a drone matching a destroyer's 16-knot speed and holding position over its flight deck in low-visibility conditions.[3]
- In May 2022, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray testified that the Navy was "reasonably confident" that a video of triangular lights, recorded while a Navy vessel observed a swarm of unmanned aerial systems, correlated with unmanned aerial systems in the area.[2]
- Navy briefing materials released under a later FOIA request assessed that the bulk carrier MV Bass Strait was likely conducting drone surveillance of Navy vessels during the July 14-15, 2019 encounters.[3]
- As of April 2021, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday stated the Navy had not positively identified the drones involved.[3]
Evidence ledger
| Type | Description | Originality | Source organization | Released | Raw or edited | Metadata | Provenance | Known limitations | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official document | Deck logs and incident reports from USS Kidd, USS Rafael Peralta, USS John Finn, USS Russell, and USS Paul Hamilton, released under FOIA. | Original | U.S. Navy | 2019 (recorded); 2021-2022 (FOIA release) | Raw | Yes | Official ship deck logs and Navy briefing slides obtained by The War Zone via Freedom of Information Act requests. | Deck logs document what watchstanders observed and radar showed but do not by themselves determine every drone's origin or operator; several nights' events remain unattributed even in the released material. | [3] |
| Visible-light video | Night-vision-goggle and SLR camera recording of triangular lights, taken while a Navy vessel observed a swarm of unmanned aerial systems; presented by Navy officials to Congress in 2022. | Original | U.S. Navy | 2019 (recorded); 2022 (shown to Congress) | Unknown | Partial | Official Navy recording presented during sworn congressional testimony by the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence. | Navy officials themselves attribute the triangular appearance to the recording method (light passing through night-vision goggles, captured by an SLR camera); the underlying video has not been separately released to the public in full outside the hearing presentation. | [2] |
| Radar | Shipboard radar tracks associated with the July 2019 encounters, with some tracks reaching altitudes as high as 21,000 feet, per FOIA-released Navy documents. | Unknown | U.S. Navy | Not fully released; described in FOIA-released briefing materials | Unknown | Partial | Referenced in Navy briefing slides and incident summaries released under FOIA; raw radar track files were not included in the release. | Described only in summary form in released briefing materials; no raw track data has been published, and it is unclear whether all reported contacts represent a single class of object. | [3] |
Proposed explanations
Small unmanned aerial systems (UAS/drones), some possibly launched from a surface vessel
Proposed by U.S. Department of the Navy — Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray (2022 congressional testimony) and Navy intelligence assessments released under FOIA.
Supporting: Bray's sworn testimony states the Navy is "reasonably confident" that a multi-asset-observed triangular-light video correlates with unmanned aerial systems, with the triangular shape attributed to a night-vision/SLR recording artifact; separate FOIA-released Navy briefing materials assess that the MV Bass Strait was "likely conducting surveillance on Navy vessels using drones" during the July 14-15 encounters.
Contradicting: Some analysts note that the reported endurance (over 90 minutes aloft), coordinated group size (five to six simultaneous contacts), and ability to track a moving ship in poor visibility exceed the typical performance of commercially available consumer drones, and several nights' incidents (July 21, 25, and 30) were not conclusively attributed to a single operator in the released documents.
PlausibleUnidentified aerial phenomena of unknown or non-conventional origin
Proposed by Some media commentary and UAP researchers following initial reporting.
Supporting: None documented in official government material; based on the unusual reported performance characteristics that circulated before the FOIA releases and 2022 testimony.
Contradicting: Official Navy intelligence testimony and FOIA-released assessments attribute the best-documented encounters to conventional unmanned aerial systems, including a specific candidate vessel for several incidents.
RejectedWhy this classification?
This case is classified as Likely identified because Navy intelligence officials testified under oath that they are "reasonably confident" the best-documented triangular-light video correlates with conventional unmanned aerial systems, and FOIA-released Navy assessments separately attribute several of the July 2019 encounters to surveillance drones apparently launched from a specific merchant vessel. It stops short of Identified because not every night's encounter was conclusively attributed to an operator in the released material, and no single, comprehensive official report resolves the entire two-week series of events.
What remains unknown
- The specific operator and origin of the drones observed on nights (July 21, 25, and 30, 2019) not attributed to the MV Bass Strait or a similar candidate vessel in released documents.
- How the observed drones sustained flight for over ninety minutes and matched a destroyer's speed in low-visibility conditions, if they were conventional commercial-grade systems.
- Whether the full Navy investigation, which involved NCIS and the FBI, reached further conclusions beyond what has been released under FOIA.
Classification history
- 2019
Investigation opened; no public conclusion — U.S. Navy
Multiple destroyers reported the encounters; NCIS and the FBI were involved, but no findings were made public at the time.
- 2021
Unidentified as of April 2021 — U.S. Navy (Chief of Naval Operations)
Adm. Michael Gilday told reporters the Navy had not positively identified the objects.
- 2022
Reasonably confident: correlates with unmanned aerial systems — U.S. Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence
Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray, testimony to the House Intelligence Subcommittee.
- 2022
Several July 14-15 incidents attributed to surveillance drones launched from MV Bass Strait — U.S. Navy (FOIA-released assessment)
Disclosed in Navy briefing materials obtained by The War Zone via FOIA.
- 2026
Likely identified — Anomaly Index
Sources
- Primary source: Tier APreliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (opens in new tab)
Source provenance note
Unclassified ODNI assessment reviewing 144 UAP incidents reported by U.S. government sources from November 2004 to March 2021, including the 2019 series of vessel-swarm encounters off Southern California. Sets out five potential explanatory bins: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, U.S. government or industry programs, foreign adversary systems, and an "other" catch-all. Direct fetch of dni.gov returned HTTP 403 (site-level bot protection); content verified via a full-document mirror (7.6 MB PDF successfully retrieved and confirmed as the genuine file).
- Primary source: Tier AUnidentified Aerial Phenomena (hearing transcript, May 17, 2022) (opens in new tab)
Source provenance note
Testimony of Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald S. Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott W. Bray. Bray describes a night-vision/SLR-recorded video of triangular lights, taken while a U.S. Navy vessel observed "a swarm of unmanned aerial systems," and states the Navy is "reasonably confident that these triangles correlate to unmanned aerial systems in the area," with the triangular appearance attributed to light passing through night-vision goggles and being recorded by an SLR camera. Fetched and read directly in full (pages 1-20 examined); the document is a genuine, working congress.gov PDF.
- Credible secondary source: Tier BDrone Swarms That Harassed Navy Ships Off California Demystified In New Documents (opens in new tab)
Source provenance note
Investigative reporting built on U.S. Navy documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act request — briefing slides, incident reports, and deck-log excerpts — covering the July 2019 Channel Islands drone encounters and earlier/later incidents (March, July 21, July 25, July 30, 2019). Reports a Navy intelligence assessment that the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier MV Bass Strait was "likely conducting surveillance on Navy vessels using drones" during the July 14-15 encounters, while several other nights' incidents remained unattributed. Tier B: context and detail only; the incident's Tier A basis is the congressional testimony cited separately.