DEPARTMENT OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY
NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE COMMAND

FILE 1578931 STATUS: CLASSIFIED LEVEL: SECRET

VFA-71

SUBJECT: F-35C ATLANTIC OPERATION INITIAL INCIDENT REPORT

1. On **** ** 2020, two F-35C Lightning II's intercepted a flight of approximately four unidentified flying objects detected by radar *** miles off the coast of ******* . Flying F-35C BUNO 098, BN 321 (Refer to as F-35 one) was Lieutenant ****** ****** , callsign "Silver" and flying F-35C BUNO 056, BN 323 (Refer to as F-35 two) was Lieutenant **** **********, Callsign "Devil". The flight flew under the callsign "Venom". At approximately **** hours, F-35 one reported the pair had merged and made visual contact with the unidentified objects but could not ID. At **** hours, two minutes after initial intercept, radar contact on all aircraft, including the two F-35s were lost. Attempts were made to hale Lt. ****** and her flight via radio and data link, however all attempts failed. The USS ********* immediately launched alert fighters ahead of SAR aircraft. At **** hours, five hours after initial intercept, a mayday call was made on 243.0 from "Navy 321" (F-35 one) stating she was "lost" with "partial avionics failure". ********* controllers were reportedly bewildered and confused because F-35 one should have run out of fuel three hours before this mayday call was made. F-35 one was located and intercepted at **** hours, by two EA-18G Growlers assisting with 'recovery' operations. EA-18 one, piloted by Lieutenant Commander ***** ********* and Lieutenant **** ********* , reported that the F-35 was confirmed to be one of the missing jets and also stated that "There wasn't even a scratch on it". At **** hours F-35 one landed on the USS ********* without further incident, with 9,000 pounds of fuel (roughly half tanks) on board despite being airborne for nearly six hours, and all weapon payload jettisoned. Please note that the investigation is ongoing.

2. Lieutenant ****** , after questioning, does not appear to have correct memory of the incident, stating that en route to interception she "...experienced a partial avionics failure..." and then "...suddenly became disoriented and lost...". Lt. ****** also claimed that the entire flight lasted an hour and a half, this matching the fuel on board as well as the data card collected from F-35 one. The Data card also showed that before the failure, the unidentified radar contacts were still 26 nautical miles away from the F-35 flight and NEVER merged. Audio records from the aircraft confirmed that Lt. ****** never made a "merged" call which conflicted with the USS ****** audio records where a female voice under the callsign "Venom 1-1" can clearly be heard making a "merged" call as stated in section 1 above. An in depth medical exam was conducted on Lt. ****** and no abnormalities were found. She has since been returned to flying status aboard the USS ********.

3. F-35C BUNO 056, BN 323 (F-35 two) and its pilot Lieutenant **** "Devil" ********** has not been located. All SAR and recovery operations have been postponed until further notice.

4. The circumstances behind the events remain unknown. Please have all forces operating within 200 NM of the area of interest on high alert at ALL TIMES.

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