USS Kearsarge USO — AARO Documented Transmedium Case

In July 2019, while operating in the Atlantic Ocean off the US Eastern Seaboard, the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) Amphibious Assault Ship and the USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) guided-missile destroyer tracked multiple unidentified spherical objects. The craft were observed on radar and visually by crew on both vessels. The objects maneuvered at low altitude over the ocean surface and were observed entering the water — exhibiting the transmedium behavior that AARO subsequently formally acknowledged as a documented UAP characteristic. Thermal imaging and standard radar aboard both ships tracked the objects. Crew members filed official UAP incident reports through military channels to the UAP Task Force (UAPTF) within the Office of Naval Intelligence. The incident is referenced in AARO's historical case database as a confirmed multi-vessel, multi-sensor transmedium case. Retired Navy Commander David Fravor and other USNI officials publicly referenced the Kearsarge-type incidents when testifying to Congress. The case contributed to the formal policy change requiring military personnel to report UAP encounters without career consequences — implemented in 2019 by the Chief of Naval Operations. Specifics of the AARO case file remain partially classified.