During evening training operations west of San Diego, sailors aboard destroyer USS Russell recorded green-tinted video showing three luminous triangles hovering above the water.1 The shapes, produced by an out-of-focus lens, nevertheless triggered a formal Navy investigation into an apparently coordinated swarm of small unmanned aircraft operating around multiple warships.2
Drone swarm context
From March through July 2019 at least eight Navy vessels reported persistent quadcopter activity in the Southern California operating area.3 On 14-15 July Russell, Bunker Hill, Paul Hamilton, and Ralph Johnson logged hours-long overflights at altitudes up to 700 feet.4 Deck logs, FLIR captures, and AN/SPY-1 tracks documented objects maneuvering well beyond typical hobby-drone endurance.
Timeline
Investigation
Ship logs, radio-frequency captures, and FOIA-released briefings link several sightings to Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier MV Bass Strait, believed to be conducting intelligence collection.5 Counter-UAS drills followed, including live 5-inch gunnery and deployment of handheld "ghostbuster" jammers. The Pentagon later confirmed the night-vision video was genuine Navy imagery under UAP Task Force review.6
Optics and identification
Naval Intelligence briefers concluded the triangular outline resulted from the camera's bokeh effect; the actual craft were conventional multirotor drones displaying navigation strobes. No evidence of extraordinary performance was recorded.
Significance
The 2019 incidents highlighted the fleet's limited organic counter-drone capacity near home waters and prompted accelerated fielding of portable jammers and directed-energy systems. Congressional UAP hearings cited the case as a solved example in which sensor correlation and follow-on swarms enabled positive identification.7
Incident dossier
Analysis
SNOOPIE teams aboard USS Russell recorded the footage on 15 July 2019. Surface-search radar tracked up to eleven quadcopters manoeuvring to 21 000 ft, while AN/SPY-1 logs captured persistent returns over four hours.8
Subsequent FOIA releases include deck logs, DRAKE jammer activation records, and bridge voice reports. Separate Navy photographs depict MV Bass Strait, a Hong Kong-flagged bulker suspected of acting as a control platform during two of the swarm nights.11
Optical experts note that Gen-3 night-vision goggles fitted with a triangular aperture produce the "pyramid" shape when bright point sources fall outside focus. Frame-by-frame speed, flash sequence, and star background align with a Boeing 737 on approach to Los Angeles International.10
The UAP Task Force therefore catalogued the episode as an identified drone/aircraft event rather than unexplained phenomena.8