During a U.S. Marine Corps exercise, crew aboard USS Kearsarge observed lights maneuvering around the ship at night. The objects reportedly dodged counter-drone measures and returned over several days.
Operational context
Kearsarge was conducting PHIBRON-MEU Integrated Training in the W-122 warning area off North Carolina. Marine Low Altitude Air Defense platoons parked Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System trucks on the flight deck — each vehicle carried RADA RPS-42 radar and the Modi electronic-warfare jammer intended to disable small uncrewed aircraft.
Initial sightings
On 18 October 2021 deck watch standers reported two luminous spheres pacing the ship approximately 0.5 nautical miles astern at roughly 200 feet. Logs describe "shackle turns"—the pair repeatedly crossed paths while matching the ship's 20-knot course. Similar returns were logged on successive nights until 26 October.
Unclassified PowerPoint slides later released under FOIA show radar skin-paints marked as UAS UNKNOWN and video stills of twin orbs lacking strobe patterns required on conventional aircraft.1 The slides note zero acoustic signature and no Mode 3A or ADS-B transponder replies.
Competing assessments
Naval intelligence officers pointed to commercial multirotor platforms launched from nearby support vessels. War Zone writers Adam Kehoe and Marc Cecotti highlighted similarities with 2019 drone swarms off California, stressing Kearsarge's proximity to busy shipping lanes where hobbyist or covert ISR drones could operate.2
Filmmaker Dave Beaty published interviews with a retired Marine aviator who characterised the lights as "car-sized balls" immune to electronic attack, suggesting exotic propulsion.3
Skeptic Mick West argued the limited data — lights of unknown distance over a moving deck at night — allows for misidentification of distant aircraft whose nav lights appear stationary. He notes prior cases where pilots mistook high-altitude airliners for low-altitude drones.4
Status
By February 2022 the Navy forwarded all materials to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. No public attribution followed. As of 2025 the episode remains unresolved, split between mundane drone theories and advocates citing performance outside known capabilities.
Investigation
The Navy collected logs and sensor data, forwarding information to the UAP Task Force. No source was identified publicly, leaving the incidents unresolved. 2356714