PUBLIC RELEASE SOURCE REVIEW · INDEPENDENT ANALYTIC CASE FILE

CASE FILE 03 / 237UAP00326

237UAP00326

Radar/correlation-focused public UAP report; score 92

NORMAL-OBJECT FAVORED

Report No.	UAP-OM-03-237UAP00326	Disposition	NORMAL-OBJECT FAVORED
Primary Case	237UAP00326	Generated	2026-05-20 18:32 UTC
Report Time	2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00	Observer	42.82761, -99.88285
Source Case IDs	237UAP00326

Abstract

This case file evaluates a reported UAP sighting against the available orbital-object layer. No compact same-launch group fully identifies the file by itself. The final disposition is assigned under a normal-object favored standard, where ordinary aerospace/orbital explanations are preferred when they reasonably fit the report.

This is a standalone independent analysis prepared from public-source records and public orbital datasets. It is not an official government determination, classification marking, or agency-authored report.

1. Executive Summary

237UAP00326 is assessed as normal-object favored because the available public evidence gives a case-specific ordinary-object candidate: strong ADS-B aircraft candidate N41140 B752 a4dad4 at 22.0 km, azimuth 356.4 deg, elevation 26.38 deg, 1.09 min from report. Dense satellite presence alone is not treated as causation in this packet.

1.1 Key Findings

Source score 92 based on: radar/primary-return language, multiple aircraft/facility witnesses, negative official correlation, high-altitude report, UAP/UFO language.
Report time used: 2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00.
External object layer used: public LEO catalog objects.
Disposition standard: NORMAL-OBJECT requires case-specific causal fit. Satellite density above the horizon is context only and cannot by itself resolve the report.
Case-specific ordinary-object evidence: strong ADS-B aircraft candidate N41140 B752 a4dad4 at 22.0 km, azimuth 356.4 deg, elevation 26.38 deg, 1.09 min from report.
Non-causal context / rejection screens: very dense orbital-object sky background; context only, not causation.
Objects above horizon: 1197; at/above 10 deg: 597.
No compact same-launch/designator group survived the report threshold.
No explicit Starlink/balloon wording was found in the source excerpt used for ranking.

1.2 Bottom Line

NORMAL-OBJECT FAVORED: A case-specific ordinary-object candidate exists from source language, orbital geometry, launch-object context, or compact trajectory grouping. Dense ordinary sky traffic alone is not treated as causation.

2. Source Control

The source-control table identifies the public report records reviewed for this case and lists public access links where available. The table is included so this PDF remains interpretable when distributed by itself.

Case ID	Report Date Field	Facility / Title	Text Extract	Public PDF Link
237UAP00326	03:15 12/03/2023 Callsign: N461GT Origin: TEB	ZDV Operator: Operator Type: General Aviation	text extract present	237UAP00326.pdf

3. Original Report Evidence

Primary excerpt used for matching	Aircraft reported an unidentified aerial phenomenon while W bound at FL430, 57NM WNW of ONL. The unknown phenomenon was spinning flashing lights below their altitude. The UAP was not observed on ATC facility radar system. Additional aircraft described the phenomenon as triangular in shape and very bright. AWO advised.
Report time used	2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00
Observer coordinate used	42.82761, -99.88285
Observer source basis	aviation_offset:57NM WNW of ONL (public text extract 237UAP00326)

4. Methodology

Spacetime extraction. The report time and observer coordinate were extracted from the public text report and normalized to UTC. Aviation fixes/radials were resolved during earlier preprocessing where applicable.
External object dataset. The object layer used historical Space-Track/TLE-derived public LEO catalog objects element rows. The analytic mode for this case is historical public LEO catalog objects element propagation and same-launch/designator sky grouping.
Propagation. Orbital elements were propagated to the report minute and observer location. For launch-object checks, samples around the report minute were retained. For Starlink group checks, objects above the horizon were clustered by sky position and filtered for same-launch groupings.
Comparison. The output was compared against the report's count of lights, direction cue, motion language, altitude/radar language, and whether the file itself already suggested a satellite explanation.
Causation standard. Mere object presence above the horizon is treated as background context only. A normal-object disposition requires a case-specific causal fit, such as a named launch object, a compact same-launch trajectory group, or source language that directly supports that object class.
Disposition assignment. Identified means a specific normal object fits the report spacetime and the hard reported features do not materially conflict. Normal-object favored means a case-specific ordinary aerospace/orbital candidate exists, but it is not a full named identification. Insufficient means the file is too thin to carry high anomaly value. High-value unresolved is used when radar, video, rapid maneuver, or multi-witness features remain after reasonable normal-object checks.

5. External Object Evidence

5.1 Search Volume and Density

This table is a screening layer only. Objects above the horizon show background opportunity; they do not establish causation unless a specific object or compact trajectory group matches the reported behavior.

public LEO catalog objects catalog IDs considered	19367	Historical element rows	19367
Above horizon at report minute	1197	At/above 10 deg	597
Largest same-sky cluster	597

No compact same-launch/designator group survived the report threshold. In this condition, satellite density remains context only and cannot by itself resolve a report with hard features.

5.2 Same-Launch / Same-Designator Candidate Groups

#	Launch Date	Count	Azimuth Span	Elevation Span	Motion Labels	Members
No same-launch group identified.

5.3 Primary Group Members

Object	NORAD	Launch	Az	El	Range km	Apparent Motion	Element Age h
No members available.

5.4 Bright-Sky Context: Top public LEO catalog objects Objects by Elevation

Object	Az	El	Range km	Apparent Motion	Launch Date
NORAD 32432	222.0	84.75	626.74	eastward, setting	99025DAU
NORAD 43358	185.67	84.72	1313.05	eastward, setting	99025EYP
NORAD 43156	215.28	82.19	459.77	eastward, setting	18008B
NORAD 39321	171.95	82.17	1200.97	eastward, setting	94029AFG
NORAD 22198	141.59	81.72	1682.18	eastward, setting	91009CS
NORAD 31273	359.13	80.02	760.74	westward, setting	99025BNF
NORAD 3752	294.48	78.09	1232.24	eastward, setting	61015JE
NORAD 55176	74.58	77.24	1249.54	eastward, setting	23004AN
NORAD 53	249.39	75.71	1719.94	eastward, rising	60009E
NORAD 7038	148.98	75.55	1666.21	eastward, setting	73086AE
NORAD 22441	15.63	74.51	975.99	eastward, setting	92093EJ
NORAD 7654	352.77	73.32	1056.09	eastward, setting	75010C

5.5 Largest Sky Clusters

#	Count	Azimuth Span	Elevation Span	Motion Labels
1	597	0.4-359.99 deg	10.0-84.75 deg	eastward, level, eastward, rising, eastward, setting, nearly fixed azimuth, rising, nearly fixed azimuth, setting, westward, level, westward, rising, westward, setting

5.6 Space-Track SATCAT Enrichment

Space-Track SATCAT metadata was pulled as a cached subset for NORAD catalog IDs appearing in this packet's evidence tables. This section adds owner/type/status context to the propagated object candidates.

Packet SATCAT subset rows	5370	Fetched	2026-05-19T01:19:50+00:00
This case NORAD IDs checked	30	SATCAT rows matched	30
Top owners	US: 13, CIS: 7, PRC: 7, UK: 2, FR: 1
Object types	DEBRIS: 18, PAYLOAD: 12

5.7 Space-Track Metadata for Top Propagated Objects

NORAD	Object Name	Type	Owner	Launch Date	Decay Date
32432	FENGYUN 1C DEB	DEBRIS	PRC	1999-05-10	n/a
43358	FENGYUN 1C DEB	DEBRIS	PRC	1999-05-10	n/a
43156	ZHOU ENLAI	PAYLOAD	PRC	2018-01-19	2024-07-16
39321	PEGASUS DEB	DEBRIS	US	1994-05-19	n/a
22198	SL-8 DEB	DEBRIS	CIS	1991-02-12	n/a
31273	FENGYUN 1C DEB	DEBRIS	PRC	1999-05-10	2025-04-22
3752	THOR ABLESTAR DEB	DEBRIS	US	1961-06-29	n/a
55176	ONEWEB-0715	PAYLOAD	UK	2023-01-10	n/a
53	ECHO 1 DEB (METAL OBJ)	DEBRIS	US	1960-08-12	n/a
7038	DELTA 1 DEB	DEBRIS	US	1973-11-06	n/a
22441	SL-16 DEB	DEBRIS	CIS	1992-12-25	n/a
7654	DIAMANT B-P4 DEB	DEBRIS	FR	1975-02-06	n/a

5.9 NASA / NOAA / ADS-B Expansion Layer

This source layer adds free NASA context that was previously missing from most packet cases. It is contextual evidence; it does not replace aircraft, satellite, balloon, or radar causation tests.

Hour UTC	2023120303
Cloud amount	1.2%
Precipitation	0.0 mm/hr
10 m wind	2.88 m/s
Temperature	-1.72 C
Relative humidity	82.03%
DONKI +/-1 day	CME: 11; FLR: 0; GST: 0

5.10 Horizons Sky Geometry Context

Object	Az	El	App Mag
Sun	281.57	-44.87	-26.77
Moon	54.13	-8.08	-10.80
Venus	348.99	-55.47	-4.18
Mars	286.19	-47.99	1.40
Jupiter	153.25	57.26	-2.81
Saturn	229.10	20.03	0.87

Sun elevation was -44.9 deg, so this was a dark-sky/nighttime sighting.
Moon was below horizon at elevation -8.1 deg.
Planets above horizon: Jupiter (57.3 deg), Saturn (20.0 deg).
NASA POWER cloud amount for the hour was 1.2%, with precipitation 0.0 mm/hr.
DONKI event counts in +/-1 day: GST=0, FLR=0, CME=11.

5.11 Free Source Availability and Remaining Work

Layer	Status	Case-Specific Note
ADSB.lol historical release listing	screened/present	planes-readsb-staging-0 1313.2 MiB; planes-readsb-prod-0 1313.2 MiB
ADSB tracks downloaded	not yet exhausted	Requires targeted extraction from large daily history archives before claiming aircraft exhaustion.
NOAA GOES imagery	not yet exhausted	Needed for cloud/lightning visual context.
NOAA GOES ABI/GLM manifest	screened/present	Public S3 object availability for the report hour.
NOAA NEXRAD weather radar	not yet exhausted	Weather radar only; not ATC radar.
NOAA IGRA radiosonde	screened/present	Needed for balloon drift plausibility.
ASOS/METAR weather observations	screened/present	Nearest station surface observations around report time.

ADSB.lol historical: extract aircraft traces from adsblol/globe_history_2023 for 2023-12-03, then filter +/-60 min and 250 nmi around 42.8276,-99.8829.
NASA POWER/Horizons/DONKI: batch context for 237UAP00326 at 2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00.
NOAA GOES: pull nearest ABI/GLM products for the UTC hour and render cloud/lightning map.
NOAA NEXRAD: select nearest radar stations and render Level-II/III weather radar sweep around event time.
NOAA IGRA: find nearest radiosonde station launches bracketing the event and model wind drift for balloon-like descriptions.
Space-Track gp_history/decay: fetch exact historical element rows and decay/reentry status for top candidate NORAD IDs.

5.12 Weather, Imagery, and Balloon Query Plan

This plan identifies the concrete free sources needed for the next case-specific weather and balloon checks. These are not treated as completed exclusions until the data are downloaded and plotted.

GOES satellite	GOES16
GOES ABI prefix	https://noaa-goes16.s3.amazonaws.com/ABI-L2-CMIPF/2023/337/03/
GOES GLM lightning prefix	https://noaa-goes16.s3.amazonaws.com/GLM-L2-LCFA/2023/337/03/

5.13 Nearest Weather-Airport Candidates

Station	Name	Distance km	Coordinate
KVTN	Miller Field	54.40	42.86, -100.55
KPIR	Pierre Regional Airport	175.90	44.38, -100.29
KLBF	North Platte Regional Airport Lee Bird Field	200.40	41.13, -100.68
KYKN	Chan Gurney Municipal Airport	203.70	42.92, -97.39
KHON	Huron Regional Airport	218.50	44.39, -98.23

5.14 Nearest Radiosonde Stations

Station	Name	Distance km	Coordinate
USM00072562	NORTH PLATTE/LEE BIRD; NE.	200.20	41.13, -100.70
USM00072662	RAPID CITY WFO; SD.	302.20	44.07, -103.21
USM00072659	ABERDEEN/REG.; SD.	314.90	45.46, -98.41
USM00072558	VALLEY; NE.	335.10	41.32, -96.37
USM00072764	BISMARCK/MUN.; ND.	444.00	46.77, -100.76

5.15 ASOS/METAR Surface Weather Observations

surface visibility ranged 10-10 statute miles; no precipitation was reported in the retained observations; no low broken/overcast cloud ceiling was evident in the retained station observations. Surface ASOS/METAR observations describe airport-level weather and visibility; they do not by themselves prove conditions at the sighting altitude or line of sight.

Station	Distance km	Nearest obs UTC	Vis SM	Sky	Wind deg/kt	METAR
KVTN	54.40	2023-12-03T02:52:00+00:00	10.00	CLR, M, M, M	220.00 / 6.00	KVTN 030252Z AUTO 22006KT 10SM CLR M06/M08 A2970 RMK AO2 SLP092 T10611078 58001
KPIR	175.90	2023-12-03T02:53:00+00:00	10.00	CLR, M, M, M	170.00 / 3.00	KPIR 030253Z AUTO 17003KT 10SM CLR M04/M06 A2967 RMK AO2 SLP069 T10391056 58007
KLBF	200.40	2023-12-03T02:53:00+00:00	10.00	CLR, M, M, M	310.00 / 3.00	KLBF 030253Z AUTO 31003KT 10SM CLR M04/M06 A2974 RMK AO2 SLP098 T10391061 51000 $

5.16 NOAA IGRA Radiosonde Wind Profile

Nearest sounding implies mean 0-12 km wind drift toward 303.8 deg at 14.61 m/s; a passive balloon could drift about 105.2 km in two hours under this crude layer-average model. Radiosonde winds are sparse station soundings; balloon drift remains approximate without launch time, ascent rate, object altitude, and exact line-of-sight bearing.

Station	Name	Distance km	Sounding UTC	Mean drift bearing	Mean speed m/s	2h drift km	Max wind
USM00072562	NORTH PLATTE/LEE BIRD; NE.	200.20	2023-12-03T00:00:00+00:00	303.80	14.61	105.20	33.70 at 28630.00 m

5.17 NOAA GOES ABI/GLM Public File Manifest

GOES public S3 objects are listed for the report hour where available. This is an availability manifest, not yet a rendered satellite image.

Satellite	GOES16	Bucket	noaa-goes16
ABI sample files	12	GLM sample files	12

ABI sample objects:

GLM lightning sample objects:

5.18 ADSB.lol Historical Aircraft Track Extraction

This layer uses the downloaded ADSB.lol daily history archive to test actual aircraft tracks near the report coordinate and minute. It is not treated as a primary-radar substitute; it is a transponder/receiver-derived aircraft screen.

Archive window	2023-12-03T02:00:00+00:00 to 2023-12-03T04:30:00+00:00	Radius	300.00 nmi
Trace files scanned	39286	Tracks retained	675
Support status	aircraft strong candidate present	Best-candidate note	ordinary-object favored if the report's count, color, direction, and motion can be reconciled with the candidate track(s).
Strong candidates	4	Plausible candidates	27
Reporting-aircraft tracks excluded	3	Weak candidates	58

5.19 Top ADS-B Candidate Tracks

Aircraft	Status	Score	Min dist km	Nearest dt min	Alt ft	Az	El
N41140 B752 a4dad4	strong aircraft candidate	89.39	21.20	0.11	36000	356.40	26.38
C-GEPF B38M c050c4	strong aircraft candidate	87.46	12.40	3.86	36000	3.50	38.82
C-FCNW B738 c006b1	strong aircraft candidate	86.54	23.30	0.07	36000	199.90	25.13
N58101 B752 a77c11	strong aircraft candidate	82.04	25.00	0.08	40000	148.70	25.25
N461GT GLF4 a59dfa	reporting aircraft track; excluded from support counts	88.80	12.50	0.54	43000	321.30	40.66
N927DZ B739 acd88e	reporting aircraft track; excluded from support counts	88.61	4.40	0.01	35000	125.70	67.39
N368FR A20N a42a91	plausible aircraft candidate	66.29	85.80	0.09	38000	171.30	6.60
N513DA A21N a66ce0	plausible aircraft candidate	65.17	98.00	0.04	32000	20.20	5.24

6. Annotated Evidence Figure

Annotated orbital object figure — Generated figure copied from the local evidence-plot output. It is included as an analytic visualization, not as original sensor imagery.

7. Analytic Comparison

Criterion	Report Evidence	Analytic Treatment
Time constraint	2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00	Directly used in propagation; this is a hard filter, not descriptive context.
Location constraint	42.82761, -99.88285	Directly used as observer point for azimuth/elevation/range computation.
Count / pattern	not explicit	No compact same-launch count match; retained for unresolved report features.
Motion language	not explicit	Apparent motion labels in the object table provide a plausible but not definitive comparison.
Radar / official check	not observed on ATC radar	No ATC radar return can be consistent with distant orbital objects or visual aircraft-light hypotheses, but it does not prove the match.
Analytic disposition	normal-object	237UAP00326 is assessed as normal-object favored because the available public evidence gives a case-specific ordinary-object candidate: strong ADS-B aircraft candidate N41140 B752 a4dad4 at 22.0 km, azimuth 356.4 deg, elevation 26.38 deg, 1.09 min from report. Dense satellite presence alone is not treated as causation in this packet.

8. Caveats, Limitations, and Collection Gaps

No raw cockpit video, ATC replay, radar plot, or witness interview transcript was reviewed unless explicitly stated in the public source text.
Aviation-derived coordinates can represent a nearby fix/radial or report point, not necessarily the actual line-of-sight intercept point.
Starlink visibility depends on illumination, observer altitude, atmospheric conditions, and apparent brightness; this analysis tests geometry, not photometry. No brightness model is used unless explicitly stated elsewhere in the case file.
TLE propagation is appropriate for screening and reconstruction but is not a substitute for authoritative operational ephemerides.
When many satellites are above the horizon, generic presence is weak evidence and is not treated as causation. The report emphasizes named launch-object checks or compact same-launch trajectory groups.
Normal-object favored is not the same as a perfect named-object identification; it requires a case-specific ordinary-object candidate stronger than simple object density.

Appendix A. Public Report Text Extracts

237UAP00326

SKYWATCH INCIDENT REPORT



PRIMARY CODE: UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENON
Date: 03:15 12/03/2023                      Callsign: N461GT                             Origin: TEB
Status: Closed                              Aircraft: GLF4                               Destination: RNO
POD: DEN                                    Tail Number:                                 New Destination:
Reporting Facility: ZDV                     Operator:                                    Operator Type: General Aviation
                                            Paged: YES                                   MOR Init: YES
                                                                                         MOR ID: ZDV-M-2023/12/02-0004




REMARKS

Aircraft reported an unidentified aerial phenomenon while W bound at FL430, 57NM WNW of ONL. The unknown phenomenon
was spinning flashing lights below their altitude. The UAP was not observed on ATC facility radar system. Additional aircraft
described the phenomenon as triangular in shape and very bright. AWO advised.




SKYWATCH INCIDENT REPORT | DATE: 2023-12-03T03:15 | POD: DEN | PAGE 1 of 1

Appendix B. Computational Evidence Digest

This appendix preserves the principal computed values used in the assessment, shortened to the fields most relevant to audit and review.

{
  "report_time_utc": "2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00",
  "source_excerpt": "Aircraft reported an unidentified aerial phenomenon while W bound at FL430, 57NM WNW of ONL. The unknown phenomenon was spinning flashing lights below their altitude. The UAP was not observed on ATC facility radar system. Additional aircraft described the phenomenon as triangular in shape and very bright. AWO advised.",
  "historical_starlink_element_rows": 19367,
  "observer": {
    "lat": 42.827610109451896,
    "lon": -99.88285421962945,
    "source": "aviation_offset:57NM WNW of ONL (public text extract 237UAP00326)"
  },
  "case_id": "237UAP00326",
  "starlink_above_horizon_at_report_time": 1197,
  "starlink_catalog_ids_considered": 19367,
  "largest_same-sky_cluster_count": 597,
  "starlink_at_or_above_10_deg": 597,
  "top_starlinks": [
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 222.0,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 343.7,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 346.16,
      "element_age_hours": 5.21,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-02T22:02:23.166816+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 84.75,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 32.65,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 6.91,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 624.93,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 346.46,
      "ground_track_label": "NNW",
      "launch_date": "99025DAU",
      "launch_designator": "99025DAU",
      "name": "NORAD 32432",
      "norad_id": "32432",
      "range_km": 626.74,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 42.4777,
      "subpoint_lon": -100.3077
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 185.67,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 194.13,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 195.2,
      "element_age_hours": 10.05,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T13:18:10.655136+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 84.72,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 51.14,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 21.78,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 846.32,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 195.17,
      "ground_track_label": "SSW",
      "launch_date": "99025EYP",
      "launch_designator": "99025EYP",
      "name": "NORAD 43358",
      "norad_id": "43358",
      "range_km": 1313.05,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 41.9304,
      "subpoint_lon": -100.0021
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 215.28,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 345.13,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 347.58,
      "element_age_hours": 0.18,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T03:03:55.061568+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 82.19,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 24.38,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 2.17,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 455.77,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 347.85,
      "ground_track_label": "NNW",
      "launch_date": "18008B",
      "launch_designator": "18008B",
      "name": "NORAD 43156",
      "norad_id": "43156",
      "range_km": 459.77,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 42.3987,
      "subpoint_lon": -100.2917
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 171.95,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 172.95,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 173.44,
      "element_age_hours": 28.34,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-01T22:54:29.972448+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 82.17,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 47.42,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 18.99,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 608.09,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 173.32,
      "ground_track_label": "S",
      "launch_date": "94029AFG",
      "launch_designator": "94029AFG",
      "name": "NORAD 39321",
      "norad_id": "39321",
      "range_km": 1200.97,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 41.599,
      "subpoint_lon": -99.6513
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 141.59,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 156.74,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 159.55,
      "element_age_hours": 13.07,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T16:19:21.123840+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 81.72,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 56.71,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 30.79,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 1437.79,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 162.16,
      "ground_track_label": "SSE",
      "launch_date": "91009CS",
      "launch_designator": "91009CS",
      "name": "NORAD 22198",
      "norad_id": "22198",
      "range_km": 1682.18,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 41.4642,
      "subpoint_lon": -98.4539
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 359.13,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 197.17,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 195.97,
      "element_age_hours": 1.56,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T01:41:11.791104+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 80.02,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 42.17,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 11.35,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 669.35,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 194.53,
      "ground_track_label": "SSW",
      "launch_date": "99025BNF",
      "launch_designator": "99025BNF",
      "name": "NORAD 31273",
      "norad_id": "31273",
      "range_km": 760.74,
      "sky_motion_label": "westward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 43.8888,
      "subpoint_lon": -99.9052
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 294.48,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 13.53,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 24.58,
      "element_age_hours": 1.85,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T01:24:09.011232+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 78.09,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 54.17,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 24.83,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 925.39,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 29.1,
      "ground_track_label": "NNE",
      "launch_date": "61015JE",
      "launch_designator": "61015JE",
      "name": "NORAD 3752",
      "norad_id": "3752",
      "range_km": 1232.24,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 43.6,
      "subpoint_lon": -102.2943
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 74.58,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 160.36,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 172.15,
      "element_age_hours": 9.85,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-02T17:23:59.216352+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 77.24,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 54.37,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 23.9,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 1223.62,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 180.64,
      "ground_track_label": "S",
      "launch_date": "23004AN",
      "launch_designator": "23004AN",
      "name": "NORAD 55176",
      "norad_id": "55176",
      "range_km": 1249.54,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 43.3488,
      "subpoint_lon": -97.1275
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 249.39,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 62.84,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 66.2,
      "element_age_hours": 4.3,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-02T22:56:59.521344+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 75.71,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 77.47,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 44.36,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 1531.85,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 63.73,
      "ground_track_label": "ENE",
      "launch_date": "60009E",
      "launch_designator": "60009E",
      "name": "NORAD 53",
      "norad_id": "53",
      "range_km": 1719.94,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, rising",
      "subpoint_lat": 41.6994,
      "subpoint_lon": -103.6657
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 148.98,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 182.66,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 191.27,
      "element_age_hours": 11.1,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T14:20:50.917920+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 75.55,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 52.84,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 27.9,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 1478.8,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 199.39,
      "ground_track_label": "SSW",
      "launch_date": "73086AE",
      "launch_designator": "73086AE",
      "name": "NORAD 7038",
      "norad_id": "7038",
      "range_km": 1666.21,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 40.2526,
      "subpoint_lon": -97.8746
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 15.63,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 22.12,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 23.72,
      "element_age_hours": 0.1,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T03:20:55.692672+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 74.51,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 37.73,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 13.32,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 825.28,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 24.54,
      "ground_track_label": "NNE",
      "launch_date": "92093EJ",
      "launch_designator": "92093EJ",
      "name": "NORAD 22441",
      "norad_id": "22441",
      "range_km": 975.99,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 44.7925,
      "subpoint_lon": -99.11
    },
    {
      "azimuth_deg": 352.77,
      "azimuth_plus_2m_deg": 47.92,
      "azimuth_plus_5m_deg": 58.37,
      "element_age_hours": 4.82,
      "element_epoch": "2023-12-03T08:04:27.590880+00:00",
      "elevation_deg": 73.32,
      "elevation_plus_2m_deg": 44.35,
      "elevation_plus_5m_deg": 17.2,
      "epoch_altitude_km": 791.97,
      "ground_track_bearing_deg": 64.82,
      "ground_track_label": "ENE",
      "launch_date": "75010C",
      "launch_designator": "75010C",
      "name": "NORAD 7654",
      "norad_id": "7654",
      "range_km": 1056.09,
      "sky_motion_label": "eastward, setting",
      "subpoint_lat": 45.16

Appendix C. Source Exhaustion Checklist

This checklist records which source layers were actually applied to this individual report. It separates checked evidence from unexhausted collection gaps so the disposition is auditable when the PDF is read alone.

Source Layer	Status	Case-Specific Note
NARA public UAP/FAA report	reviewed	Source IDs: 237UAP00326
Time and observer coordinate	extracted	2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00 at 42.82761, -99.88285
Orbital object propagation	screened	public LEO catalog objects
Space-Track SATCAT metadata	screened	30 NORAD IDs checked; 30 matched in local SATCAT subset
Launch-object/SupGP layer	not applicable	not a launch-object case
NASA/JPL known small-body layer	not selected	CAD/Horizons secondary screen included when this case had NEO-relevant timing/geometry
NASA POWER/Horizons/DONKI context	screened	Hourly weather, sky geometry, and space-weather context where local JSON is present
Aircraft/ADS-B layer	screened	39286 trace files scanned; 675 tracks retained; aircraft strong candidate present
NOAA GOES imagery layer	not exhausted	Cloud/lightning imagery layer for the report hour
NOAA GOES ABI/GLM manifest	screened	Public S3 object listing for the report hour
NOAA/NEXRAD weather radar layer	not exhausted	Weather radar only; not ATC/primary radar
NOAA IGRA radiosonde layer	screened	Balloon drift plausibility layer
ASOS/METAR surface weather	screened	Nearest station visibility, cloud, wind, precipitation, and METAR observations
Weather/balloon source plan	planned	Nearest weather-airport, GOES, and radiosonde queries are listed where local plan JSON is present
Final analytic disposition	normal-object favored	Presence-only satellite density is context only; a stronger case-specific fit is required for normal-object disposition

References and Source Links

National Archives and Records Administration. Records Related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) at the National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/research/topics/uaps
National Archives and Records Administration. Record Group 615: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection. https://www.archives.gov/research/topics/uaps/rg-615
National Archives and Records Administration. Bulk Downloads for Records Related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs). https://www.archives.gov/research/catalog/catalog-bulk-downloads/uap-bulk-download
National Archives Catalog. Records from the Federal Aviation Administration Relating to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, National Archives Identifier 493468575. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/493468575
National Archives direct digital object. 237UAP00326.pdf, FAA UAP report record copied from RG 615 bulk digital objects. https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-615/493468575/237UAP00326.pdf
Hugging Face dataset. oxzoid/space-track-tle-history: historical TLE archive used for public LEO catalog objects screening. https://huggingface.co/datasets/oxzoid/space-track-tle-history
Space-Track.org. Public source for the underlying U.S. Space Surveillance Network TLE distribution referenced by the historical TLE archive. https://www.space-track.org/
Space-Track.org. API documentation for SATCAT and catalog metadata classes used for local enrichment. https://www.space-track.org/documentation#/api
NASA POWER. Hourly point API documentation for meteorological context. https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/hourly/
NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics. Horizons API documentation for observer geometry and apparent magnitude queries. https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/horizons.html
NASA. DONKI space weather API documentation. https://api.nasa.gov/
ADSB.lol. Interactive API documentation and OpenAPI definition. https://api.adsb.lol/docs
ADSB.lol. Historical open-data release documentation. https://www.adsb.lol/docs/open-data/historical/
OpenSky Network. REST API documentation. https://openskynetwork.github.io/opensky-api/rest.html
OpenSky Network. Historical data via Trino documentation. https://openskynetwork.github.io/opensky-api/trino.html
NASA GIBS. Global Imagery Browse Services API documentation. https://nasa-gibs.github.io/gibs-api-docs/
NASA Earthdata. Common Metadata Repository search API documentation. https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/site/docs/search/api.html
NOAA / AWS Open Data. GOES public dataset registry. https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-goes/
NOAA / AWS Open Data. NEXRAD public dataset registry. https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-nexrad/
NOAA NCEI. Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/weather-balloon/integrated-global-radiosonde-archive
Iowa Environmental Mesonet. ASOS/AWOS/METAR data download service. https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/request/download.phtml
CelesTrak. Spacetrack Report No. 3: Models for propagation of NORAD element sets. https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/spacetrk.pdf
CelesTrak. Supplemental GP element sets documentation and current endpoint index. https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/