PUBLIC RELEASE SOURCE REVIEW ยท INDEPENDENT ANALYTIC CASE FILE
CASE FILE 98 / 237UAP00523
237UAP00523
Multiple-witness public UAP report; score 8
IDENTIFIED NORMAL OBJECT
Report No.
UAP-OM-98-237UAP00523
Disposition
IDENTIFIED NORMAL OBJECT
Primary Case
237UAP00523
Generated
2026-05-20 18:32 UTC
Report Time
2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00
Observer
33.73706, -118.65365
Source Case IDs
237UAP00523
Abstract
This case file assesses whether the public UAP report can be reconciled with a specific launch object. The principal candidate is STARLINK-G6-15 STACK, propagated to azimuth 186.51 degrees, elevation 10.07 degrees, and range 1116.1 km at the report minute. The result is evaluated against the report's narrative language and assigned a identified confidence label.
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
237UAP00523 is assessed as an identified normal-object case. It was matched against a specific launch-object propagation. The best object is STARLINK-G6-15 STACK at azimuth 186.51 degrees, elevation 10.07 degrees, and range 1116.1 km at the report minute. This is a strong argument for a normal aerospace object over an exotic hypothesis.
1.1 Key Findings
Source score 8 based on: UAP/UFO language.
Report time used: 2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00.
External object layer used: launch-object.
Disposition standard: IDENTIFIED 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: specific propagated launch object above horizon.
Best object: STARLINK-G6-15 STACK at az 186.51 deg / el 10.07 deg / range 1116.1 km.
No explicit Starlink/balloon wording was found in the source excerpt used for ranking.
1.2 Bottom Line
IDENTIFIED NORMAL OBJECT: A specific object is above the horizon at the report minute and the visual description independently matches a launch-object profile. Residual uncertainty is mainly sensor/witness perspective, not gross spacetime mismatch.
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.
PRELIM INFO FROM FAA OPS: LOS ANGELES, CA/UFO-UAP ACTIVITY/2152P/LOS ANGELES ARTCC ADVISED DELTA 2054, B738, SFO - LAX, REPORTED AN UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENON WHILE S BOUND AT 14,200 FEET 20 SW LAX. PHENOMENON DESCRIBED AS MULTIPLE STATIONARY LIGHTS APPEARING TO BE SYNCHRONIZED. NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LEO NOTIFICATION NOT REPORTED. WOC 7-3333 MO/JG
Report time used
2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00
Observer coordinate used
33.73706, -118.65365
Observer source basis
(public text extract 237UAP00523)
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 https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/sup-gp.php?FILE=starlink-g6-15&FORMAT=tle. The analytic mode for this case is CelesTrak supplemental TLE launch-object propagation.
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.
STARLINK-G6-15 STACK was above the horizon at the report minute: az 186.51 deg, elevation 10.07 deg, range 1116.1 km.
Five minutes before the report it was low in the northwest: az 279.85 deg, elevation 1.01 deg.
Five minutes after the report it was below the southeast horizon: az 147.12 deg, elevation -7.31 deg.
The CelesTrak TLE epoch is close to the event window; this is much stronger than matching against mature Starlink constellation clutter.
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
2
SATCAT rows matched
0
Top owners
no matched SATCAT rows
Object types
no matched SATCAT rows
5.7 Space-Track Metadata for Top Propagated Objects
NORAD
Object Name
Type
Owner
Launch Date
Decay Date
No Space-Track SATCAT rows matched the top propagated objects for this case.
5.9 NASA / NOAA / ADS-B Expansion Layer
NASA POWER/Horizons/DONKI batch context had not yet been written for this case at packet build time.
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 2023-07-21, then filter +/-60 min and 250 nmi around 33.7371,-118.6537.
NASA POWER/Horizons/DONKI: batch context for 237UAP00523 at 2023-07-21T04:25:00+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.
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.
No nearby IGRA sounding was parsed within the +/-1 day window. 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
USM00072391
POINT MUGU/NAS
60.10
no sounding
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a at n/a 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.
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
2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00
Directly used in propagation; this is a hard filter, not descriptive context.
Location constraint
33.73706, -118.65365
Directly used as observer point for azimuth/elevation/range computation.
Count / pattern
three-object/light language present
Launch-object stack/single pair tested; report count language is secondary to rocket-like plume/stack geometry.
Motion language
stationary
Motion is tested through time-series samples around the report minute.
Radar / official check
not specified
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
identified
237UAP00523 is assessed as an identified normal-object case. It was matched against a specific launch-object propagation. The best object is STARLINK-G6-15 STACK at azimuth 186.51 degrees, elevation 10.07 degrees, and range 1116.1 km at the report minute. This is a strong argument for a normal aerospace object over an exotic hypothesis.
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.
Appendix A. Public Report Text Extracts
237UAP00523
Washington Operations Center
Date: 7/20/2023 9:25:00 PM (-07 PDT)
Title: DAL2054 UFO-UAP ACTIVITY 07-21-2023
Latitude: 33.737060970000002 Latitude: -118.65365079999999
DESCRIPTION
PRELIM INFO FROM FAA OPS: LOS ANGELES, CA/UFO-UAP ACTIVITY/2152P/LOS ANGELES ARTCC ADVISED DELTA
2054, B738, SFO - LAX, REPORTED AN UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENON WHILE S BOUND AT 14,200 FEET 20 SW
LAX. PHENOMENON DESCRIBED AS MULTIPLE STATIONARY LIGHTS APPEARING TO BE SYNCHRONIZED. NO
EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LEO NOTIFICATION NOT REPORTED. WOC 7-3333 MO/JG
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.
{
"mission": "Starlink Group 6-15",
"report_time_utc": "2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00",
"source_excerpt": "PRELIM INFO FROM FAA OPS: LOS ANGELES, CA/UFO-UAP ACTIVITY/2152P/LOS ANGELES ARTCC ADVISED DELTA 2054, B738, SFO - LAX, REPORTED AN UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENON WHILE S BOUND AT 14,200 FEET 20 SW LAX. PHENOMENON DESCRIBED AS MULTIPLE STATIONARY LIGHTS APPEARING TO BE SYNCHRONIZED. NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LEO NOTIFICATION NOT REPORTED. WOC 7-3333 MO/JG",
"celestrak_url": "https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/sup-gp.php?FILE=starlink-g6-15&FORMAT=tle",
"observer": {
"lat": 33.73706097,
"lon": -118.6536508,
"source": "(public text extract 237UAP00523)"
},
"case_id": "237UAP00523",
"interpretation": [
"STARLINK-G6-15 STACK was above the horizon at the report minute: az 186.51 deg, elevation 10.07 deg, range 1116.1 km.",
"Five minutes before the report it was low in the northwest: az 279.85 deg, elevation 1.01 deg.",
"Five minutes after the report it was below the southeast horizon: az 147.12 deg, elevation -7.31 deg.",
"The CelesTrak TLE epoch is close to the event window; this is much stronger than matching against mature Starlink constellation clutter."
],
"best_object": {
"name": "STARLINK-G6-15 STACK",
"event_sample": {
"altitude_km": 283.2,
"azimuth_deg": 186.51,
"elevation_deg": 10.07,
"offset_seconds": 0,
"range_km": 1116.1,
"subpoint_lat": 24.2626,
"subpoint_lon": -119.8282,
"time_utc": "2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00"
},
"line1": "1 72000C 23102A 23201.18352894 .00097926 00000+0 29140-3 0 09",
"line2": "2 72000 43.0026 100.0483 0022645 172.9158 352.6063 15.90948356 10",
"samples": [
{
"altitude_km": 289.0,
"azimuth_deg": 296.2,
"elevation_deg": -12.68,
"offset_seconds": -600,
"range_km": 3821.7,
"subpoint_lat": 41.7706,
"subpoint_lon": -160.7898,
"time_utc": "2023-07-21T04:15:00+00:00"
},
{
"altitude_km": 285.3,
"azimuth_deg": 279.85,
"elevation_deg": 1.01,
"offset_seconds": -300,
"range_km": 1845.0,
"subpoint_lat": 34.9706,
"subpoint_lon": -138.0538,
"time_utc": "2023-07-21T04:20:00+00:00"
},
{
"altitude_km": 283.2,
"azimuth_deg": 186.51,
"elevation_deg": 10.07,
"offset_seconds": 0,
"range_km": 1116.1,
"subpoint_lat": 24.2626,
"subpoint_lon": -119.8282,
"time_utc": "2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00"
},
{
"altitude_km": 282.9,
"azimuth_deg": 147.12,
"elevation_deg": -7.31,
"offset_seconds": 300,
"range_km": 2892.1,
"subpoint_lat": 11.4538,
"subpoint_lon": -104.8564,
"time_utc": "2023-07-21T04:30:00+00:00"
},
{
"altitude_km": 284.1,
"azimuth_deg": 138.67,
"elevation_deg": -19.0,
"offset_seconds": 600,
"range_km": 4894.1,
"subpoint_lat": -2.1825,
"subpoint_lon": -91.327,
"time_utc": "2023-07-21T04:35:00+00:00"
}
]
}
}
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: 237UAP00523
Time and observer coordinate
extracted
2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00 at 33.73706, -118.65365
Orbital object propagation
screened
Starlink
Space-Track SATCAT metadata
screened
2 NORAD IDs checked; 0 matched in local SATCAT subset
Launch-object/SupGP layer
screened
Starlink Group 6-15
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
not exhausted
Hourly weather, sky geometry, and space-weather context where local JSON is present
Aircraft/ADS-B layer
not exhausted
ADSB.lol historical release pattern is recorded separately; actual aircraft exhaustion requires targeted trace extraction
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
identified normal object
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 Catalog. Records from the Federal Aviation Administration Relating to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, National Archives Identifier 493468575.https://catalog.archives.gov/id/493468575
