A disk-shaped object longer than the Empire State Building appeared on the horizon of Ukraine's embattled Donetsk province last Friday, eerily still hovering a mile above the ground, a soldier told
This soldier, a drone operator, had carefully guided his infrared quadcopter 500 feet for a reconnaissance mission while battling strong winds when he suddenly spotted the flat, 1,300-foot-long UFO standing motionless despite those winds.
In an interview from the war zone, the soldier, part of the Ukrainian army's 406th battalion, said he and his comrades had “never seen anything like this before.”
“At first I thought it was something new that the Russians had invented,” he added, “but then I realized… 'No!' It could be [a] UFO.''
The “plane” was 36 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than any other object this 406th drone pilot said he had ever tracked in the war zone – ruling out atmospheric phenomena, balloons and known enemy aircraft, he claimed.
“Why isn't it moving?” Troops from Ukraine's 406th Battalion are heard debating as they witness a large UFO hovering deadly calm over their war zone
The “plane” was 36 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than any other object the Ukrainian military drone operator (above) tracked in the war zone – excluding atmospheric phenomena, balloons and known enemy aircraft, he told through an interpreter
“We were surprised, very surprised,” the soldier, whose first name is Vadym, recalled through an interpreter.
But Vadym told that this “surprise” was not real fear because he and his comrades had to learn to suppress those emotions while trying to defend Ukraine from a now two-year-old invasion by Russia.
“On February 24, 2022, we got scared,” Vadym said. “After that, we won’t be afraid of anything anymore.”
The 406th drone pilot said he took his craft about “a few miles” into his reconnaissance mission before spotting the UFO.
“I really looked and saw that,” Vadym said.
“After 30 seconds we decided to film it. “All the emotions we had in that moment can be seen in the video…you can hear it.”
As Vadym and his comrades from the 406th Unit tried to make sense of the apparent object, their confusion is palpable in the 17-second video shared exclusively with this week.
Between the cursing (“Holy shit”) and the excitement (“What the fuck is that?”), a member of the battalion asks, “Why isn’t it moving?”
Another wonders: 'Why can't he fire missiles at us?' What do you mean?'
Aside from the object's unusual heat signature, it appeared to withstand the strong winds better, but Vadym told that no other extreme weather could help explain the unusual sighting.
“There was a very strong wind,” said Vadym. “The wind was basically blowing in the same direction we were flying.”
'But it [the UFO] “I just stayed in the same place – and the sky was clear,” he said. “So no clouds, nothing.”
“We were surprised, very surprised,” recalled the soldier, whose first name is Vadym – adding that this “surprise” was not necessarily fear: He and his comrades (above) had to learn to suppress those emotions while they defended Ukraine from a Russian invasion that has now lasted two years
Ukraine's 406th Battalion (right) received its DJI-branded Mavic 3T commercial thermal imaging drone (left) through the fundraising efforts of the DeepInspire Foundation, war correspondent Joe Lindsley, who runs the Lviv Lab media center, and other humanitarian activists
'I use this [infrared, heat vision] “I filter a lot,” said the unit’s drone operator, “and just gained experience so I can distinguish how bright an object should be based on temperature.”
Based on this experience, Vadym determined that the UFO was “very hot.” I estimate 20 to 30 degrees [Celsius] hotter than other objects.'
Vadym estimated that the UFO, which was about 400 meters long, was also about 100 meters high.
The apparent object, spacecraft or phenomenon, was captured on February 23, 2024 by the camera of a DJI-branded Mavic 3T commercial thermal imaging drone.
The possible craft, spotted around 9:02 p.m. local time, appeared to be about 60 to 65 kilometers (37 to 40 miles) from the soldiers, he said, toward Donetsk Oblast, the southeastern Ukrainian province most dominated by Russian forces .
Vadym requested that his last name and other key details of the encounter not be disclosed for operational security reasons as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' (UAF) efforts to repel the Russian invasion.
A spokesperson for Mavic's maker DJI told that while it couldn't help explain what was seen in the UFO footage, an equipment error may have played a role – but Vadym doubted this
But he noted that while it was “hard to count” how many times he had personally flown his unit's drone, the Mavic 3T, it was probably “more than 10,000 times.”
“We saw different things [in the skies]” he said, adding: “We've never seen anything like this before.”
One possible explanation for the UFO was the well-known optical illusion phenomenon called “Fata Morgana,” a mirror-like atmospheric mirage created by a “temperature inversion” of hot air in the upper atmosphere.
But Vadym insists that what he saw was real.
“It wasn't a mirage,” Vadym told , “because you can't see a mirage in the thermal image. You can only see it with the naked eye.”
He further explained that the object did not form waves, shimmer or otherwise change shape, which would have been a telltale sign of a mirage.
“Often a mirage changes quickly,” as aviation safety guide SKYbrary notes. “The Fata Morgana consists of several inverted (upside down) and upright (right side up) images stacked on top of each other.
But according to Vadym, “the object was in a stable form. It didn't move.”
However, the UFO, whatever it was, wasted no time and left its perch over Donetsk.
“We had another drone at another location and were able to set it up in about three minutes,” Vadym said. “[but] they didn't see it [the UFO] at this moment.'
“When we returned to the same spot later, there was nothing there.”
The 406th Unit member also shared his recollection that the UFO did not wave, shimmer or otherwise change shape, which would have been a tell-tale sign of a mirage
In a photographic case of mirage (above), the cruise ship Anthem of the Seas, a 168,000-ton Royal Caribbean liner, appeared to float above the water
Last Tuesday, a spokesperson for Mavic maker DJI told that while he couldn't help explain what was seen in the 406th's UFO footage, an equipment error may have played a role.
However, Vadym noted that he is confident that the Mavic 3T's systems were functioning normally at the time of the UFO encounter.
In his opinion, the red “warning” or “error” bar visible in the upper left part of the drone display refers to the GPS navigation of the consumer drone.
“It's a warning that we flew without satellites with 100 percent manual control,” Vadym told .
“Because Russia is doing its utmost to deny Ukrainians the opportunity to fly over and understand.” […] your plans.'
Vadym noted that similar combat-specific issues prevented the battalion from storing a record of UFO thermal imaging directly on the Mavic drone itself.
“We remove the memory cards from the drones when we fly over enemy areas,” Vadym said.
“There is a risk that if we lose a drone due to hostile electronic countermeasures, they could pick up the drone, pick up the map and read what is there.”
When asked again about what he and his 406th Battalion comrades think about the UFO, Vadym said, “The best thing I can say is that this video never happened for us.” [the Ukrainian military] that we never have to do the work we do.'
In a better world, Vadym said, the Russian invasion in February 2022 “never happened” and “we only use civilian drones to film weddings.”