USF Radar Detachment 5, Iquitos
USF Radar Detachment 5, Iquitos is a highly secretive US military radar installation in Iquitos, Peru, in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Operated under US Southern Command during Operation Laser Strike in the 1990s, it is theorized to be the base from which Lance Corporal Jonathan Wagant and his unit departed when responding to the alleged 1997 UAP crash in the Peruvian jungle.
UAP Significance
Iquitos served as a secondary site for Operation Laser Strike, hosting TPS-43 radar systems used to monitor narcotics traffic from Bolivia and Colombia. The installation is described as exceptionally private — UAP Gerb found only a single open-source mention of the facility from the entire 1990s or later — and its operational details remain partially classified as of the time of filming. One of the Marines contacted by UAP Gerb declined to discuss details of the operation, citing ongoing classification.
UAP Gerb's travel time analysis of Wagant's testimony places the 1997 crash site within roughly a 90-mile radius of Iquitos. Wagant described departing his base at approximately 11 PM to midnight and arriving at the crash site around sunrise (6-7 AM), after approximately 2-4 hours of travel by Humvee and on foot. At an estimated 35 mph average driving speed over roughly 2.5 hours, the Marines could have covered approximately 88 miles — consistent with a site within the 90-mile radius if the station at Iquitos.
Additionally, Wagant described his base as having permanent structures, multinational personnel (Americans, Peruvians, Chinese, and Germans), and on-site facilities consistent with a major installation rather than a forward operating base — all of which match the Iquitos cluster of facilities rather than the Pucallpa Laser Strike site, which was a simpler forward position.
The installation exists within a cluster of three known US military presences at Iquitos:
Related Facilities
- USAF Detachment 5, Ikitos — US Air Force detachment at the same location, associated with USAF 649th Combat Logistics Support Squadron personnel
- NAMRU South (Naval Medical Research Unit South) — Navy biomedical research lab with offices in both Lima and Iquitos; theorized as Wagant's post-encounter quarantine location
- MARFORLAND Riverine Training Team — US Marine Forces training element conducting riverine operations in Iquitos under Operation Laser Strike