Sailors on the bay saw an unexpected and particular sight on Friday October 24, 2026. Something big, moving slow from the south. First noticed high above the large cranes that unload cargo ships in Oakland, the object took on an otherworldly sight. It was white against the blue sky, but not a cloud. The outline too rounded, too angular. It approached steadily and flew right over the BKB 101 practice area giving us an amazing view to the largest blimp/airship any of us had ever seen. The crew of Tradewinds Bravo joked that Sergei Brin, co-founder of Google was probably just taking a joy ride (Google leases most of the former Moffet Field). I think the crew of the airship was low enough to get just as good a view of us as we were of them.
Most aircraft have a tail number, and none was seen on this monster, so we thought it may not have been a commercial aircraft. Once back to the TWSC clubhouse we handed photos over to Google to check.
Sure enough, the airship is named “Pathfinder 1” and operated by “LTR Research”, a startup funded by none other than Sergey Brin! Pathfinder 1 is the largest operating aircraft in the world at 408 feet long. While a little smaller than the more famous Hindenburg, Pathfinder 1 uses the most modern carbon fiber composites and not-explosive Helium (probably a good idea) along with a hybrid diesel electric propulsion system.
Fleet week ended only a few days ago but with Air Force bases and so much experimental and venture capitol projects going on around the Bay Area, you never know what you might see on or above the bay!
So next time you see an odd, round slow moving UFO type object floating around the bay, it might be Pathfinder 1 taking another test flight.
