UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D005Mission Report, Arabian Gulf, 2020
Filed under the Arabian Gulf, though the release’s metadata lists the Mediterranean Sea, this 2020 MISREP is heavily redacted but keeps two separate UAP entries from the same report. The release’s own summary mentions only the second of them.
Two sightings
The first, at 1354Z, records one UAP moving at 40 knots at flight levels 160 to 170 — roughly 16,000 to 17,000 feet — with its speed holding constant. The report offers no identification for it.
The second, at 2243Z, records two possible UAP with an estimated speed of 278 knots. These are described as speeding up and changing direction toward the south. Both entries give locations only as military grid references, and neither says what sensor was used or how speeds were measured. The unit, aircraft and crew names are all withheld.
Reading it
“FL” stands for flight level, altitude in hundreds of feet on a standard pressure setting. The contrast between the two entries — one slow and steady, one faster and maneuvering — is worth noting, but the release reminds readers that all speeds and behaviors are the observer’s estimates. Compare DOW-UAP-D004 and DOW-UAP-D007, which describes a balloon-like object.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 8, 2026, quoted in full
This document is a Mission Report (MISREP), a standardized reporting form the U.S. Military uses to record the circumstances surrounding its operations. U.S. military services often use MISREPs to report Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) to AARO. The GENTEXT, or “general text” section of these reports often contains important qualitative, contextual information, distinguishing it from the more quantitative, or numerical, data found elsewhere in the report. A U.S. military operator reported observing two UAP traveling at an estimated speed of 278 knots (320 mph. The observer reported that the UAP “increased speed and changed direction towards the south.” All descriptive and estimative language contained in this report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. Such characterizations should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.