UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D012Mission Report, Iraq, May 2022
This MISREP records a long reconnaissance sortie on 20 May 2022 under Operation Inherent Resolve. The aircraft took off late from a base the report gives by its code OKAS (Ali Al Salem, Kuwait) because of communication problems, and flew for 18 hours and 54 minutes. The originating unit is listed as the 196th Attack Squadron.
The sighting
Most of the sortie was routine: collecting signals intelligence and full-motion video in support of a named operation, after what the report calls satisfactory coordination with the supported unit. At 2043Z, flying at 18,000 feet, the crew observed one UAP heading north to northeast. They followed it “as long as possible,” but the sensor operator, called the screener, could not get a positive identification.
The UAP section lists one object, leaves the signatures field blank, and its altitude, speed and path as unknown. Its first-seen location is a partly redacted grid reference. Weather was noted as not a factor.
Related records
The release pairs this report with a single still image, DOW-UAP-PR020, on which the original reporter circled the area of interest in red before sending it to AARO. A report from nine days later, DOW-UAP-D014, uses almost identical wording for its own sighting, a reminder that crews often write these entries in standard phrases.
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 one UAP flying north to northeast. The observer reported following the UAP for as long as possible but was unable to positively identify it. 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.