UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D027Mission Report, United Arab Emirates, October 2023
This mission report (MISREP) is titled for the United Arab Emirates and October 2023, but the form inside is dated June 2024. The aircraft, flown for the 3rd Special Operations Squadron under Operation Enduring Sentinel, took off from OMAM, the code for Al Dhafra Air Base, at 2100Z on June 6. Weather kept it from its first tasking, and the sighting came at 0457Z on June 7, as the crew was heading back to base.
What the observer described
The free-text section, written by an observer listed as an E-4, describes a “glowing hot spherical” object with a vertical, “unwavering” pole or bar under it, and adds that the bar was possibly the object’s reflection in the water. The object flew straight, just above the surface, at an estimated 140 knots. The form records no change in its behavior when observed, no effects on people, nothing recovered, and an observer assessment of “Benign.” Its first and last positions are given only as partly redacted grid references.
Whose altitude and speed
AARO’s summary gives the UAP an altitude of roughly 24,000 feet and a speed of 163 knots. In the form itself, 23,999 feet and 163 knots are entered as the reporting aircraft’s own altitude and speed, while the object is placed just over the water at 140 knots. The same phrasing appears in DOW-UAP-D054, so readers comparing summaries with scans should check which aircraft each number belongs to. The rest of the sortie was routine: scans for dhows heading toward a point of interest, where the crew reported no personnel or vehicle activity.
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 at an estimated altitude of approximately 24,000 feet. The observer estimated the UAP’s speed as 163 knots (187 mph). 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.