UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 06 · SEPTEMBER 18, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D109Mission Report, Middle East, 2022
This mission report (MISREP) accompanies two clips in the release, DOW-UAP-PR140 and PR141. It records a sortie by the 20th Attack Squadron under Operation Inherent Resolve that took off at 2149Z on May 4, 2022, and carried out target development over Iraq until 1552Z the next day.
What the form actually reports
The narrative says that at 0524Z the crew observed probable UAPs traveling southwest at roughly 80–180 mph. The observation entry gives more detail. From 0524Z to 0704Z, while scanning several points of interest, the crew periodically saw UAPs flying sporadically in the target area and in the northeast part of a redacted zone. They could not determine altitude and estimated the objects at about 1–2 meters across. Each time the sensor returned to its original points, it picked the objects up again. They did not hinder the mission, and the weather block says dust storms affected collection on the UAPs throughout that window.
A mismatch to note
AARO’s description for this file, about “six small spherical objects” at 480 mph, matches the July 2025 report DOW-UAP-D108 rather than this form. The text of this report instead closely parallels DOW-UAP-D106, filed the same day by another squadron with the same size and speed figures. The released form offers no identification of the objects.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released September 18, 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 the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (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. This mission report accompanies video footage derived from an infrared system aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022 (DOW-UAP-PR140 and DOW-UAP-PR141).
A U.S. military operator reported observing UAP, describing it as consisting of “six small spherical objects grouped together. They characterized the behavior of the UAP as “seem[ingle] agile,” and “frequently changing direction.” The reporter estimated the speed of the UAP to have been 480 miles per hour.
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.