A recently released U.S. military document records a brief encounter with five aerial objects during a signals‑intelligence mission over Iraq. The report, identified as DOW‑UAP‑D10, was filed in May 2022 and made public through the Department of War’s PURSUE archive after being declassified by Major General Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, on 7 October 2025.
The mission, designated “Operation INHERENT RESOLVE,” began at 02 46 Z on 6 May 2022. The aircraft’s operator, listed under the callsign “1.4a,” was tasked with SIGINT collection and target development.
At 15 14 Z, the crew observed a single unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP), logged as Observation 1 in the mission report. While the official summary notes only one UAP, the accompanying narrative—still classified at the SECRET level—details that the operator actually saw five distinct objects crossing the flight path. Four of those were categorized as “possible birds,” and one was marked as a “possible missile.” The distinction reflects the operator’s training: birds are typically slow, erratic and biological, whereas missiles travel fast, follow a straight trajectory, and are man‑made.
The format of the filing follows the standard military MISREP (Mission Report) template, which is the usual channel for reporting anomalous sightings to the All‑Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). In this case, the report entered the official pipeline as intended, demonstrating that the system for documenting UAPs is functional.
Publicly released portions of the document provide only limited information. The mission’s start time, the operator’s SIGINT role, and the timestamp of the sighting are disclosed. Details such as the objects’ altitude, speed, exact shape, duration of observation, and the behavior of the four “possible birds” remain classified.
Analysts note that the report’s brevity is typical of recent declassifications. While the PURSUE archive aims to increase transparency, operational security constraints still result in heavily redacted releases.
The Department of War has issued numerous similar reports; most describe mundane phenomena, while a few remain ambiguous. In this instance, the record does not confirm an extraterrestrial craft, nor does it identify the object as a known foreign drone. The only definitive element is that a trained military operator, operating in a combat zone, recorded five aerial contacts, labeling four as likely avian and one as a possible missile.
The lingering uncertainty surrounding the missile‑like contact is the report’s most notable feature. The declassification of DOW‑UAP‑D10 adds another data point to the growing body of UAP documentation from active conflict areas.
It illustrates how the U.S. military presently handles unidentified sightings: through a formal report, a callsign identifier, and a cautious “possible” qualifier.
