View original document (3.5 MB) PDF viewer unavailable in this browser. Download the PDF to view. According to Department of War records released under the PURSUE archive, a U.S. military aircrew in Iraq reported a possible unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) during a mission in December 2022. The document, titled “DOW-UAP-PR23, Unresolved UAP Report, Iraq, December 2022,” was declassified on October 8, 2025, by Major General Richard A.
Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, and released to the public on May 8, 2026. The report includes ten seconds of infrared video footage and an accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D18, which describes the UAP as “flying west to east.” The Department of War document originates from a mission report (MISREP) submitted by the 482nd Attack Squadron (482ATKS), operating under the 609th Air Operations Center as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
The mission, identified by callsign “1.4a,” involved a single aircraft conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. The aircraft took off from Ali Al Salem Air Base (ICAO code OKAS) in Kuwait at 1206Z on December 1, 2022, and landed back at the same base at 0723Z on December 2, 2022, for a total mission time of 19 hours and 17 minutes. The mission narrative states that the aircrew “observed possible UAP” at 1620Z on December 1, 2022, while operating in the vicinity of Baghdad, Iraq.
The primary sensor used was Full Motion Video (FMV). The report notes that the FMV was “exploited by DGS-AR,” referring to a Distributed Ground Station-Army.
The document’s official description, provided by the Department of War, states that the video depicts “an area of contrast moving from the bottom left to the top right of the sensor field-of-view.” At approximately six seconds, the area of contrast “leaves the sensor field-of-view near the top right corner of the frame.” The Department of War explicitly notes that this video description is “provided for informational purposes only” and should not be interpreted as “reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.”
Agency Context and Reporting Chain
The report was submitted to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Per a Wikipedia summary of the office, AARO is “an office within the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense that investigates unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and other phenomena in the air, sea, and/or space and/or on land.” Wikipedia notes that AARO’s first director was physicist Sean Kirkpatrick, who reported to then-deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks, and its current director is Jon T. Kosloski.
The document shows the report was approved for release to AARO under multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemptions, including (b)(3), (b)(6), and others, with case numbers MDR 25-0094 through MDR 25-0099. The Department of War document includes extensive administrative metadata, including classification caveats, declassification date of December 2, 2047, and references to multiple sources for classification guidance.
The report was declassified by USCENTCOM under the authority of Major General Richard A. Harrison. The document’s official summary offers limited detail beyond the basic flight path and sensor observation, noting only that the UAP was “flying west to east” and that the video shows a moving area of contrast.
What Remains Unanswered
The Department of War record does not provide a conclusion about the nature or origin of the observed phenomenon. The official description explicitly cautions against interpreting the video description as any form of analytical judgment or factual determination. The document does not identify any potential explanation, such as a known aircraft, drone, or atmospheric phenomenon.
The mission report’s narrative is heavily redacted, with numerous fields marked as “1.4a” or “1.4c,” indicating classified or exempted information, and personal identifiers are redacted under FOIA exemption (b)(6). Readers should watch for future PURSUE archive releases, as the Department of War has indicated this is part of a broader declassification effort.
The document’s declassification date of 2047 suggests that additional details or related reports may become available over time. For now, the record stands as a documented but unresolved observation by a U.S. military aircrew operating over Iraq in December 2022, submitted to the Pentagon’s official UAP investigation office for analysis.
