A pair of F-15E Strike Eagles from the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron observed three possible unidentified aerial phenomena near Shaddadi, Syria, on February 21, 2023, while conducting defensive counter-air operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, according to a mission report declassified by U.S. Central Command in October 2025. The document, designated DOW-UAP-D19, was approved for release to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) following mandatory declassification review under MDR 25-0094 through MDR 25-0099.
The Mission and Encounters
According to the declassified report, the two-ship formation of F-15Es launched from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, operating under the call sign assigned by the 609th Combined Air Operations Center and checking in with a command and control asset identified in the document as KINGPIN. The crew conducted aerial refueling twice during the sortie, receiving a combined 37,000 pounds of fuel on one pass and 33,500 pounds on a second, suggesting an extended mission duration of several hours over northeastern Syria.
At approximately 0025 Zulu, while operating at Flight Level 270 in the vicinity of Shaddadi, the flight crew reported receiving multi-function terminal radar jamming. The report notes the jamming was not traceable to a friendly source, though the originating entry carries standard intelligence exemptions redacting further attribution. No further information was reported on that incident.
Roughly 27 minutes later, at approximately 0052 Zulu, the crew logged the first UAP notation: three possible unidentified aerial phenomena observed at Flight Level 240 in the same Shaddadi area. The report states that a weapon system video recording was produced for each sighting. Both entries carry the notation "NFTR" — No Further To Report — indicating no hostile action was taken or attributed, and no immediate explanation was offered in the unclassified portions of the narrative.
A separate entry timed at approximately 0135 Zulu records a distinct observation: one possible balloon at Flight Level 210, also in the vicinity of Shaddadi, also documented with weapon system video. That sighting was similarly marked NFTR. The temporal and geographic clustering of the observations — three UAP at FL240, followed roughly 43 minutes later by a single possible balloon at FL210 — in close proximity to the earlier radar jamming event is noted in the document without interpretive conclusion.
Document Provenance and Classification
The report originated with the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, a unit assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing under Air Forces Central (AFCENT). It was classified Secret at the time of filing, with an original declassification date set for January 20, 2048. Declassification was accelerated under the mandatory review process and authorized by Major General Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, on October 8, 2025. The document was formally approved for release on October 17, 2025.
Portions of the report remain redacted under FOIA exemptions (b)(3) referencing 10 U.S.C. § 130b, and (b)(6) protecting personnel information. The ATO mission number and tanker call signs are among the withheld items. The point of contact listed is a first lieutenant assigned to the 389th EFS; that individual's name and contact information are redacted.
The document's trust classification warrants measured interpretation. The narrative structure is consistent with standard Air Force mission reporting formats, and the declassification chain — originating at USCENTCOM and released to AARO — aligns with established UAP reporting procedures codified in recent National Defense Authorization Acts. However, because critical intelligence fields remain redacted under exemption 1.4(a), which covers foreign government information and intelligence sources and methods, the full operational context of the radar jamming and the UAP observations cannot be independently assessed from the released material alone.
Context Within Official UAP Reporting
The release adds to a growing body of official military documentation describing UAP encounters in operational environments. AARO, established under the fiscal year 2022 NDAA and charged with consolidating UAP reporting across all domains, has been the designated recipient for historical case referrals of this type. The office's annual reports to Congress have previously noted observations in or near active conflict zones, though specific incidents with this level of operational detail have been uncommon in released material.
The weapon system video referenced in the mission report has not been publicly released as part of this declassification package. Whether those recordings have been submitted to AARO's analytical holdings, and whether they yield any technical characterization of the observed objects, is not addressed in the available documentation.