A U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission conducted in May 2022 under Operation Inherent Resolve resulted in a formally documented observation of an unidentified aerial phenomenon, according to a mission report declassified by U.S. Central Command on October 7, 2025. The report, designated DOW-UAP-D10 and approved for release to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), originates from the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing operating under the 609th Combined Air Operations Center.
Mission Timeline and Sensor Activity
According to the declassified document, the mission commenced at 0246Z with takeoff from a location redacted under exemption 1.4(a), with sensor handover to the Local Range Element (LRE) recorded at 0253Z with all sensors assessed as fully mission capable. SIGINT collection began at 0958Z and continued through 2036Z, during which the aircraft conducted target development in support of a redacted operation. The mission type is listed as XCAS — a cross-mission close air support tasking — under an Air Tasking Order designated "AB."
The UAP observation is logged at 1514Z, roughly five and a half hours into the SIGINT collection window. The report notes a single observation event and identifies it plainly as "1X UAP," cross-referenced to what the document calls "OBSERVATION 1," a section whose contents remain redacted. Full motion video collected during the mission was subsequently exploited by a Defense Ground Station, designated DGS1. The aircraft returned to base at 2036Z, with a final engine shutdown recorded at 0014Z the following day.
The mission logged two total taskings: one IMINT and one SIGINT, with the UAP observation constituting the single anomalous event of record. Point of contact for the report is listed as a Staff Sergeant assigned to the 432nd AEW, with quality control performed by a Senior Airman from the same wing. An approver from the 379th AEW's ISRD is also named in the administrative block, though all personal names are withheld under exemptions (b)(3), 130b, and (b)(6).
Classification, Declassification, and Release Authority
The document was originally classified SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY — meaning it was releasable to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance — and carried a declassification date of May 6, 2047. It was declassified early by Major General Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, on October 7, 2025, under USCENTCOM Mandatory Declassification Review case number MDR 25-0093, with a Joint Staff tracking designation of JS-250710-TM8S. The classification source is listed as "MS" (original classification authority by a marking system), and the report is formally approved for release to AARO.
The early declassification — more than two decades ahead of the original schedule — is consistent with the posture USCENTCOM and the broader Defense Department have adopted since Congress mandated greater UAP transparency through the National Defense Authorization Act provisions of 2022 and 2023. AARO, stood up in 2022, has served as the designated repository for historical UAP records submitted by the military services.
What the Record Establishes — and What It Does Not
The document is notable for what it formally confirms: that a U.S. Air Force ISR platform, operating with fully capable sensors including full motion video and SIGINT collection equipment, logged a UAP encounter during an active combat-support mission, and that the observation was significant enough to be entered into the official mission report rather than informally noted or omitted. The exploitation of full motion video by DGS1 suggests the event generated imagery that was reviewed by a ground-based analytical element, though whether that analysis produced any characterization of the object is not reflected in the declassified portion of this record.
What the document does not establish is any characterization of the observed phenomenon. The nature, altitude, speed, size, or behavior of the UAP is entirely contained within the redacted "OBSERVATION 1" annex and the redacted ISR reference noted in the narrative. The aircraft type, its callsign, and the specific geographic location of the observation are similarly withheld under exemption 1.4(a), which covers information the release of which could reasonably be expected to damage national security by revealing intelligence sources and methods or military operations.
The report was submitted under Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition operation against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, placing the mission within the broader USCENTCOM area of responsibility. Whether the UAP observation has been formally investigated or incorporated into AARO's publicly reported case inventory has not been confirmed by the office as of publication.