Five declassified Air Force mission reports released through USCENTCOM and approved for disclosure to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) document unidentified aerial phenomena observed during military reconnaissance flights across the Middle East between October 2020 and October 2024. The reports — published on the Pentagon's war.gov/UFO portal — were declassified by Major General Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, on dates ranging from October 2025 to March 2026.

The documents are standardized mission reports (MISREPs) rather than dedicated UAP investigation files. They record sightings as discrete line items within broader operational narratives covering ISR taskings, refueling events, guard calls, and weather conditions. Taken together they represent a small but concrete slice of what AARO has been accumulating from the combatant commands.

The documents are standardized mission reports (MISREPs) rather than dedicated UAP investigation files.

What the documents say

DOW UAP D64 — Arabian Gulf / Iran, November 2020

The oldest of the five reports covers a roughly 21-hour reconnaissance mission flown by the 482nd Attack Squadron (482 ATKS) departing from and returning to OKAS (Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar). The mission ran from November 2 to 3, 2020, and supported NAVCENT for an operation whose name remains redacted under the 1.4a exemption — covering foreign government information and intelligence sources and methods.

The stated mission was to characterize training and cargo vessels, UAS activity, port activity, and to establish pattern of life in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman. According to the report, haze precluded IMINT collection during the mission. The aircraft logged 20 hours and 42 minutes of total mission time, with 18 hours and 55 minutes on station.

The UAP entries are brief. At 2143Z on November 2, the aircraft observed a UAP — referenced as OBS Line 1. Five minutes later, at 2148Z, a second UAP was observed — referenced as OBS Line 2. The report states that full-motion video was exploited by DOSI. The content of those observation lines is not reproduced in the declassified text. Aircraft callsign, tail number, and asset type are all redacted.

The document was declassified March 16, 2026, and approved for release to AARO under USCENTCOM MOR 26-0028.

DOW UAP D63 — Strait of Hormuz, October 2020

Also originating from the 482 ATKS, this report covers a mission running October 1 to 2, 2020 — days before the D64 mission — logging 21 hours and 4 minutes of flight time, with 17.3 IMINT hours. The supporting operation is again redacted. Full-motion video was exploited by DGS-1.

The UAP entry is a single line: at 1829Z on October 2, the aircraft observed what the report logs as "IX UAP" — one unidentified aerial phenomenon. The detail is directed to Observation Line 1, the contents of which are not included in the released text. The aircraft's callsign and tail number are redacted under 1.4a and 1.4g exemptions.

The mission also logged five separate guard calls — radio challenges on the international distress frequency — from ground stations between 0727Z and 1315Z. Each guard call resulted in a standard response with no impact to the mission noted. The weather section states heavy haze precluded IMINT analysis.

This report was also declassified March 16, 2026, and approved for release to AARO under MDR 26-0028.

DOW UAP D19 — Syria, February 21, 2023

This report covers a defensive counter-air (DCA) mission flown by a two-ship of F-15E aircraft from the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (389 EFS) departing Muwaffaq Salti Air Base (OJMS) in Jordan in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. The mission ran approximately five hours, operating in the vicinity of the ESSA killbox near Shaddadi, Syria.

The report notes two separate visual observations. At approximately 0025Z, the flight observed three possible UAP in the vicinity of Shaddadi at flight level 240. WSV — weapon system video — was produced. No further trace was reported (NFTR). Separately, at 0135Z, the flight observed one possible balloon in the same vicinity, this time at flight level 210. WSV was produced for that observation as well, with NFTR noted.

The difference in altitude between the two observations — FL240 for the possible UAPs and FL210 for the possible balloon — is the only distinguishing detail visible in the released text. The report does not describe the objects' appearance, behavior, or size. All grid coordinates for the sighting locations are redacted.

The document also notes that around 0021Z, the flight received multifunction radar jamming in the vicinity of Shaddadi at FL270, with no further trace reported.

The report was declassified October 8, 2025, and approved for release to AARO, referenced under MDR 25-0094 through 25-0099.

DOW UAP D20 — Iraq (ESSA killbox), March 31, 2023

Flown roughly five weeks after the Syria mission, this report covers a two-ship of F-16CM aircraft from the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (77 EFS) departing Prince Sultan Air Base (OEPS) in Saudi Arabia, also under Operation Inherent Resolve. The flight operated in the ESSA killbox with KINGPIN as the controlling callsign.

The UAP section is the most numerically specific in the batch. Initial contact was logged at 2302Z on March 31, 2023. According to the report, the friendly aircraft was at flight level 265, traveling at 293 knots, northeast of a location abbreviated as RLZ. The number of UAP sighted is listed as "POSS 10X-20X" — possibly 10 to 20 objects. The UAP signatures field reads "No," indicating no radar, infrared, or radio frequency signatures were detected. Effects on persons is listed as none.

The report states the mission was flown as fragged, with a total mission time of 6 hours and 47 minutes. Aircraft tail numbers and callsigns are redacted.

This report was also declassified October 8, 2025, approved for release to AARO under the same MDR batch.

DOW UAP D32 — Syria, October 2024

The most recent of the five reports covers an ISR mission flown by the 12th Special Operations Squadron (12 SOS), 27th Special Operations Wing, departing Muwaffaq Salti Air Base under Operation Inherent Resolve. The mission lasted over 20 hours and included FMV and SIGINT collection at multiple grid locations. Full-motion video was exploited by GET.

At 1559Z on October 20, 2024, the report states the aircraft observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon, referenced as UAP 1. The report was originally classified SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY — releasable to Five Eyes partners — and was declassified October 24, 2025, approved for release to AARO under MDR 25-0100 through 25-0103 on October 28, 2025.

The UAP observation line itself is brief. No physical description, signature data, or follow-on tasking is visible in the released text. The aircraft type, callsign, and tail number are all redacted under 1.4a and 1.4g exemptions.

What these records confirm — and what they don't

These five documents are operational filings, not investigation reports. They confirm that crews recorded UAP observations and, in several cases, produced weapon system video — but the observation line details that would describe what was seen are either redacted or were never reproduced in the released text. AARO has not publicly released any analysis linked to these specific reports, and no official response to the sightings is contained in the released material.

The documents do establish a consistent pattern: USCENTCOM reconnaissance aircraft operating in and around the Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and Syria have been logging UAP observations as a discrete category within standard mission reporting, apparently for years before public disclosure became a legislative priority. The 482 ATKS alone accounts for two reports from 2020, both supporting NAVCENT operations whose names remain classified.

The possible 10-to-20 object sighting logged in the Iraq report is notable for its scale, though the "possible" qualifier and the absence of any sensor signatures limit what can be concluded. The Syria reports are similarly inconclusive at the level of detail released — three objects distinguished from one balloon primarily by altitude, with no description of appearance or behavior visible in the text.

The 12 SOS Syria report from 2024 is the only one of the five classified at the SECRET//REL FVEY level, which raises questions about what SIGINT context surrounded the UAP observation — questions the released text does not answer.

What the batch does add, collectively, is primary-source confirmation that UAP logging within CENTCOM was routine enough to appear in standard MISREPs across multiple units, multiple years, and multiple theaters. For readers tracking the government's formal UAP disclosure process, these records represent some of the underlying operational material that AARO is now receiving — even if what they show remains, in large part, behind redactions.