DOW-UAP-D062, Mission Report, Strait of Hormuz, September 2020

Department of WarPDFIncident ReportModerate redactionPURSUE Release 1

4/10

niche or mildly interesting

UAP Insight significance score

Location: Strait of Hormuz
Incident date: 9/16/20
Witnesses: Sensor only
Released: May 8, 2026

UAP Characteristics

? Unknown shape

Evidence Types

IR Video

Government Programs Referenced

AARO

Official Conclusion

Observed and reported as UAP; no further conclusion stated

Official Description

This document is a Mission Report (MISREP), a standardized reporting form the U.S. Military uses to record the circumstances surrounding its operations. U.S. military services often use MISREPs to report Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) to AARO. The GENTEXT, or “general text” section of these reports often contains important qualitative, contextual information, distinguishing it from the more quantitative, or numerical, data found elsewhere in the report. A U.S. military operator reported observing one UAP at an estimated altitude of 1,800 feet. All descriptive and estimative language contained in this report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. Such characterizations should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.

Key Findings

→At 1732Z on 16 September 2020, a U.S. military aircraft from 482ATKS observed a UAP via FMV sensor in the vicinity of grid 39RVM5 over the Arabian Gulf/Strait of Hormuz area.
→The UAP observation method was Full Motion Video (FMV) exploited by DGSI; no shape, behavior, or additional descriptive characteristics of the UAP are recorded in the unredacted portions of the document.
→The aircraft received three separate directive/professional guard calls from Iranian Air Defense during the mission, indicating it was operating in or near Iranian-monitored airspace.
→Two electromagnetic interference (EMI) events of unknown type caused complete link loss for 11 and 27 minutes respectively, both attributed to possible redacted sources, with JSIR reports filed (ID330412, ID330414).
→The aircraft also observed an IR-SA-5 launcher on Abu Musa Island and two possible Houdong-class fast attack craft, indicating the UAP observation occurred within a broader ISR collection mission against Iranian military assets.

UAP Insight Analysis— AI generated, not official

This is a declassified USCENTCOM Mission Report (MISREP 4782130) from the 482nd Attack Squadron documenting a approximately 21-hour ISR/AREC mission over the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman on 15-16 September 2020. The aircraft, operating from OKAS, conducted SIGINT and ISR collection in support of NAVCENT and reported observing a UAP via Full Motion Video (FMV) sensor at 1732Z on 16 September 2020. The UAP observation is recorded with minimal descriptive detail, with the activity classified only as 'UAP' observed in the vicinity of grid coordinate 39RVM5 area, at aircraft altitude FL180 (approximately 18,000 feet), with the UAP estimated at approximately 1,800 feet altitude.

Analyst Notes

The UAP observation entry in the GENTEXT is extremely sparse — only stating the UAP was observed at a grid coordinate with no description of shape, size, color, movement, or behavior. No dedicated UAP analysis section exists. The FMV footage was exploited by DGSI but no findings from that exploitation are included in this report. Aircraft type and callsign are redacted, limiting independent verification. The observation occurred during a long ISR mission in a contested airspace environment where EMI events and Iranian air defense interactions were also occurring, raising the possibility of sensor artifact or misidentification that is not addressed in the document.

Extracted Entities

People

MG Richard A. Harrison (USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, declassification authority)

Agencies & Organizations

USCENTCOMNAVCENT482ATKS (482nd Attack Squadron)432 AEW (432nd Air Expeditionary Wing)609th AOC / 609 CAOC12AF, Det 3, PAROCACC (Air Combat Command)Iranian Air DefenseDGSIAARO

Locations

OKAS (takeoff and landing location)Arabian Gulf

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AI analysis by claude-sonnet-4-6 · May 20, 2026