DOW-UAP-D12, Mission Report, Iraq, May 2022

Department of WarPDFIncident ReportSECRETModerate redaction5/10— solid newsworthy itemPURSUE Release 1

Location: Iraq
Incident date: 5/20/22
Released: May 8, 2026

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 flying north to northeast. The observer reported following the UAP for as long as possible but was unable to positively identify it. 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.

UAP Insight Analysis— AI generated, not official

This is a declassified SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY Mission Report (MISREP) from the 196th Attack Squadron (196 ATKS) under Operation INHERENT RESOLVE, covering a reconnaissance sortie flown on 20-21 May 2022 out of OKAS. The report includes a UAP section documenting a single unidentified aerial phenomenon observed at 2043Z on 20 May 2022 during the mission. The observing aircraft followed the UAP flying north to northeast but the screener was unable to obtain a positive identification.

Key Findings

→A single UAP was observed at 2043Z on 20 May 2022, flying north to northeast, with the observing aircraft following it for as long as possible.
→The UAP screener could not obtain a positive identification on the object; MDS type, tail number, altitude, velocity, and trajectory were all recorded as unknown.
→The friendly aircraft was at 18,000 feet altitude and located at grid 38S MC 85[redacted] 77[redacted] at the time of initial UAP contact.
→The UAP was first seen at grid location 38SMC79[redacted]70[redacted], with initial contact recorded at 202043:00ZMAY22.
→The primary mission involved an approximately 18-hour, 54-minute reconnaissance sortie collecting SIGINT via AIRHANDLER Version 2 and supporting Operation PHANTOM FLEX; FMV was exploited by DGS 1.

Extracted Entities

People

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

Agencies & Organizations

196 ATKS (196th Attack Squadron)609th Air Operations Center (CAOC)163 AW (163rd Attack Wing)12 AF PAROC609 AOCUSCENTCOMACC (Air Combat Command)AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)DGS 1 (Distributed Ground Station 1)

Locations

OKAS (takeoff and landing location)38SMC36[redacted]20[redacted] (operational area, Op PHANTOM FLEX)

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AI analysis by claude-sonnet-4-6 · May 17, 2026