Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D14, Mission Report, Iraq, May 2022
Syria·5/29/22
Editorial summary
On May 29, 2022, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft operating over Syria observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon that it could not positively identify. The aircraft, which had taken off from Sigonella Air Base in Sicily on May 29 at approximately 1355 UTC, was conducting an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission in support of regional operations when the crew sighted the UAP at 0117 UTC on May 30. According to the file, the object flew north to northeast, and the crew followed it for as long as operationally feasible but was unable to determine its identity.
The mission itself was extensive, involving nearly 20.5 hours of flight time and focused primarily on monitoring Syrian naval operations, military facilities, and airfield activity in the eastern Mediterranean region and the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border area. During the reconnaissance collection period, the crew documented numerous observations of Syrian military assets, including naval vessels, aircraft, radar installations, and coastal defense sites. The extensive list of monitored locations and activities reflected the scope of the intelligence-gathering effort, which ran from approximately 1551 UTC on May 29 through 0230 UTC on May 30.
The UAP observation occurred near the end of the operational window. The file provides minimal descriptive detail about the phenomenon itself, with the only substantive account being that an operator observed the object flying north to northeast and attempted to maintain contact with it. The crew member described as the "screener" conducted the observation and was unable to achieve a positive identification. The document indicates that the sighting occurred while the aircraft was at an altitude of approximately 24,000 feet and traveling at roughly 142 knots. Earlier in the mission, the aircraft had also been intercepted by one to three aircraft, including a possible Russian Sukhoi Su-30, which approached from the Syrian coast and flew beneath the surveillance platform before departing westward, though this encounter did not affect the overall mission.
This document was declassified and released to the public by the Department of War in May 2026 as part of the PURSUE Release 01.
Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.
Government 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.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Department of War
Record type
Incident date
5/29/22
Incident location
Syria
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release