Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D16, Mission Report, Syria, July 2022
Syria·7/31/22
Editorial summary
On July 31, 2022, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance asset operating in Syria observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon moving from north to south over a location in the southern part of the operational area. The sighting lasted less than one minute. The observation occurred at 02:39 Zulu time while the aircraft was at an altitude of 19,359 feet and traveling at 116 knots. The asset was conducting an armed reconnaissance mission in support of Task Force Chosin as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
The aircraft had departed from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on July 30 at 18:22 Zulu time and arrived on station approximately seven hours later. Over the course of an 18-hour-44-minute period on station, the crew conducted both intelligence collection and signals intelligence gathering across multiple designated areas. The reconnaissance mission included surveillance of military-relevant activities such as vehicle movements, personnel activity, and equipment observations. The crew documented numerous observations related to their primary tasking, including vehicle convoys, technical equipment, and potential weapon systems, before the UAP observation occurred late in the mission timeline.
According to the file, the aircraft's full motion video from the UAP event was processed by the Defense Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (DGI). The document provides minimal additional descriptive or technical details regarding the phenomenon itself. The mission report form, a standardized military document, contains numerous blank fields where sensor data, radar correlation information, or other corroborating technical parameters would typically be recorded. The nature and extent of any such data, if collected, is not indicated in the available sections of this declassified record. The aircraft returned to base and shut down engines at 15:29 Zulu time on July 31.
This mission report is part of the Department of War's PURSUE Release 01, declassified and made publicly available on May 8, 2026.
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 move from north to south, with a total duration of under one minute. 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
7/31/22
Incident location
Syria
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release