Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D19, Mission Report, Syria, February 21, 2023
Syria·2/21/23
Editorial summary
On February 21, 2023, a two-ship formation of F-15E aircraft departed Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Iraq to conduct defensive counter-air operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve over a designated airspace near the Syrian border. During the mission, which lasted approximately four hours and fifty-five minutes, the aircrew reported two separate visual sightings: three possible unidentified anomalous phenomena observed at 25,000 feet altitude near Shaddadi, and one possible balloon observed at 21,000 feet in the same area. Both sightings occurred under cloudy conditions, and weapon system video footage was produced for both observations. According to the file, neither sighting yielded radar returns, and no adverse health effects were experienced by the aircrew. The two white objects from the first sighting were noted as infrared significant.
The mission encountered external electromagnetic interference during its on-station period. Between 00:21 and 00:24 Zulu time, the aircraft received radar jamming affecting the APG-82 radar system across the 8.8 to 9.9 gigahertz frequency band while operating at 27,000 feet altitude. The jamming produced partial impact on the system but did not affect the overall mission. According to the file's assessment, the working theory attributed this interference to effects from a Turkish X-band jammer positioned on or across the Syrian-Turkish border into Turkish airspace. The incident was considered standard for operations in that region and required no further reporting.
The mission proceeded nominally otherwise, with multiple air refueling events from tanker assets on the MOM and GANDER tracks, delivering a combined total of approximately 81.5 thousand pounds of fuel across three separate refueling contacts. The aircraft returned to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and landed at 04:25 Zulu with engine shutdown at 04:35 Zulu. This mission report, originally classified as secret, was declassified on October 8, 2025, and is now available to the public as part of the Department of War PURSUE release.
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 “possible balloon” at approximately 2,100 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.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Department of War
Record type
Incident date
2/21/23
Incident location
Syria
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release