Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D32, Mission Report, Syria, October 2024
Syria·10/20/24
Editorial summary
On October 20, 2024, an Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance asset conducting operations over Syria captured full-motion video of an unidentified phenomenon between 1559Z and 1644Z local time. According to the file, the aircrew observed what they described as a "misshapen and uneven ball of white light" that appeared multiple times across their camera feed at different angles and directions. The phenomenon was recorded at three distinct moments (1559Z, 1602Z, and 1644Z) when light or glare crossed directly onto the full-motion video camera. On two additional occasions (1609Z and 1620Z), the aircrew noted a "light/glare halo effect" appearing at the top of the video feed.
The mission report indicates the observation occurred while the aircraft was orbiting at 20,088 feet at a speed of 144 knots near coordinate 37SFU36 in Syria. The aircrew assessed the phenomenon to be of unknown origin and noted that the light appeared to flash across their camera from different directions without any apparent pattern or response to observer actions. The report documents that the aircrew considered this observation to have no mission impact and characterized the unidentified phenomenon as benign. Notably, the aircrew evaluated the observation and determined it was not consistent with a laser illumination event, which could represent a hostile act.
The full-motion video system and associated sensors available to the aircraft were unable to provide additional characterization of the phenomenon. The report contains no indication of radar correlation, signal intelligence confirmation, or other technical corroboration of a physical object. The aircrew's description reflects their subjective visual interpretation of light patterns recorded by their sensors during the mission. The file was declassified and released to the public in May 2026 as part of the Department of War's PURSUE release program.
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 a “misshapen and uneven ball of white light,” describing multiple “glares or light” emanating from an “unknown origin.” The reporter described the UAP as a “light/glare halo effect” at the top of the Full-Motion Video (FMV) feed. 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
10/20/24
Incident location
Syria
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release