Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D5, Mission Report, Arabian Gulf, 2020
Mediterranean Sea
Editorial summary
A U.S. military operator observed two unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) traveling at an estimated speed of 278 knots, approximately 320 miles per hour, according to this declassified mission report from 2020. The sighting occurred in the Mediterranean Sea. The operator reported that the two objects increased speed and changed direction toward the south during the observation.
The report documents the incident through a standardized Department of War Mission Report form (MISREP), the military's primary mechanism for recording circumstances surrounding operations, including UAP encounters. The witness characterizations, as recorded in the report's general text section, reflect the operator's subjective interpretation at the time of the event and should not be treated as conclusive evidence of any intrinsic features or performance characteristics of the objects themselves.
The document is heavily redacted, with specific coordinates, personnel identifiers, and additional contextual details withheld under classification guidelines. The report was cleared for public release on May 8, 2026, as part of the Department of War 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 two UAP traveling at an estimated speed of 278 knots (320 mph. The observer reported that the UAP “increased speed and changed direction towards the south.” 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
Unspecified
Incident location
Mediterranean Sea
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release