Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D63, Mission Report, Strait of Hormuz, October 2020
Strait of Hormuz·10/1/20
Editorial summary
A U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft operating over the Strait of Hormuz on October 1, 2020, observed one unidentified anomalous phenomenon at 1829 UTC, according to a declassified mission report released by the Department of War. The aircraft, which took off from Dhahran Air Base at 2249 UTC on September 30 and conducted surveillance operations in support of Naval Central Command, was airborne for approximately 21 hours. The observation occurred during the final stages of the mission, roughly six minutes before the aircraft was cleared to return to base at 1835 UTC.
The mission report provides limited detail about the observation itself. The document identifies the sighting as "1X UAP" in its narrative section but does not elaborate on the phenomenon's characteristics, behavior, or the circumstances under which it was observed. The aircraft was equipped with advanced imaging sensors, including the AN/DAS-4 reconnaissance pod, and was flying at 18,000 feet when the observation was recorded. However, the specific sensor data, if any was collected on the UAP, is not described in the available portions of the report. The file notes that heavy haze in the operating area precluded full imagery analysis during the mission.
The flight took place within heavily trafficked airspace. During its approximately 20 hours 22 minutes on station, the aircraft received five radio guard calls from air defense authorities between 0727 UTC and 1315 UTC, to which the crew responded with standard procedures. The broader mission involved surveillance of Iranian vessels, unmanned aircraft activity, and port operations in the Arabian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, in coordination with Naval Central Command. The aircraft observed unidentified aircraft at Abu Musa Island Airfield and a possible naval auxiliary vessel in the Bushehr area, among other activity.
This mission report is among the records released to the public by the Department of War under the PURSUE declassification initiative 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 a UAP. 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
10/1/20
Incident location
Strait of Hormuz
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release