Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-D64, Mission Report, Iran, November 2020
Iran·11/2/20
Editorial summary
On November 2, 2020, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft on an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission over the Arabian Gulf observed two unidentified aerial phenomena. The first sighting occurred at 2143 Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time), when the airborne operator detected a UAP at bearing 080 True at an unknown altitude near grid coordinates 39RWK. Five minutes later, at 2148Z, the operator observed a second UAP traveling to the northwest in the same general area. The aircraft was flying at approximately 22,000 feet altitude during both observations and was equipped with advanced optical and infrared sensor systems for full-motion video collection.
The mission had been coordinated in advance with Naval Forces Central Command and involved scanning designated target areas in the Arabian Gulf to track maritime traffic, assess naval vessel activity, monitor uncrewed systems operations, and establish patterns of life in the region. The aircraft had arrived on station at 1015Z on November 2nd and remained aloft until being cleared to return to base at 0112Z on November 3rd, accumulating nearly 21 hours of total flight time. During the mission, the operator conducted scans of the target deck and open water areas. Notably, between 1910Z and 2210Z that day, the aircraft conducted open water scans specifically seeking uncrewed underwater vehicles, with no identifications made.
The sightings were recorded via the aircraft's full-motion video system, the primary sensor tasked for the mission. The observations were documented in this standardized Department of War Mission Report form submitted by the originating unit, the 482nd Attack Squadron. Supporting data fields in the report, including radar correlations and additional technical sensor information, are either blank or redacted in the declassified version. An Iranian air defense facility had hailed the aircraft on guard frequency at 1012Z that day, to which the crew responded with standard procedures; this contact had no impact on mission execution.
This document is part of the Department of War's PURSUE Release 01, cleared for public disclosure on May 8, 2026, now available in the govweird archive of declassified records on unidentified anomalous phenomena.
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 on November 2, 2020, at 2143Z and at 2148Z. The first observation occurred at an unknown altitude. The reporter described the second UAP’s direction of travel as proceeding to the northwest. 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
11/2/20
Incident location
Iran
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release