Department of War PURSUE File
DOW-UAP-PR19, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, May 2022
Middle East
Editorial summary
On May 6, 2022, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance asset operating in the Middle East detected five unidentified objects moving across its infrared sensor field of view between 1514Z and 1934Z. The first object, observed at 1514Z, was characterized in the mission report as a "possible missile" and was captured on five seconds of full motion video. The four additional objects observed during the same period were described by the aircrew as fitting "closer to the profile of possible birds." All observations occurred in a geographic area designated 38SMC53, and dust conditions significantly hindered ground collection throughout the mission.
According to the file, the aircraft had been tasked with target development, specifically to report on personnel, vehicles, weapons, footpaths, communications equipment, and occupied buildings in the operation area. The infrared sensor captured the first object as a contrast moving from left to right across the bottom third of the sensor field of view. The mission report submitted to United States Central Command noted that weather conditions, characterized by dust, limited the overall effectiveness of full motion video collection during the operation.
The full motion video and accompanying mission report were forwarded to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) for analysis. Video exploitation was conducted by the Defense Geospatial Intelligence Service. Personnel from the 432 Air Expeditionary Wing and 379 Air Expeditionary Wing submitted and approved the report for inclusion in official records. The document remained classified at the SECRET level for over three years before declassification on October 7, 2025.
This file is among the records released by the Department of War under the PURSUE Release 01 initiative and is now available for public review.
Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.
Government description
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of five seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D10, described the observation as a “possible missile” moving across the field-of-view. The report also described four other objects not depicted in the video as “possible birds.” Video Description: At the two second mark, the video depicts an area of contrast moving from left to right across the bottom third of the sensor field-of-view. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Department of War
Record type
VID
Incident date
Unspecified
Incident location
Middle East
Release tranche
Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release