Documents / Report
This declassified U.S. Air Force mission report (MISREP), filed by the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron under Operation Inherent Resolve, covers a two-ship F-16CM defensive counter-air sortie flown from Prince Sultan Air Base on 31 March 2023. During the mission the flight saw possibly 10 to 20 bright objects moving quickly from west to east. Each one stayed on the targeting pod for about 20 seconds before it dimmed and disappeared. An analyst note says the pod images of the objects differed from those of a star. USCENTCOM declassified the report for AARO in October 2025.
From the source: Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: 3/31/23, Iraq. Released with redactions. 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 “several bright objects maneuvering quickly” west to east northeast. The operator reported achieving a track on the UAP via an onboard targeting pod for approximately 20 seconds. The report describes that UAP then dimmed and disappeared from the targeting pod. 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.
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UAP
• Initial Contact DTG: 312302:05ZMAR23
• MDS Type I Asset Type:l 1.4a, 1.4g I
• Tail Numbed 1.4a, 1.4g I
• Friendly Aircraft Location: 37SGA1~~
• Friendly Aircraft Altitude/Depth: FL265
• Friendly Aircraft Speed: 293
• Friendly Aircraft State: NIA
• Training Range (If applicable):
• Operational Range: NE OF RLZ
• UAP Physical State:
• Number of UAP Sighted: POSS 10X-20X
• UAP Signatures: No
• UAP RF Frequency:
• UAP RF Duration:
• UAP Effects on Persons: (U) NONE.
• Full Name:! 3.5c, FOIA Exemption (b}(6} I
• Email:I 3.5c, FOIA Exemption (b}(6)
• Phone Number (VOSIP/S1'E),:fo1A Exemptionl{b){6)
• UAP First Seen Location: DATA MASKED
• UAP Altitude, Depth, Velocity, and Trajectory (indicate estimated or measured): FL600+
GENTEXTIUAP
• UAP Description (e.g., size, shape, color, markings, recognizable features): f9ffl',ff2) STARTING AT
2302:052 ~FLT OBSERVED SEVERAL BRIGHT OBJECTS MANUEVERING QUICKLY
WEST TO EAST NE OF RLZJ 1.4a !FLT WOULD OBTAIN POSS UAP ON TARGETING POD (TV
MODE) FOR APPROX 20S BEFORE OBJECT WOULD BECOME DIM AND DISAPPEAR FROM
TARGETING POD. NONE OF THE OBJECTS WERE SEEN IN ANY FORMATIONS AS
PREVIOUSLY SEEN IN PRIOR SORTIES. NFTR.
ANALYST COMMENT:! 1.4a IFLT COMPARED TARGETING POD BETWEEN POSS UAP AND
STAR. RESULTS WERE DIFFERENT.
3.5c, FOIA Exemption (b)(6)
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Declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison
USCENTCOM Chief of Staff
Declassified on: 8 October 2025
MDR 25-0094 thru MDR 25-0099 / JS-250710-TM8S 10/17/25 006
Approved for Release to AARO Not linked to a story yet.
Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 6 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.