Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, May 2022
- Date
- 6 May 2022
- Place
- Iraq (MISREP lists Middle East/Iraq; USCENTCOM AOR)
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Five seconds of infrared video from a US military platform, paired with USCENTCOM mission report DOW-UAP-D010. The MISREP records an aircrew observing 5 UAP during a target-development mission: one described as a 'possible missile' crossing the field of view and four others as 'possible birds.' The video shows only a single area of contrast crossing the bottom third of frame, not five objects.
What officials concluded
Tentative explanation
Aircrew's own mission report describes the primary contact as a 'possible' missile and four other contacts as 'possible birds', i.e. conventional/instrument candidate explanations offered by the reporting unit itself, not AARO.
- Agency
- Department of War
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- No: Visual
- Yes: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- Yes: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- Yes: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating Single infrared sensor, 5-second clip, one indistinct area of contrast; the reporting aircrew itself offered conventional candidate explanations ('possible missile', 'possible birds') rather than describing anomalous performance. No radar or second sensor corroboration in the released material.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- One USCENTCOM ISR aircrew (sensor operator/screener), unnamed, redacted
- Sensors
- FMV/infrared (single sensor)
- Motion
- Moving across sensor field of view; no measured speed given
- Duration
- 5 seconds released; observation window 1514Z-1934Z per MISREP
Pentagon files
DOW-UAP-PR019, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, May 2022
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
The aircrew observed 5 UAP total in one FOV during the sortie, of which 1 fit the profile of a possible missile and 4 fit the profile of possible birds.
- Unverified
The released video shows only one area of contrast crossing the bottom third of the frame, not five objects or a missile-like track.
On the map
33.00° N, 44.00° E, plotted at the centre of the country
Show on the map