Unresolved UAP Report, Iraq, 2022 — Department of War Image (DOW-UAP-PR130)
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of a still image derived from an infrared system aboard a U.S. military system in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DOW-UAP-D106,…
Incident Overview
In 2022, in Iraq, the Department of War preserved a still image from a military sensor that was declassified and published on September 18, 2026 as part of the sixth tranche of the Department of War’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The released copy carries redactions.
What the government released
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of a still image derived from an infrared system aboard a U.S. military system in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DOW-UAP-D106, described the UAP as “flying sporadically… at various speeds between 80-180 miles per hour.”
Image Description:
This image features two areas of contrast. One appears near the center of the sensor display, bounded by a reticle. Another appears in the lower third of the frame. The area of contrast in the lower third of the frame appears elongated and is followed by a visible trail. These features suggest motion across the focal plane from the top right to the bottom left of the sensor field-of-view. The apparent trail is consistent with known image-compression and processing effects and does not necessarily represent a physical feature.
This image 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.
Related records
This image was released with Mission Report, Iraq, in which the operator described what they believed they were seeing. The description and the sensor record can be read against each other, which is the most useful way to read either.
Status of the case
Records released under the PURSUE program are designated unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which means the federal government has not concluded the events were anomalous, has not concluded they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility. Where AARO has offered a likely source for an item — an infrared sensor aboard a military aircraft, a commercial camera, or a known optical effect — that attribution is the agency’s working assessment rather than a final determination. Conventional candidates such as drones, balloons, flares, satellites, parallax and forced-perspective artifacts, and ordinary aircraft remain on the table for any unresolved case absent better data than a single sensor pass or a witness recollection.