The Department of War's May 8, 2026 PURSUE Release 01 identifies DOW-UAP-D28 as a Department of War PDF mission report for a September 20, 2024 incident in Iraq.1 The official asset URL and PDF metadata use "East China Sea, 2024" in the file title, but the release metadata, mission narrative, and report details place the event in Iraq, inside the Ayn al Asad Airbase restricted operating zone.12
The PDF is a six-page MISREP originally marked SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY. It was declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, on October 24, 2025 and approved for release to AARO under USCENTCOM MDR 25-0100 thru 25-0103 / JS-250710-TM8S. It lists Operation Inherent Resolve, the air domain, USCENTCOM, AFSOC, the 609th operations center, and SOTU 016 as originator; personnel, aircraft, coordinates, and several mission details are redacted.2
Mission Report Structure
DOW-UAP-D28 is an operational mission report, not a finished public case narrative. It contains a narrative summary, classification and command metadata, point-of-contact and review fields, aircraft equipment fields, a sortie timeline, and a dedicated UAP entry.2 The release description explains that MISREPs are standardized U.S. military reporting forms and that the general-text section often carries qualitative context alongside more structured data.1
The mission narrative says the aircraft departed OKAS at 1740Z, arrived on station around 1930Z, conducted armed overwatch, performed a weapons calibration, and released 20 105 mm rounds, 101 30 mm rounds, and one AGM-176 before returning to OKAS at 0046Z. The report's timeline gives a total mission time of seven hours and six minutes, with on-station time from 1930Z to 2323Z.2
AGM-176 Sensor Incident
The UAP entry records initial contact at 2027:59Z on September 20, 2024, during the interval between munition release and impact. It lists the event as a UAP incident, marks the observer's assessment as benign, reports no observed response by the UAP, no effects on personnel or equipment, no recovered material, no observer engagement, and no additional aircraft reported by third parties in the airspace.2
The sensor fields are the heart of the record. The report says the UAP was seen through the aircraft sensors during an AGM-176 employment, created an infrared lens flare on MX-20 and MX-25 sensors, and was interpreted by the reporter as carrying a strong heat signature. The report also says the object moved rapidly through the sensor field of view, was not reacquired, and that it was unknown whether something separated from the primary UAP before it left view.2
The entry gives the event serial number as 202027ZSEP2024-CENTCOM and separately notes that the combatant-command sequence portion was still unknown. It places the operation inside the Ayn al Asad Airbase restricted operating zone named Raindrop, records the friendly aircraft at flight level 130 and 170 KIAS, and notes that the aircraft maintained laser energy until the munition reached its intended target.2
Value of the Reporting Chain
DOW-UAP-D28 matters because it is a near-contemporaneous operational record of a UAP observation inside a weapons-employment sequence. The report does not identify the object, and its own fields repeatedly mark uncertainty: no advanced capabilities are recorded, no interrogation return is listed, and much of the platform and coordinate detail remains redacted.2
Its value is the reporting chain. PURSUE Release 01 preserves the public metadata, while the PDF preserves the mission timing, sensor context, redaction basis, declassification action, and the operational setting in which the observation was reported. The file-name mismatch with the official URL is also important: researchers should follow the release title, incident metadata, and contents of the PDF rather than relying on the asset filename alone.12