DOW-UAP-D101, Intelligence Information Report, Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman, 2021
This document is an Intelligence Information Report (IIR), the primary standardized format utilized by the Department of War, military services, and the broader Intelligence Community to disseminate unevaluated intelligence information derived from human sources (HUMINT), open sources, and field collection activities. IIRs are not finished intelligence products; they serve as inputs for subsequent all-source intelligence assessments. This report accompanies the footage contained within DOW-UAP-PR117 through DOW-UAP-PR122. This report documents an observation by the aircrew of a U.S. Special Operations Forces (USSOF) AC-130 Gunship on September 8, 2021, during a nighttime live-fire training exercise over the Gulf of Oman. The aircrew reported first observing two unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) after dropping a water-activated flare. The report describes the UAP as stationary, approximately four feet in diameter, 0-20 feet above the water’s surface. Throughout the training sortie, the aircrew reported observing approximately 25 instances involving similar phenomena via infrared sensor, describing them as “cold orbs.” Aircrew visual estimates of the UAP’s apparent speed range from 250 to 1,300 miles per hour. The report characterizes the UAP’s behavior as “maneuvering aggressively,” “flying in various formations,” and appearing to react to deployments of the aircraft’s onboard weapons systems. The aircrew stated that they were unable to capture video footage of the phenomena because the aircraft’s digital video recorder was not functioning during the incident. 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.
The summary above is sourced from the released file metadata as published to war.gov. The analysis sections below are original to this tracker.
Text of the document
Machine-extracted from the PDF war.gov published (its text layer or OCR), so expect errors, especially in names, numbers and handwriting; the PDF is the authoritative copy. Lines that did not extract as readable text are left out. Showing about 996 words from pages 1, 2, 3, 4 of 7.
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6/1/22, 11:.23 AM Record Preview - Int Iii enc Information R port O COLLECTOR COLLECTO NU BER OftlGINAnNo s YSTEM NAME ORIGINATING SYSTEM ID LAST MODIFICATION SYSTEM: CREATE DATE 2022-o4-27T13:29:17.651Z Observed Maneuvering Er:ratically and In Formation Over Gulf or Oman During AC-130 Gunship live Fire Training on 8 September 2021 -Attachment SUMMARY: On 8 September 2021 a USSOF AC-i30 Gunship observed approximately 25 instances of UAPs while conducting a live lire exercise in the Gulf or Oman, The lJAPs were obseived as coJcl orbs flying at lower akitudes between 250 to 1300 MPH in differentformatio1:1s as well as maneuvering aggressively. UAPs also appeared to react to the airer.aft firing its main Non State Entify: Portion Mark:
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(S#Nf-) Source had dired a.ccess to
the ,reported info,ma ion via the oo
nduct or official dulie ,
1.4(c),130b Source was s.ware information woul
dbe provided to the US gowrnmen
MESSAGE: !- INITIAL OBSERVAllON. On 8 September 2021 a United States Special Operations
Forces (lJSSOF)AC-130 Gunship was conducting live fire training the Gulf of Oman in the
\licinity of (IVO) //MGRS: 40REN6 I during period of darkness, The AC-130 first
observed Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAPs) when the aircraft dropped a
water-activated Rare to use as a mock target. The AC-130 entered an otl>it around the
flare and the Combat Systems Officer (CSO) conducted collateral scans with the aircraft's
Electro Opticall1nfrared (EO/IR) sensor IVO the flare. When tile CSO slewed the sensor in
IR mode back to the !1are they observed two approximately four.foot diameter cold orbs
between o to 20 feet above the surface of the water stat onary over tlle 11are for
approximately 15 seconds. After those 15 seconds passed, the CSO puled lhe trigger
firing the aircraft's 105mm C9nnon. Immediately upon puling the trigg r, during th
sight delay between trigger pull and the cannon's recoil, the CSO obseNed the pair o
UAPs rapidly lly away from the flare and out of the sensor eed without chang ng
- SUBSEQUENT OBSERVATIONS. The AC-130 crew observed approximately 2.5 iistances of
UA'Ps viewed in IR as C PAGE 3 directed ""---~~--~.....u----~Plea re AR n1.m r long IMth
any final product or brief the IIR information was utilz.ed.
FULL MESSAGE TEXT! R2 R22
TO AFIAAAMHS BOLLING AFB DC
AFSOC HURLBURT FLO FL
AMC I CEN SCOTT AFB IL
AMEMBASSV MUSCAT
CDR USCENTCOM MACOLL AFB FL
CDR USTRANSCOM INTEL CELL SCOTT AFB IL
CO SCOM ACO FT GEORGE G MEADE MD
CORI SCOM FT BELVOIR VA
CORI SCOMIOC FT BELV R VA
CDRNGIC CHAR OTTESv'ILLE VA
CNO WAS GTON DC
COMSOCCENT NTEL MACDI LAFB FL
COMSOCCENT JSIUACDI L AFBF
COMSOCCENT TASK FORCE MACDILLAFB FL
DAAMHS WASHINGTON DC
DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MSHINGTON DC
DEPT OF STATE WASHNGTON DC
DIA WASHINGTON DC
DI MSIC REDSTO ARS NALAL
DIR CMI FT DETRICK MD
DIR SA FT MEADE MD
DNI WASHINGTON DC
FBI WASHI GTON DC
FORSCOM ACE FT MCPHERSON GA
HQ AFOSI QUANTICO VA
HQ AFSOC HURLBURT FLO FL
HQ AfSOC INTEL HURLBURT FLO FL
HQ SCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
HQOAAOC G2 INTEL WATCH DAMI W SHINGTON DC PAGE 4 6/1/22, 11:.23 AM Record Preview
HODA DIR G2X WASHINGTON DC
JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
AC MO ESWORTH UK
JICCEN , MACO AFB FL
JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
JPRA FT SELVOIR VA
JWAC DAHLGREN VA
NASIC WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB OH
NGA WASHINGTON DC
NGIC INTEL OPS CHARLOTTESVILLE VA
ONI WASHINGTON DC
PENTAGON WASHINGTON DC
USCENTCOM JOC MACDILL AFB FL
USSOCOM J2 INTEL MACDILLAFB Fl
USSOCOM J3 OPERATIONS DIRECTORATE MACDILLAFB FL
USSOCOM J5 STRATEGY PLANS AND POLICY MACDILL AFB FL
USSOCOM JTF DEPLOYED
USSOCOM SOFM MACDILLAFB FL
USSTRATCOM :INTEL DIRECTORATE OFFUTT AFB
CIA WASHINGTON DC
DATE OF PIUBLICATION: 271329ZAPR 22.
US Air Force
INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGE CE
Unidentlfied Aerial Phenomenon Observed Maneuvering ErraUcaly and
In Formation Over Gulf of Oman D ring AC-130 Gunship Live Fire
DATE OF tlFORMATl ON: (U) 08 SEP 2021.
SUMMARY: (SIINr) On S September 2021 a USSOF AC•130 Gunship observed
approximately 25 instances of UAPs while conducting a Ive fire
exercise in the Gulf of Oman. The UAPs were ob erved as cokl orbs
llyfng al lower altitudes between 250 to 1300 MPH in different
formations as wel as maneuvering aggressively. UAPs also appeared to
react to the aircraft firing its main c"a"n""n-=o n=.'-----
Where this file fits in the PURSUE archive
This file is one of DoD's 257 files in the Trump PURSUE disclosure. Within the DoD agency block it ranks #206 of 257 by Anomalousness Index. Across the entire 450-file archive it ranks #380 of 450.
That places it in the lower-scoring band of the archive (380 of 450 by score), typical of investigative-record style files where the report is paper-based rather than instrumented.
Anomalousness Index: 53/100
Evidentiary weight that this encounter remains unexplained after conventional analysis. Not a probability of extraterrestrial origin - that number is not honestly computable from the released files and this tracker refuses to publish it.
🤖 AI-ASSISTED SCORING · methodology
The six rubric components break down for this file as follows. Each component has a weighted contribution to the final score; the per-component explanation below describes what this file's particular value on that component means in the rubric's framework.
Reported by a witness with no instrumented record. The lowest tier in the rubric's sensor axis. Eyewitness perception in field conditions, even when the witness is highly credentialed, scores below capture by any instrumented modality. This report reached the federal record through the Department of War.
Trained U.S. military personnel reporting from an operational mission context. A high witness-credibility tier, ranked in the rubric below astronaut, trained-aviator, and federal-agent testimony. This is the witness profile shared by the entire AARO-submitted infrared-capture cluster that anchors the 66-point score band.
Single-witness or single-instrument capture. This is the corroboration tier for the overwhelming majority of the PURSUE archive on the released metadata - the rubric records the honest limit of the underlying record rather than inferring multi-witness corroboration that the released summaries do not establish. A small number of files with an independent second witness or instrument score on the multi-witness/multi-instrument tier above this one.
No kinematic measurements - speed, acceleration, vector - are published in the released file with sufficient precision to score on the kinematic axis. The rubric does not infer kinematic anomaly from narrative observer estimates. Every file in the archive carries this value, which is itself an observation about the disclosure: kinematic-grade telemetry was not part of what was released.
A conventional candidate explanation has been considered but is not dispositive. Every file in the archive scores this way - reflecting that the underlying release metadata systematically caveats strong determinations in either direction. The released summaries warn against reading them as conclusive analytical judgments, and the rubric respects that.
Catalogued as unresolved with no formal review process having concluded. This is the disposition for a large share of the archive's military infrared captures - the reports are logged into the system as unresolved, but no formal review has finalized. The rubric distinguishes this from 'open after review' because the absence of review is itself a status signal.
Bottom line on the score: the Anomalousness Index of 53/100 reflects evidentiary weight that this specific file's encounter remains structurally unexplained by the rubric's six axes - it is not a claim that the underlying event involved anything non-conventional, and it is not comparable across rubrics that use different weights. For the full per-axis weights and the rubric JSON, see /methodology.
Related files in DoD
Other PURSUE files in the same category, ranked by Anomalousness Index.
DOW-UAP-PR024, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2023
DOW-UAP-PR072, "ADMINISTRATIVE REVISION: IIR 1777 J0032 22 Kazakhstan - UAP in the vicinit…
DOW-UAP-PR106, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2020
DOW-UAP-PR108, Unresolved UAP Report, Western United States, 2020
DOW-UAP-PR109, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2015
DOW-UAP-PR110, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2020
Verification
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