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DOW-UAP-D20, Mission Report, Iraq, 2023

Official Release 01 PDF copy

Release 01#war-gov#pursue#release-01#official-source#evidence#pdf#misrep#iraq

DOW-UAP-D20, Mission Report, Iraq, 2023

Evidence media

Derived page render from the official D20 PDF, page 1: mission narrative and timeline

Page 1 is a derived render from the official PDF. It shows the mission narrative and the high-level sortie timeline, including the 2302Z line that points readers to the UAP section.

Derived page render from the official D20 PDF, page 5: takeoff, landing, on-station, and off-station fields

Page 5 is a derived render from the official PDF. It preserves the structured timeline fields: takeoff from OEPS, landing back at OEPS, on-station time, killbox/location ESSA, mission type DCA, KINGPIN, and off-station time.

Derived page render from the official D20 PDF, page 6: UAP block and GENTEXT/UAP paragraph

Page 6 is a derived render from the official PDF. It is the source page for the UAP block: 312302:05ZMAR23, POSS 10X-20X, FL600+, UAP Signatures: No, blank RF fields, the targeting-pod TV MODE line, and the analyst comparison against a star.

Investigation reading

This is a short, six-page MISREP form tied to Release 01 row 41. The readable source is text/form evidence, not an imagery packet: the rendered pages show narrative, administrative fields, aircraft-equipment fields, a timeline, and a UAP block, but no object photographs, maps, radar plots, targeting-pod stills, or video frames.

The mission narrative describes a two-ship F-16CM flight from Prince Sultan Air Base (OEPS) in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. The page-one timeline reads as a 31 March / 1 April 2023 sortie: takeoff at 311901ZMAR23, entry into Iraq airspace at about 2007Z, entry into Syria airspace and check-in with KINGPIN at about 2058Z, observation of multiple possible UAP at 2302Z, off-station/return to base at 0000Z, exit from Iraq airspace at 0046Z, and landing at OEPS at 0148Z with engine shutdown at 0215Z.

The high-signal source text is on page 6. The UAP section gives initial contact as 312302:05ZMAR23, friendly aircraft altitude FL265, friendly aircraft speed 293, operational range NE OF RLZ, first-seen location DATA MASKED, and an altitude/depth/velocity/trajectory field reading FL600+. The count field reads POSS 10X-20X; the signatures field reads UAP Signatures: No; RF frequency and duration are blank; effects on persons are listed as (U) NONE.

The GENTEXT/UAP block states that starting at 2302:05Z, the flight observed “several bright objects” maneuvering quickly west to east northeast of RLZ. It says the flight would obtain the possible UAP on a targeting pod in TV MODE for approximately 20 seconds before the object became dim and disappeared from the targeting pod. It also says none of the objects were seen in formations as previously seen in prior sorties. The analyst comment says the flight compared the targeting-pod result between the possible UAP and a star, and that the results were different. That is a source statement, not an independent resolution.

What the file appears to contain

PageSource reading
1Mission narrative and classification/admin opening. The only UAP line on this page is the narrative entry that the flight observed multiple possible UAP at about 2302Z and refers the reader to the UAP section.
2Administrative MISREP metadata: domain AIR, operations center 609th, MAJCOM AFCENT, COCOM USCENTCOM, report type MISREP, originator 77 EFS, mission type DCA, and Air Force tasking fields.
3Personnel/approver fields and the first aircraft-equipment block. It lists radar/RWR/ECM/CMD/chaff/flare/towed-decoy fields, including ALR-56M, ALQ-184, ALQ-213, RR-180, and ALE-50; several personal and aircraft/radar identifiers are redacted.
4Continuation of aircraft-equipment fields. It lists weapons/expendables, SNIPER LDP as the targeting-pod name/designator, HTS-P R7.85, and LINK 16, then repeats a second ACEQUIP block.
5Timeline fields: takeoff from OEPS, landing back at OEPS, on-station time 312058:00ZMAR23, killbox/location ESSA, mission type DCA, KINGPIN, and off-station time 010000:00ZAPR23.
6UAP block and GENTEXT/UAP description: possible 10–20 objects, FL600+ in the UAP altitude/trajectory field, no UAP signatures, no RF values entered, no reported effects on persons, targeting-pod TV MODE observation for about 20 seconds, and an analyst comparison against a star.

The aircraft-equipment fields matter as operating context, but they should not be read as raw sensor evidence by themselves. The source-backed observation line is the reported targeting-pod acquisition in TV mode; the released PDF does not include the actual targeting-pod recording.

Source custody and provenance

The PDF metadata title/subject visible to pdfinfo still reads DOW-UAP-D20, Mission Report, Southern United States, 2020, while the official URL, release row, document text, and mission content point to the Iraq 2023 MISREP. Treat that as a provenance-quality issue to reconcile before using title metadata for deduplication. The current official byte-range PDF and the Open Sky release-file copy match the SHA-256 shown above.

Graph context

The graph has the Release 01 document node for this PDF asset and the row-41 release record. The row record supplies the incident date/location (3/31/23, Iraq), redaction flag, title, official URL, and manifest description. The pre-existing semantic graph summary for this asset contains 11 extracted claims and 7 entity mentions, mostly from the manifest wording: Department of War/AARO, Iraq, 2023, DOW-UAP-D20, observation testimony, motion, and the targeting-pod-duration statement. It has no extracted sensor-event records for this asset.

The full PDF reading adds source-level detail not present in the capped graph summary: POSS 10X-20X, FL600+, FL265, 293, NE OF RLZ, DATA MASKED, blank RF fields, UAP Signatures: No, SNIPER LDP, TV MODE, and the analyst's star-comparison comment. A related graph/document pointer also uses a southern-united-states-2023 URL/title variant. Given the PDF metadata mismatch, those neighboring records are useful provenance leads, not evidence of a separate resolved event.

Leads to check

  • Reconcile the D20 Iraq 2023 official URL, current PDF hash, PDF metadata title/subject, and related southern-united-states path variants before deduplication or public file-count claims.
  • Locate any paired or withheld targeting-pod video/still imagery. This PDF reports a targeting-pod acquisition but does not release the actual sensor frame or clip.
  • Review whether FL600+, object count POSS 10X-20X, and west-to-east motion were estimated by the operator, produced by the pod, or entered later from another source field.
  • Check the analyst comparison against a star: what target, time, field of view, pod settings, and comparison method were used? The released page only states that the results were different.
  • If coordinates or a less-redacted grid for NE OF RLZ become available, run astronomy, satellite, aircraft/operations, and atmospheric checks for 2302:05Z on 31 March 2023 before escalating any interpretation.
  • Review the phrase “as previously seen in prior sorties” to see whether there are earlier linked sorties, formation reports, or comparison records in Release 01.

Lead check notes

  • Checked — source-file identity. The current D20 Iraq 2023 release-file payload matches the reviewed size and SHA-256 above. D20 URL/title variants in Release 01 material point to the same PDF payload by byte size and hash, while the PDF metadata title/subject still reads DOW-UAP-D20, Mission Report, Southern United States, 2020; treat that as a metadata/deduplication issue, not a separate event.
  • Checked — paired media. Release row 41 has no video pairing or DVIDS video ID, and the current D20 release record is a PDF-only record. The PDF reports a targeting-pod acquisition, but the actual targeting-pod clip/still is not included in the released file.
  • Partial — UAP form fields. Page 6 confirms the key fields already summarized here: initial contact 312302:05ZMAR23, friendly aircraft altitude FL265, speed 293, operational range NE OF RLZ, object count POSS 10X-20X, UAP Signatures: No, blank RF frequency/duration, and FL600+. The form does not say whether FL600+, object count, or west-to-east motion came from operator estimate, targeting-pod measurement, or later form entry.
  • Blocked — star-comparison review. The source states that the flight compared the targeting-pod result between a possible UAP and a star and that the results were different, but it does not identify the star, field of view, pod settings, comparison procedure, exact line of sight, or raw sensor frame. Those are required before using this as more than a source statement.
  • Needs external source — coordinates and prosaic checks. The first-seen location is masked and the friendly-aircraft location is partly redacted, so astronomy, satellite, aircraft/operations, and atmospheric checks remain blocked until a less-redacted location or mission log is available.
  • Partial — prior-sortie phrasing. The exact PREVIOUSLY SEEN IN PRIOR SORTIES phrase is visible on page 6 and appears in the current linked OCR for this D20 file; no separate linked prior-sortie record was identified in the current Release 01 text search. Earlier sortie/formation context still needs source-level confirmation.

Limits

This page does not make a finding. The document is a redacted text/form report with no raw targeting-pod imagery, no radar plot, no map, no original video, and no independent sensor data attached in the released PDF. Personal identifiers, aircraft identifiers, exact friendly-location details, and first-seen location are partly or fully redacted. Aircraft equipment fields show what the aircraft carried or reported in the MISREP; they do not, by themselves, prove the UAP was detected by each listed system. The object count, altitude/trajectory field, star comparison, and dimming/disappearance language remain source statements that need human review and prosaic correlation.

Deep investigation — graph + web reconnaissance

Source reread and rendered-page check

The current Release 01 file copy and derived page renders read as a text/form MISREP, not an imagery release. Page 6 remains the high-signal page: the structured UAP block gives initial contact 312302:05ZMAR23, a partially redacted MGRS-style friendly-aircraft location beginning 37SGA, friendly altitude FL265, speed 293, operational range NE OF RLZ, object count POSS 10X-20X, UAP Signatures: No, blank RF frequency/duration fields, first-seen location DATA MASKED, and the altitude/depth/velocity/trajectory field FL600+.

The rendered page confirms the GENTEXT wording that the flight observed “several bright objects” moving quickly west to east northeast of RLZ, obtained a possible UAP on the targeting pod in TV MODE for about 20S, then saw the object become dim and disappear from the pod. The same source paragraph says the objects were not seen in formations “as previously seen in prior sorties,” and the analyst comment says the flight compared the targeting-pod result between a possible UAP and a star and that the results were different. Those are source statements only: the released PDF does not include the targeting-pod video, the comparison star, field of view, pod settings, line of sight, radar plot, or map.

Read-only graph connections

The read-only graph has a current WAR.GOV PDF asset node for the Iraq 2023 D20 URL and a related Release 01 row-41 record. The row record supplies the incident date/location (3/31/23, Iraq), current PDF link, blank video/DVIDS pairing fields, and manifest caution language that descriptive and estimative wording reflects the reporter’s interpretation. The D20 asset’s semantic layer has one manifest-text chunk and 11 unreviewed machine-extracted claims, mostly document identity, Department of War/AARO, Iraq/2023, the “several bright objects” observation, and the targeting-pod-duration statement. It has no graph SensorEvent records for this asset, and the extracted claims remain machine_extracted_needs_human_review / not_a_finding.

The graph also exposes the custody problem already noted on this page: older/currently related D20 records carry southern-united-states-2020 and southern-united-states-2023 URL/title variants, while the current row-41 title and page content are Iraq 2023. One current Iraq-2023 asset record still reflects range-sample metadata that does not match the fully reviewed Open Sky release-file size on this page; the row record and local release-file verification preserve the 3,698,245-byte file. Treat the title/URL/hash differences as a deduplication and provenance-cleanup lead, not as evidence of multiple separate events.

External provenance and web reconnaissance

Official-source reconnaissance still points back to WAR.GOV/PURSUE as the source of record. The Department of War press release, “Department of War Releases Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Files in Historic Transparency Effort” (2026-05-08), describes PURSUE as a release portal for declassified UAP files and links the WAR.GOV/UFO landing page and official CSV manifest. The D20 official media URL is the canonical Release 01 file URL listed in row 41, but live WAR.GOV media and release pages returned 403 during this check, so the public page relies on the previously verified Open Sky release-file copy and the stored official manifest/provenance.

Search reconnaissance found the D20 source mirrored under the older Southern United States, 2020 title in secondary/community locations, including a Black Vault-hosted PDF path. That mirror is useful for provenance comparison because it preserves the same title-family confusion, but it is not the source of record for this page. The Release 01 row itself has no DVIDS video ID or video pairing, and no official paired video/still was identified from the current row-level graph context; any future targeting-pod file should be added only if its official custody and byte identity can be verified.

Prosaic checks and blockers

The source’s own analyst comment makes the star-comparison lane mandatory, but the released PDF does not provide enough geometry to reproduce it. A proper astronomy/satellite/aircraft check needs the unmasked first-seen location or line of sight, the comparison star or azimuth/elevation, targeting-pod mode/settings, timebase, and platform position. With only NE OF RLZ, a partially redacted 37SGA... friendly-location field, and a TV MODE pod statement, star, planet, satellite/Starlink, aircraft, flare/illumination, atmospheric visibility, sensor auto-gain/contrast, and pod-track-loss explanations remain open checks rather than conclusions.

The “previously seen in prior sorties” clause is a real source phrase, but current Release 01 text/graph searching only tied that exact phrase back to D20 title variants and secondary conversions. It has not yet identified the earlier sortie reports, formation descriptions, or comparison records that the form appears to reference.

Follow-up leads

  • Reconcile the current Iraq 2023 URL, older southern-united-states URL variants, PDF metadata title/subject, graph range-sample metadata, and full release-file hash before using D20 in file-count or duplicate-count summaries.
  • Locate any official targeting-pod clip, still, mission log, or star-comparison worksheet; without it, the “results were different” sentence remains testimony/analyst text rather than independently checkable sensor evidence.
  • If a less-redacted MGRS/grid or line-of-sight is released, run astronomy, satellite/Starlink, aircraft/operations, illumination/flare, and weather checks for 2302:05Z on 2023-03-31 before escalating the case.
  • Search adjacent AFCENT/OIR sortie records for the formation reports implied by “previously seen in prior sorties.”

Audit note

This section uses the wiki page, the verified release-file copy, rendered source pages, read-only Neo4j queries, and official-first web reconnaissance. It does not write to Neo4j and does not create or imply a Finding, Hypothesis, or ResolutionDecision.

Sources