Intelligence Information Report, Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman, 2021
🏛️ Department of War
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.
Key points
- 🏛️ Official U.S. government release — batch 5 (Aug 7, 2026)
- Official file: DOW-UAP-D101
- When: 9/8/2021
- Parts of this file are redacted by the government.
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The description above is the government’s own, from the official release. The official file is linked on this page.
Department of War. (2021). Intelligence Information Report, Unresolved UAP Report, Gulf of Oman, 2021. https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/release_05/Aug_07/documents/DOW-UAP-D101_IIR_Unresolved-UAP-Report-Gulf-of-Oman_2021.pdfRelated records
Film Analysis of Unidentified Objects, 1953
Department of War
This file contains a memorandum relating to the U.S. Naval Photographic Interpretation Center’s assessment of two films allegedly depicting unidentified airborne objects, captured in Montana and Utah in 1950 and 1952, respectively. The file documents the Center’s analytic process, assumptions that constrained its confidence level, tentative conclusions, and recommendations for future research. The Center assessed, generally, that the objects depicted in the film demonstrated characteristics that were inconsistent with those of natural phenomena or commonly known aerospace technologies. The memorandum documents the Center’s recommendation for a more well-resourced investigation to corroborate its presumptive findings, citing a lack of funding and personnel. The accompanying charts compare the film’s luminosity with the apparent angular size of the phenomena, using contemporary mathematical modeling and photogrammetric analysis techniques.
Intelligence Review of “Ghost Rocket” Incidents, 1947
Department of War
This document is a U.S. Department of War General Staff intelligence review assessing incidents involving unidentified “Ghost Rockets” reported over Sweden and other Scandinavian countries beginning in May 1946. The review includes an analysis of observational reports, statements from the Swedish government, and reporting from the U.S. military attaché in Stockholm. The review highlights the inconclusive nature of the contemporary evidence available to substantiate reports from civilian and military observers. The review also documents a change in the public stance of the Swedish Defense Staff, which privately attributed the objects to Soviet V-1 missile tests launched from Peenemünde. Peenemünde is a then-occupied municipality in northeastern Germany that had been associated with the development of the V-1 and V-2 rocket program during World War II. The Swedish assessment publicly shifted from an unknown technological origin to one of a “celestial origin.” The review suggests that this shift was a deliberate effort to avoid diplomatic conflict with the Soviet Union. The report’s final assessment concludes that while most reported incidents were likely misidentified natural phenomena, the “best evidence” suggested a small number of “real incidents” involving low-flying V-1 type missiles, likely attributable to Soviet tests of captured German technology.
Air Materiel Command Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, 1947-1948
Department of War
This file is a collection of U.S. Government memoranda and correspondence relating to “Project Sign,” a 1948 U.S. Air Force program to investigate reports of high-performance airborne objects. The documents characterize some of these reports as being consistent with “real” objects rather than fabrications or resulting from perceptual errors. The U.S. Air Force cites the reported characteristics of the phenomena, e.g., high speed and maneuverability, as exceeding known performance envelopes of U.S. military aircraft and thereby presenting a potential national security threat, if validated. This potential threat prompted the Air Force to call on the Air Materiel Command (AMC), the Service’s Major Command for logistics and procurement from 1946 to 1961, to gather further evidence to assess the validity of the reports. The Air Force emphasized that there was an “imperative need” for such evidence to enable appropriate countermeasures. The stated urgency of this request reflects the strategic environment of the early Cold War, a period characterized by heightened national defense concerns amid rapid global advancements in aerospace design and development. In framing the call for an investigation, the Air Force noted that sustained public interest and persistent inquiries from the press may eventually require an official statement in response. AMC’s investigation found that observers were generally not mistaken when reporting that they had seen an airborne object, but that their characterizations of those objects as unusual was likely a reflection of the “limits of their personal experience.” It identified “a great many” of the objects reported with a rounded appearance as “weather or upper air scientific balloons of some type.” It also identified several cases in which the reported objects were most likely celestial phenomena, such as Venus. AMC found that a small number of reports lacked a “reasonable everyday explanation,” but that “so far, no physical evidence of the existence of the unidentified sightings has been obtained.” AMC expressly considered whether the phenomena may have been “vehicles from another planet,” but found no evidence supporting such an origin. Ultimately, AMC found that “there is as yet no conclusive proof that unidentified flying objects, other than those which are known to be balloons, are real aircraft.” In light of these findings, AMC recommended that the Department of War should avoid publicly commenting on the subject of “flying discs.” Responding to the Air Force’s anticipated concerns regarding public interest in the subject, AMC recommended that the Department should reply in terms that minimize the investigation’s inconclusive findings, focusing on positive determinations in cases assessed to be weather balloons and celestial phenomena.
Briefing Notes for Mr. Walter Elder
CIA
This document contains briefing material prepared for Mr. Walter N. Elder, Executive Assistant to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), regarding a November 19, 1964, incident allegedly involving unidentified aircraft in the vicinity of Puerto Rico. The previous entry in this collection, CIA-UAP-D022, contains CIA memoranda on the same subject matter. The briefing includes additional details regarding that incident, including a characterization of the meteorological conditions and sensing capabilities of nearby U.S. military collection systems. The briefing states that a radar system aboard USS Gyatt, a guided missile destroyer operating in the vicinity, detected a contact tracking more than 3,800 knots (approximately 4,373 mph) over a period of 21 minutes. The briefing contains visual estimates regarding the phenomenon’s apparent capabilities from the pilot of an F-8 Crusader who was present during the incident.