PURSUE Record — DOW-UAP-D28, Mission Report, Iraq, September 2024: Iraq · 9/20/24

DOW-UAP-D28 is a declassified Mission Report (MISREP) from September 20, 2024, released by the U.S. Department of War on May 8, 2026, as part of PURSUE Release 01. It is a single-part PDF documenting an anomalous infrared sensor observation during a weapons calibration test in Iraq — a contemporary military operational record, not a historical archive entry or remote-sensing dataset.

What this record contains

The document is a single PDF file released by the Department of War under PURSUE Release 01. Its incident date is September 20, 2024; its location is Iraq. MISREPs are standardized military reporting forms; their GENTEXT section captures qualitative, contextual observations that complement the numerical data elsewhere in the form — and it is that section AARO identifies as most analytically significant for UAP cases.

According to the official description, U.S. military operators were conducting a weapons calibration test when they observed what they characterized as a lens flare through MX-20 and MX-25 infrared sensors, following the firing of an AGM-176 Griffin air-to-surface missile. They described the source as a UAP moving through the sensor's field of view at high speed and assessed that the flare was associated with "a significant heat source." The Department of War notes explicitly that all descriptive language reflects the reporter's subjective interpretation at the time — not a conclusive determination about what was present.

Historical & documentary context

MISREPs are one of the primary channels U.S. service members use to report UAP encounters to AARO. The MX-20 and MX-25 are stabilized multi-spectral targeting pods capable of infrared and electro-optical imaging — precise instruments, but also sensitive to thermal artifacts and lens effects that can appear dramatic and resist easy classification under operational conditions. The public release does not specify the platform or unit involved beyond the Iraq location and the weapon system used.

The AGM-176 Griffin is a precision-guided munition; calibration tests are routine procedural events designed to verify systems function within specification. An unexpected thermal return in an infrared sensor during a missile firing is exactly the kind of ambiguous data point that generates a MISREP — the protocol demands documentation of unexplained sensor events regardless of whether operators believe the source was extraordinary. The operational context here matters: the observation was incidental to a test, not the result of dedicated UAP surveillance.

What this does and does not prove

The documented facts are narrow: operators observed an anomalous infrared return on MX-20 and MX-25 sensors during a calibration test on September 20, 2024, over Iraq, characterized it as moving at high speed, and assessed it as associated with a significant heat source. The Department of War's own framing is explicit — all interpretive language is attributed to the reporter's subjective read at the time, and the release notes these characterizations should not be taken as conclusive evidence of any object's physical features or performance capabilities. Lens flare in IR sensors during high-energy events like missile firings is a well-documented optical phenomenon. Whether what was observed was a sensor artifact, an atmospheric or thermal effect, or something else remains unresolved by this record. The MISREP documents that something was seen and flagged through official channels — nothing more, and nothing less.

How it fits PURSUE Release 01

DOW-UAP-D28 belongs to the Department of War's contemporary mission report series within the 120-PDF component of PURSUE Release 01 — recent, operationally sourced records from active-duty personnel using modern sensor platforms. Alongside the other DoW MISREPs in the release, it illustrates how the current UAP reporting pipeline functions in practice: standardized forms, sensor-specific data, and epistemic humility built into the official framing from the outset. The full catalogue of all 162 records — PDFs, videos, and images — is available on the SkyLens UAP files page, with additional editorial analysis across other PURSUE Release 01 coverage.

Editorial note: This analysis is independent commentary on a publicly released document. The original record, source links, and full release metadata are catalogued on the SkyLens UAP files page alongside every other case in the PURSUE Release 01 set.