Small UAP — Iraq Military Zone

An internal DoD military memo, included in the public archive record set, describes an encounter with 'one possible small UAP' near US military assets in Iraq. The object was observed at approximately 80,000 feet — above the operational ceiling of most military aircraft — and performed maneuvers described as 'inconsistent with known aerial vehicles.' The object was tracked by multiple sensor systems before departing at high speed. The memo is dated March 2022 and includes IR sensor data (partially redacted). The incident occurred near a sensitive US installation. AARO's assessment notes the object's flight profile 'does not correspond to any commercial drone, military UAV, or atmospheric phenomenon in our database.'