USCENTCOM Formation Track, Persian Gulf August 2020

Brief

On August 27, 2020, at 1527Z, a 482nd Attack Squadron asset tasked to support NAVCENT ISR operations observed a formation of unknown flying objects traveling northeast to northwest along the Persian Gulf coast near grid 39RVM8. Tracking ran from 1527Z to 1529Z — approximately two minutes — before positive identification was lost in cloud cover and could not be regained. The mission's own weather entry explicitly labels it a 'UAP EVENT.' The intel gap for the mission was formally recorded as not filled.

Metadata

Agency

Department of War

Release

5/8/26

Incident

8/27/20

Location

Persian Gulf

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

7 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED (declassified)

Tags

formation, Persian Gulf, Arabian Gulf, 2020, MISREP-4685903, AREC, ANDAS4, coast-track-NE-NW

Key points

• Aircrew formally recorded the event as 'FORMATION OF UNK FLYING OBJECTS' traveling NE-NW along the coast at 1527Z on August 27, 2020.p.6
• Tracking lasted approximately two minutes (1527Z to 1529Z) before positive identification was lost in cloud cover.p.6
• Aircrew was unable to regain PID on the formation after losing it in cloud cover.p.7
• The official weather field on the ISR GENTEXT page explicitly uses the term 'UAP EVENT': 'LIGHT CLOUD COVERAGE PREVENTED CONT UOUS TRACKJNG OF UAP EVENT.'p.5
• The 'Intel Gap Filled' field is recorded as 'No,' meaning the formation was never identified.p.5
• FMV was collected during the mission and exploited by DGS 1, though no imagery or video is attached to this release.p.1
• The aircraft was hailed on guard frequency by Iranian Air Defense at 0532Z; the encounter was rated 'PROFESSIONAL' in tone with no mission impact.p.6
• Primary sensor was ANDAS4 (targeting pod); AH_GMESH was also available.p.4
• The 21-hour mission accumulated 17.9 IMINT hours and 19.2 SIGINT hours, with the UAP observation recorded as a separate line event outside the primary taskings.p.1
• Mission tasking included characterizing Iranian/IRGCN vessels, UAS activity, port activity, and establishing pattern of life in the Arabian Gulf.p.5

Verbatim

• FORMATION OF UNK FLYING OBJECTS

  p.6

• WAS TRACKING THIS FORMATION FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES BEFORE PID WAS LOST IN

  p.6

• CLOUD COVER. AIRCREW WAS UNABLE TO GAIN PIO AGAIN ON THIS FORMATION

  p.7

• LIGHT CLOUD COVERAGE PREVENTED THE C I NTINOUS TRACKING OF THE FORMATION

  p.7

• LIGHT CLOUD COVERAGE PREVENTED CONT UOUS TRACKJNG OF UAP EVENT

  p.5

• FMV WAS ' EXPLOITED BY DGS 1.

  p.1

Most interesting

• The military's own MISREP uses the phrase 'UAP EVENT' in a standardized weather field — not a narrative opinion, but a field entry — making this an unusually explicit official label for the incident.
• Tracking was ended not by sensor failure or evasive maneuvering by the objects, but by ordinary light cloud coverage, suggesting the formation was at low-enough altitude or oblique-enough geometry to be obscured by partial overcast.
• The observation occurred during the same sortie in which Iranian Air Defense hailed the aircraft on guard frequency — a geopolitically sensitive operational environment that adds context to the reporting threshold.
• The 'Intel Gap Filled: No' entry is an official acknowledgment that the mission failed to identify what it observed.
• FMV was collected and sent to DGS 1 for exploitation, meaning high-resolution full-motion video of the mission period may exist in classified holdings separate from this release.
• The observation location (grid 39RVM8) places the formation in the Persian Gulf near the Iranian coast — the precise area the aircraft was tasked to monitor for IRGCN naval and UAS activity.
• The method of observation field is redacted, leaving open whether the formation was detected electro-optically, on radar, via SIGINT, or some combination.