2003
The first sightings were reported to occur on March 19, 2003 when unexplained lights were observed near Kirkuk by civilians and paramilitary forces. March 19, 2003 also coincides with the invasion of Iraq by United States and the Coalition forces, marking the beginning of the Iraq War. Many witnesses claimed to have seen actual flying objects. Other witnesses claimed they could identify the objects as flaming debris from air strikes, airplanes, or lightning. As of March 19, 2003, any explanation of the strange lights remained unknown.
Another UFO was sighted in Kirkuk on March 23, 2003 when BBC News was making a report on the Iraq war situation when one of the reporters saw a triangular shaped UFO which was briefly filmed. The object flew by for a brief second before disappearing. There was no evidence that the UFO was a fighter jet or a cargo plane. On April 3, 2003 a UFO was photographed flying over Baghdad, the craft was not seen by any of the civilians or soldiers (except the photographer) and its unclear of what the object really was.
On April 6, 2003 five cylindrical shaped UFOs were sighted near the Tigris River and that the objects were filmed and televised live on Fox News although there's no evidence that Fox News itself actually filmed the objects.
Read more about this topic: UFO Sightings In Iraq