Iranian Forces Shoot Down Another U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Drone After Attempted Strike on Anti-Ship Missile Launcher

Military Watch Magazine Editorial Staff

October-21st-2026

Shootdown and Wreckage of Reaper Drones Separately Shot Down Over Iran

Iranian air defences were reported on October 21 to shot down a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone, after the unmanned aircraft attempts to target an anti-ship cruise missile launcher in the country. The engagement occurred near the coastal city of Sirik in Hormozgan Province, with images circulating online showing smoke rising from the area. Sirik lies along Iran’s southern coastline near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a substantial share of global oil shipments passes. While U.S. forces have relied heavily on unmanned aircraft like the MQ-9 for penetration strikes into Iran, due to the high attrition rates which aircraft have suffered, Iranian forces depend heavily on ground-based air defences and mobile cruise missile launchers to asymmetrically counter American air and naval power respectively. 

Footage of Explosion Following Engagement Near Sirik - Telegram

The reported attack comes amid continued U.S.-Iranian military confrontations over control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command has previously announced strikes against Iranian coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage facilities, naval capabilities and other military infrastructure intended to reduce Tehran’s ability to exercise sea denial. In a separate round of attacks in July, U.S. forces reported striking approximately 90 Iranian military targets along the country’s coastline. The loss of an MQ-9 represents another setback for U.S. unmanned operations over and around Iran, with close to 50 having been lost in engagements with Iranian and Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition forces. 

MQ-9 Reaper

In mid-October it was confirmed that at least 81 American military aircraft had been lost or damaged during the U.S.-led war effort against Iran since February 28, including at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones. This count did not account for the reported destruction of eight newly produced and unassembled MQ-9s during an Iranian missile strike on King Faisal Air Base in Jordan in late July. Reports of unassembled MQ-9 drones being present at air bases in the Middle East corroborated with reports from U.S. sources that a number of airframes stored by the type’s primary producer, General Atomics, could be purchased by the Air Force to replenish wartime losses. The U.S. Air Force cannot place orders for additional MQ-9A Reapers due to the suspension of production, as while limited production of the MQ-9 continues, only the very different MQ-9B SeaGuardian, which has a redesigned airframe that has different systems and logistics requirements, is being produced. 

Israel Has Its Pretext for Total War on West Bank

Consortium News
Volume 31, Number 293 — Friday, October 23, 2026


Israel Has Its Pretext for Total War on West Bank


After two Israeli soldiers were killed in Hebron four days before the election, Netanyahu threatened a new war, as CN predicted Thursday, reports Joe Lauria




Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with his generals to discuss the offensive in Gaza in 2014. (Israeli Government Photo)

By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened a major military offensive against the West Bank four days before he stands for re-election after two Israeli soldiers were killed on Friday in Hebron.

Consortium News on Thursday predicted that Palestinians killing an Israeli on the West Bank could trigger an all-out war against the Palestinian Authority.

It is still unclear what led to the Israeli soldiers being killed after a clash with what early reports call Palestinian “gunmen.” The men, identified by the Israelis as Firas and Hamouda al-Jaaba, did not appear to be members of the PA security forces.

Netanyahu rushed to Hebron, where in military gear, he announced that the entire city would be shut down as the IDF carried out house-to-house operations. He vowed a major military operation in the West Bank, “of a scale not seen since the Six-Day War,” when Israel began its occupation of the territory in 1967.

“The IDF is ready to carry it out. We will determine the timing, but it is coming,” he said.

Before it was known that the Israeli soldiers had been killed, he issued this statement:


“It appears that Hamas terrorists were planning a major attack aimed at murdering innocent civilians, as evidenced by the large quantities of weapons and ammunition discovered. … I have instructed the IDF and security forces to immediately cordon off the city of Hebron and take additional security measures to prevent terrorist attacks originating from Judea and Samaria.”

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s extreme right finance minister, also in Hebron, called for a major war against the occupied West Bank similar to Gaza.

“There is no alternative to a comprehensive military operation in Judea and Samaria that will lead to the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, the confiscation of weapons and the elimination of terrorists. Just as in Gaza and Lebanon,” said Smotrich, who added he would push for the operation to be approved and implemented.

Consortium News reported yesterday:


“Israel is threatening ‘total war’ against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

With just days to go before the Israeli general election on Oct. 27, Israel’s prime minister and defense minister have threatened a full-scale attack if an Israel settler or soldier is killed by a member of the Palestinian security forces.”

The article said that both Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Palestinians killing an Israeli soldier or settler on the West bank would trigger a major offensive.

Katz said that the IDF was waiting for PA security personnel and associated groups to “turn their guns” against Israeli settlers and IDF troops in the West Bank.

He said:


“In such a case, war will be declared against the Palestinian Authority, and the IDF will launch a comprehensive offensive in accordance with an organized plan that was formulated and approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by me, according to the principles outlined for the IDF.”

Katz added:


“The campaign will be short and powerful, and will include the use of ground and air forces, and the use of special means, the targeting and expulsion of senior officials, the destruction of weapons and military equipment, and the extensive evacuation of residents and destruction of terrorist infrastructure inside the cities and in all refugee camps in Judea and Samaria[West Bank] , in accordance with the Gaza and Lebanon model, alongside reinforcing forces and defending the Israeli communities.”

During a visit to a West Bank security barrier on Oct.13, Netanyahu also warned of all out war against Ramallah. “Our enemies are thinking of testing us in these days leading up to the elections. I warn them that we are prepared for every scenario, including what is known as ‘turning the guns around,’” he said.

Netanyahu said the IDF had given him and Katz “a powerful, robust plan. … In such a scenario, I wouldn’t advise our enemies to test us. You will encounter a level of force here that you never imagined.”

CN speculated that Israel could provoke such a killing just days before the election in order to give Netanyahu the casus belli.

Polls indicate his party will not win a majority to form a new government, it could come in second place and that he might not be asked to form a new government.

Netanyahu face possible jail time on corruption charges if he is no longer the prime minister.

This is a developing story. Please come back for updates.

Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange.

Roswell UFO Witness Describes Alien Bodies, Egg-Shaped Craft In Newly Released Files

Roswell UFO Witness Describes Alien Bodies, Egg-Shaped Craft In Newly Released Files

by Tyler Durden
Sunday, Oct 25, 2026 - 04:30 AM


Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,


The Pentagon released its seventh batch of newly declassified UFO files including an eyewitness account of the 1947 Roswell suspected UFO crash describing alien bodies and an egg-shaped craft.



Building 84, storage site for purported UFO crash debris from the ”1947 Roswell incident,“ remains in use for aviation businesses in Roswell, N.M., on Oct. 7, 2026. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The tranche of documents also contains a report on the Skinwalker Ranch in Utah with more than two dozen sightings of dog-like creatures, trolls, and other phenomena.

The files are part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Encounters, called PURSUE.

"These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation - and it's time the American people see it for themselves," Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement.

Among the documents was an affidavit from 2002 believed to be provided by former Roswell Air Base Public Information Officer Walter Haut. In it, Haut describes a staff meeting on July 8, 1947, where officials discussed wreckage collected from a ranch 40 miles from Roswell.

"I am convinced that what I personally observed was some type of craft and its crew from outer space," Haut said in the affidavit.

Haut describes two debris fields in Lincoln County where he said the crash debris was collected. He also said he and others held samples of wreckage debris and passed it around while sitting at a table.

"It was unlike any material I had or have ever seen in my life," Haut said. "Pieces which resembled metal foil, paper thin yet extremely strong, and pieces with unusual markings along their length were handled from man to man, each voicing their opinion. No one was able to identify the crash debris."

The group discussed whether to go public with the discovery, he said. Famously, the first account of the crash made it into the local Roswell Daily Record, which ran the headline "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region." The military later changed the explanation, saying it was a weather balloon.

Names of Haut's supervisors in the affidavit were redacted in Friday's release.

Haut said before he left the base, someone, whose name has been withheld by the Pentagon, took him to Building 84, a hangar on the east side of the tarmac at the Roswell Army Airfield, now known as the Roswell Air Center. Building 84 is now used at the air center for commercial aircraft maintenance.

The building was under heavy guard, he said. Once inside, he was allowed to observe an object just recovered north of town, he said. The object was about 12 to 15 feet long, not quite as wide, and about 6 feet high, with an "egg shape," he described. Haut also said the surface of the object was metallic-looking with no windows, portholes, wings, tail section, or landing gear.



Tourists view headlines at the International UFO Museum of Roswell, N.M., on Oct. 7, 2026. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

"Also from a distance, I was able to see a couple of bodies under a canvas tarpaulin," Haut stated. "Only the heads extended beyond the covering, and I was not able to make out any features. The heads did appear larger than normal and the contour of the canvas suggested the size of a 10-year-old child."

Haut said he was told a temporary morgue had been set up to accommodate the bodies.

Roswell UFO Tour operator and researcher Paul Semones said he wasn't surprised by the information released Friday.

"That's not new," Semones told The Epoch Times. "This is stuff that we've been arguing about literally for decades."

The affidavit was first published in 2007 and was intended to be released after Haut's death in 2005, according to Semones. The document has been published in at least three books on Roswell's UFO incident.

The Pentagon's version released Friday redacted several names, but the originally released copy included the names, Semones said.

"The lesson to be learned here is that we have a whole bunch of news media who are encountering it for the first time because the news media isn't paying attention to what's going on in the UFO research community," Semones said. "The world has ignored it but it's been there."

The government's latest release also included reports describing "dog-like bipedal creatures" and "little people" at Skinwalker Ranch in Utah.



Several people have reported seeing dog-like creatures near Skinwalker Ranch in Utah, a declassified report by the Pentagon revealed Oct. 23, 2026. Department of War

The Skinwalker Ranch investigation, conducted in the spring of 2010 by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), a government contractor, documents interviews with over 25 local residents, law enforcement officers, ranchers, business owners, the tribe, and a shaman about strange events in the area.

"All of the people interviewed have had firsthand encounters," the company said in its report.

Ages of the witnesses ranged from 15 to 77.

Investigators used handheld sensors to collect measurements from the environment. They also sampled the soil and plants, and took photos and other measurements, according to the report.

"Witnesses have reported unidentified balls of light at close range, daytime sightings of 'dog-like' creatures running on two legs, unnatural animalistic howling/screaming, 'little people,' prehistoric-like birds and a maggot which measured about 8-feet long and 2 to 3 feet in diameter," the company reported.

Eleven witnesses reported seeing the dog-like creature and orbs of light at different times and locations near the ranch property, BAASS reported.

Several witnesses who described the large "dog" or "wolf" creature told investigators it could walk and run on two legs and was 6 to 7 feet tall when standing on two legs.

"From these interviews, there may be at least three separate types of creatures," investigators reported.

Four independent eyewitnesses also described seeing a small, hairy, 3-foot-tall "troll" creature with long arms that appeared to run like a chimpanzee or orangutan, according to the report.

Several people also reported seeing large "worm" creatures, a prehistoric "pterodactyl"-like creatures, "little people," and other anomalies, investigators reported.

Samples were taken of fur found around the ranch, which matched fur from domestic dogs, according to the report.

Trump Floats Another 'Little Epic Fury' As Intel Warns Of 'Advanced' Plots To Kill US Officials Abroad

Trump Floats Another 'Little Epic Fury' As Intel Warns Of 'Advanced' Plots To Kill US Officials Abroad

by Tyler Durden
Sunday, Oct 25, 2026 - 06:05 AM


President Trump declared during a campaign rally in Florida on Friday that "We may do another little Epic Fury, or they’ll agree" - asserting an ultimatum for the Iranians to either agree to a deal or else face a new intensified bombing campaign, possibly with Israeli help.

"If they're smart, they'll just say, let's get down to business," he added, while expressing that it's currently unlikely that Tehran would agree to Washington's demands. Instead, Iran has been reasserting its own seven conditions, which include the lifting of all sanctions, the removal of US forces from the region, and even war reparations.



Though the conflict has very obviously lingered, with a major flare-up in fighting over the summer centered on the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon had formally declared Operation Epic Fury over on May 5.

The US administration had repeatedly claimed the US strikes "obliterated" Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity while defeating the country "militarily, financially and otherwise" - though there was never any definitive 'mission accomplished' moment, and instead there's been continued troop and military hardware movement to the region.

While the White House has signaled that a renewed bombing campaign on Iran wouldn't happen until after the November midterm elections, there have been signs that it could come before, amid reports of heightened US troop movement patterns to the Mideast region.

Diplomats in the region continue to be placed on high alert, with an embassy evacuation underway in Riyadh connected with the Saudi-Houthi war and the ballistic missile attacks on the kingdom out of Yemen.

Meanwhile, Axios is reporting on a released US intelligence memo which alleges "advanced" Iranian plots to kill officials abroad.

"The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries," Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton wrote in the document, which has curiously been leaked to the AP and Axios. The memo was sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and is dated Oct.23.

It's highly unusual that a sensitive or else classified internal State Department intel memo would be made public or handed to the media, literally in real-time.

Stoking public anxiety and fear through selective 'leaks'?...

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A U.S. intelligence memo dated October 23 warns that Iran has “substantially increased” efforts to assassinate American diplomats and officials in the Middle East and beyond, with some plots reaching “advanced stages.” The threats, along with fears of Houthi attacks, have Show more

4:20 PM · Oct 24, 2026

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And so it's obvious the administration wanted this to be for public consumption, perhaps to create a heightened sense of fear among Americans heading in to the midterm elections.

The intel memo also seems an 'explainer' of sorts for the ongoing embassy and consulate staff drawdowns from the region. Or it could indeed all be preparing the way for Trump to launch an other 'little Epic Fury'. The Iranians, however, are promising 'big' and not small immediate retaliation.