DOW-UAP-D055, Mission Report, Syria, November 2016

Official Conclusion

Assessed to be standard activity consistent with assessed activity of the KCTG (Russian carrier task group); interaction characterized as safe.

Official Description

This document is a mission briefing summarizing an observation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) by a U.S. military platform near Latakia, Syria. A U.S. military pilot flying a P-8A aircraft reported observing an object via the aircraft’s EO/IR sensor, which they characterized as appearing to be in “sea skim mode,” traveling at approximately 500 knots (575 mph) on a southeasterly heading. The P-8A lost visual contact with the object after two minutes. All descriptive and estimative language contained in this report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. Such characterizations should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.

Key Findings

• →A US P-8A aircraft detected an unidentified low-flying object via EO/IR sensor at 1310Z on 18 November 2016, approximately 55 NM northwest of Latakia, Syria.
• →The object appeared to be in sea-skim mode traveling at approximately 500 knots on a southeasterly heading outbound from the Russian carrier task group (KCTG).
• →The P-8 was positioned 26 NM south of the object at the time of detection at 16,121 feet altitude.
• →Visual contact was lost at approximately 1312Z when the object was approximately 40 NM northwest of Latakia; the object appeared to pass between the Russian vessel INGUL ARS and an unidentified vessel.
• →The mission commander assessed the activity as standard and consistent with Russian carrier task group operations; video footage was referenced but the link is redacted.

Extracted Entities