A USCENTCOM mission report dated 18 November 2016 documents a U.S. Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft observing an unidentified low-flying object approximately 55 nautical miles northwest of Latakia, Syria, while monitoring Russian carrier task group (KCTG) activity in the Eastern Mediterranean. The object, detected via EO/IR sensor, appeared to travel at approximately 500 knots in sea-skim mode on a southeasterly heading outbound from the KCTG for roughly two minutes before visual contact was lost. The report was declassified by USCENTCOM Chief of Staff MG Richard A. Harrison and approved for release to AARO.
Key Findings
→A U.S. Navy 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-8A lost visual contact with the object at approximately 1312Z, roughly 40 NM northwest of Latakia, after observing it for approximately 2 minutes.
→The object was observed to pass between the Russian vessel INGUL ARS and one unidentified vessel.
→The CTG 67.1 mission commander assessed the interaction as safe and characterized the activity as consistent with assessed KCTG activity, suggesting a possible Russian missile launch assessment.
Analyst Notes
The CTG 67.1 mission commander explicitly assessed the object as likely consistent with Russian KCTG missile activity, strongly suggesting a conventional explanation (cruise missile launch from Russian naval forces). The document itself uses the qualifier 'possible missile' throughout. The observation lasted only ~2 minutes and relied on a single platform's EO/IR sensor with no independent sensor corroboration noted. The video footage link is redacted. While labeled as a UAP observation in the release context, the document internally frames this as a probable missile event rather than an anomalous phenomenon.
Extracted Entities
People
MG Richard A. Harrison (USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, declassifying authority)
Agencies & Organizations
USCENTCOMCTG 67.1AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)U.S. Navy P-8A crew
Locations
Latakia, SyriaEastern Mediterranean55 NM northwest of Latakia40 NM northwest of Latakia
Aircraft & Objects
U.S. Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraftUnidentified low-flying object / possible missile in sea-skim mode traveling at ~500 KTS