Mission Report, Syria, November 2016
- File
- DOW-UAP-D055
- Type
- Document, 1 pages
- Agency
- Department of War
- Date
- 11/18/16
- Place
- Syria
- Released
- Release 1, May 8, 2026
The government's 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.
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Full text
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Page 1
Declassified by MG Richard A. Hamson USCENTCOM Chief of Staff Declassified on: 20 M~ 67.1 P-8A OBSERVES UNIDENTIFIED LOW-FLYING OBJECT 55 NM NORTHWEST OF LATAKIA, SYRIA 18 NOV 2016 FLIGHT PATH J!!Jlf: Whtie monitoring KCTG activity In the Ea•tem Mediterranean, P-IA, obe•rved an unidentified low-ftylng object 86 nm northweet of Latakla from an unknown origin, traveling at approx SOOK.TS on a •outheut•rly heading outbound from KCTG, for ~2 minutes. Timeline (Z): (D (°ell P'IEl!sto18/131 OZ: P-8 observed a possible missile launch IVQ 1.4a I from an origin unknown detected via the EO/IR sensor. The possible missile appeared to be in sea skim mode traveling at approximately 500KTS on a southeasterly heading outbound from KCTG. P-8 position 1.4a . was 26NM S of object detection at 16121 F~ f2' (911 P't!I!) 18/13122: - P-8 lost visual of the object IVO ~ 1.4a Iapprox. 40 NM northwest of Latakia. The missile was observed to pass between (RUS) INGUL ARS and 1x U/1 vessel. Weather: Uf P-8 aircrew charactenzeavisioilfty as clear, no range limitations . .~!~ US P-8A Location 13102:-- (RUS) INGUL ARS CTG 67.1 Comment§: The mission commander for P~8 characterized the interaction as safe. VVhile this was the first observed occurrence of possible missile activity by P-8 aircraft in the Eastern Mediterranean it is assessed to be standard activity consistent with the assessed activity of fhe KCTG. Video footage can be found at this link. (b)(6l 81!8PU!!•1~1PU!L ,8 UOilt, UM8 USCENTCOM MOR 26~038 to MOR 26~046 Approved for Release to AARO 03/27/26 000001