PURSUE Release 01: DOW-UAP-D55, Mission Report, Syria, November 2016

DOW-UAP-D55 is a Department of War PDF released in PURSUE Release 01 on May 8, 2026. The release metadata identifies the incident date as November 18, 2016, the location as Syria, and the record type as a redacted PDF mission report.¹

The public PDF is a one-page USCENTCOM/CTG 67.1 mission briefing slide headed as a P-8A observation of an unidentified low-flying object 55 nautical miles northwest of Latakia, Syria. The slide was approved for release to AARO on March 27, 2026 under USCENTCOM MDR 26-0038 to MDR 26-0046.²

  P-8A Sighting Near Latakia

The slide places the observation during P-8A monitoring of KCTG activity in the Eastern Mediterranean. It reports that the aircraft observed an unidentified low-flying object from an unknown origin, traveling roughly 500 knots on a southeasterly heading outbound from KCTG, for about two minutes.²

The timeline says the P-8A detected what the report called a possible missile launch through its EO/IR sensor at 1310Z. The object was described as appearing to travel in sea-skim mode, with the P-8A 26 nautical miles south of the detection point at a redacted location.²

At 1312Z, the P-8A lost visual contact with the object about 40 nautical miles northwest of Latakia. The slide says the object passed between the Russian vessel INGUL ARS and one unidentified vessel. The weather note records clear visibility and no range limitations.²

  Safe Interaction, Missing Video

CTG 67.1 comments say the P-8A mission commander characterized the interaction as safe. The same comments describe this as the first observed occurrence of possible missile activity by P-8 aircraft in the Eastern Mediterranean, while assessing it as standard activity consistent with KCTG activity.²

The release metadata lists no public PR media pairing, DVIDS video ID, or companion PDF pairing for D55. That matters because the slide itself says video footage existed at a redacted link, but the May 2026 public release exposes only the PDF and its official thumbnail for this record, not a public paired video clip.¹²³

  Missile Activity Framed as UAP

D55 is useful because it shows how a UAP release can preserve a source observation that was later contextualized inside the same record as possible missile activity. The public document does not identify the object, but it does preserve the original platform, sensor, timing, location context, aircrew characterization, and command assessment in a compact operational slide.²

It also shows the limits of the release. Key locations, the internal video link, and some operational details remain redacted, and the Department of War description cautions that descriptive and estimative language reflects the reporter's subjective interpretation at the time rather than a conclusive finding about the object's intrinsic features or performance.¹²

  Released Mission Slide

DOW-UAP-D55, Mission Report, Syria, November 2016

  References

  References

1. war.gov ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. war.gov ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. war.gov ↩