A P-8A sees an unidentified low-flying object, possibly a sea-skimming missile, off Latakia (18 November 2016)
This file is a one-page CTG 67.1 briefing slide. A U.S. Navy P-8A was monitoring "KCTG" activity in the eastern Mediterranean. At 1310Z on 18 November 2016 its EO/IR sensor saw an object rise from an unknown origin, about 55 NM northwest of Latakia. The crew treated it as a possible missile launch. The object travelled at about 500 knots on a southeasterly heading in what looked like sea-skim mode, outbound from the KCTG. Visual contact was lost at 1312Z, about 40 NM northwest of Latakia, after the object passed between the Russian ship INGUL and an unidentified vessel. The mission commander called the encounter safe, and the task group assessed it as "standard activity consistent with" the KCTG. In other words, the slide treats it as probably a Russian missile, not as anything anomalous. war.gov nonetheless released it under the UAP programme. *Method note: war.gov blocks this server. The slide was read from the original PDF served by the ufotransparency.com mirror. It is a single image with a poor OCR layer (which, for example, misreads "55 nm" as "86 nm"), so quotations were read from the page image. The slide calls the group "KCTG". The map labels Russian ships, and the faint label "(RUS) KUZNETSOV CV-063" can be made out. Reading KCTG as the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier task group is this write-up's inference, not the file's.*
How plausible · High
A Navy briefing slide with EO/IR stills records an object at 500 knots; the command itself suggests a possible missile, not confirmed.
- ●●Access P-8A crew on sensor.
- ●●No gain sought Official briefing.
- ●●Restraint Offers its own missile reading.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released in PURSUE.
- ●●Physical traces or official reaction EO/IR stills.
- ●○Character record Official, crew withheld.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- "While monitoring KCTG activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, P-8A, observed an unidentified low-flying object 55 nm northwest of Latakia from an unknown origin, traveling at approx 500KTS on a southeasterly heading outbound from KCTG, for ~2 minutes." (DOW-UAP-D55, p. 1; read from the page image) (BLUF)
- "18/1310Z: P-8 observed a possible missile launch IVO [redacted] 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 was 26NM S of object detection at 16121 FT" (DOW-UAP-D55, p. 1; read from the page image)
- "18/1312Z: - P-8 lost visual of the object IVO [redacted] approx. 40 NM northwest of Latakia. The missile was observed to pass between (RUS) INGUL ARS and 1x U/I vessel." (DOW-UAP-D55, p. 1; read from the page image)
- "P-8 aircrew characterized visibility as clear, no range limitations." (DOW-UAP-D55, p. 1; read from the page image)
- "The mission commander for P-8 characterized the interaction as safe. While 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 the KCTG." (DOW-UAP-D55, p. 1; read from the page image) (CTG 67.1 Comments)
- Two sensor stills are labelled "U/I OBJ", "U/I VESSEL" and "(RUS) INGUL ARS". The slide says "Video footage can be found at this link", but the link is redacted under (b)(6). It was declassified by the USCENTCOM Chief of Staff on 20 March 2026 (stamp partly legible), and the release stamp reads "USCENTCOM MDR 26-0038 to MDR 26-0046 ... 03/27/26". (DOW-UAP-D55, p. 1, read from the page image)