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According to Department of War records released under the PURSUE archive, a U.S. military operator reported observing an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP) flying just above the surface of the Aegean Sea on October 29, 2023. The document, titled “DOW-UAP-D35, Mission Report, Greece, October 2023,” was declassified and made public on May 8, 2026, via the Department of War’s official website.
Document Details and Operator Account
The document is a standardized Mission Report (MISREP) form used by the U.S. military to record operational circumstances. The Department of War’s official description notes that military services often use MISREPs to report UAP to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). The report’s GENTEXT, or “general text” section, contains qualitative information about the event.
According to the declassified report, a U.S. military operator observed a UAP “flying just above the surface of the ocean.” The report describes the UAP as “[flying] straight above the ocean towards lands.” The Department of War notes that all descriptive and estimative language in the report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. The agency cautions that such characterizations “should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.”
The mission narrative, which contains redacted portions, indicates the operator took off from location LGLR and proceeded to a fragged tasking. The operator arrived on station at 2018Z and performed Full Motion Video (FMV) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) collection. At 0811Z, the operator observed “IX POSS UAP” (one possible UAP). The mission lasted 20 hours and 1 minute, with 9 hours and 24 minutes of FMV collection. The report states that “full motion video was exploited by GET,” though the document does not specify what analysis or conclusions were drawn from that exploitation.
The report lists the mission type as Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR). The aircraft was equipped with an AN/DAS-4 targeting pod and carried two AGM-114R9E and two AGM-114R2 air-to-ground weapons. The aircraft’s callsign and tail number are redacted. The operator’s unit is listed as the 33rd Special Operations Squadron (33 SOS), under the 27th Special Operations Wing (27 SOW) and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), operating under U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM).
Agency and Oversight Context
The document was declassified by Major General Richard A. Hamson, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, on January 22, 2026. It was approved for release to AARO on January 26, 2026. Per a Wikipedia summary of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, AARO is an office within the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense that investigates unidentified flying objects and other phenomena in the air, sea, and/or space and/or on land. Wikipedia notes that AARO’s first director was physicist Sean Kirkpatrick, who reported to then deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks, and its current director is Jon T. Kosloski.
The Department of War’s official description of the document explains that the MISREP form contains both quantitative numerical data and qualitative contextual information in the GENTEXT section. The record’s official summary offers limited detail beyond the operator’s observation and the mission parameters, leaving the nature and origin of the observed UAP unspecified in the released document.
What remains unanswered includes the specific identity of the UAP, whether the exploited full motion video yielded any definitive conclusions, and why the mission was tasked to the Aegean Sea region. Readers should watch for future PURSUE releases for any additional documentation that may provide further context on this incident or related observations in the region.
