Aegean UAP: The Mediterranean UFO Hotspot Hidden in Pentagon Drone Reports

A recently declassified United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) mission report from January 2024 (bd5478d2e420f6ff) details a diamond-shaped anomaly tracked by military sensors over the Mediterranean, exposing a geographic cluster of incidents previously buried in routine drone logs. By aligning flight paths, dates, and military grid coordinates across multiple releases, a distinct pattern emerges in the airspace between Greece, Sicily, and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Logistics of Mediterranean Surveillance

To understand the context of these sightings, it is necessary to examine the operational footprint of the aircraft recording them. The archive shows a steady rhythm of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) flights originating from European bases but operating under USCENTCOM authority. For example, a May 2022 mission report notes an aircraft taking off from "SIGONELLA AIRBASE (LICZ)" in Sicily (1822564fbae08f15). Meanwhile, multiple late-2023 and early-2024 logs show departures from "LGLR" (bd5478d2e420f6ff), the ICAO code for Larissa Air Base in Greece.

These platforms, equipped with advanced sensor suites like the AN/DAS-4 targeting pod and capable of full-motion video (FMV) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection, were tasked with monitoring the Eastern Mediterranean and Syrian coastlines. It is within this dense web of routine, long-endurance surveillance—often lasting over 20 hours per sortie—that military operators began logging unexplained targets and forwarding the data to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

The Metallic Triangle Over the Aegean

One of the most specific geographic plots in the corpus appears in a heavily redacted Department of Defense UAP Report. The document describes an event at 1319Z where an observer tracked "1X UAP DETECTED WITH DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION SUCH AS BEING A TRIANGLUAR AND METALLIC UAP" (03b730443d7be1c6).

Unlike many files where locations are masked by FOIA exemptions, the coordinates in this report remain intact: 363453N 0255943E. This plots directly over the Aegean Sea, north of Crete and east of Santorini. The object was recorded flying at an altitude of 24,989 feet MSL with a steady speed of 168 knots. The document is marked SECRET//NOFORN, indicating the sensitive nature of the collection platform, even though the kinematic data of the anomaly was preserved.

January 2024: The SWIR-Only Diamond

The archive also contains a multi-sensor video and an accompanying mission report from January 25, 2024, declassified by MG Richard A. Harrison. During an ISR flight out of Larissa, an aircraft observed a UAP flying at approximately 434 knots. The official log describes the object as a "ROUND DIAMOND SHAPE WITH STRAIGHT, NON MANUEVERABLE 'TAIL'" (bd5478d2e420f6ff).

Crucially, the report notes a significant sensor discrepancy: "THE UAP ONLY APPEARED ON THE SWIR CAMERA" (bd5478d2e420f6ff). The accompanying video file confirms this. The footage shows a split screen where the object is invisible in the electro-optical (visible spectrum) feed but appears clearly in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) feed as an "inverted teardrop with a vertically linear trailing mass suspended below" (vid-1006073). When the operator switched the sensor modality entirely to the visible spectrum at the 56-second mark, the subject was lost against the background.

October 2023: Circular Objects at Sea Level

In October 2023, two separate mission reports logged anomalous activity occurring not at high altitudes, but near the surface of the water. On October 27, an aircraft en route to a target spotted a UAP "FLYING JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE OCEAN WATER" (7078d96f334dbf39). The object, described in the report as "SEEMINGLY CIRCULAR, TOO SMALL TO MAKE OUT DETAILS," executed "MULTIPLE 90 DEGREE TURNS AT AN ESTIMATED 80 MPH" before the sensor feed lost it at 0038Z.

Two days later, on October 29, another report logged a similar event. An aircraft returning to base spotted a circular object flying just above the ocean surface. This time, the object "FLEW STRAIGHT ABOVE THE OCEAN TOWARDS LANDS" at an estimated kinetic velocity of 30 mph before the feed lost the track at 0811Z (b4f4f4ce6dc7687a). Both reports were subsequently approved for release to AARO.

May 2022: The Russian Su-35 and the UAP

The airspace in question is highly contested, adding a layer of complexity to these observations. A May 2022 mission report, declassified via Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) with an original declassification date set for 2047, details a flight from Sigonella monitoring Syrian and Russian naval operations. The drone was tracking multiple Russian vessels, including a Slava-class cruiser and an Udaloy-class destroyer.

At 2143Z, the US aircraft was reacted to by a "POSS RFAF SU-35" (also identified elsewhere in the document as an SU-30) that approached westward from the Syrian coast and flew directly under the drone's orbit (1822564fbae08f15). Just hours later, during the same sortie at 0117Z, the crew logged a UAP sighting. The report states the observer watched a UAP "FLY NORTH TO NORTH EAST AND FOLLOWED AS LONG AS POSSIBLE," though the screener "COULD NOT GET A POSITIVE ID" on the object (1822564fbae08f15).

The Broader CENTCOM Pattern

While the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean form a distinct cluster, the CENTCOM reporting apparatus captures similar anomalies across its broader area of responsibility. A heavily redacted DoD/IC report from 2020 logs a UAP observed at 1258Z with an estimated velocity of 321 knots. The object "INCREASED SPEED AND CHANGED DIRECTION TOWARDS THE EAST" (857deb5a9363aad6). Though the exact location is masked behind the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) coordinate 34SDG9041417044, it demonstrates that the sensor platforms tracking the Mediterranean corridor are part of a wider network documenting similar high-speed, anomalous kinematics across the theater.

The Media Blindspot

Public discourse surrounding military UAP encounters has overwhelmingly focused on the United States' eastern seaboard—such as the Roosevelt carrier strike group incidents—or the Persian Gulf. However, the declassified mission reports from Larissa and Sigonella reveal an unmapped hotspot. The concentration of multi-sensor anomalies—ranging from metallic triangles at 24,000 feet to SWIR-only diamonds and right-angle turning orbs at sea level—indicates that the Mediterranean, and specifically the Aegean corridor, is a highly active zone for unidentified aerial phenomena that has largely escaped public scrutiny.

What the document does not say

To maintain strict adherence to the archival record, it is important to note what these declassified reports do not contain:

• The documents do not identify any of the UAPs as extraterrestrial in origin.
• The reports do not explain the propulsion mechanisms that would allow a circular object to execute 90-degree turns at 80 mph just above the ocean surface.
• The files do not clarify why the January 2024 diamond-shaped object was only visible in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectrum and invisible to electro-optical sensors.
• The records do not indicate any hostile intent, electronic warfare, or direct engagement between the UAPs and the US military platforms observing them.
• The documents do not provide a final resolution or identification for any of the tracked objects.

Read it yourself

Explore the source documents directly in the UAP Archives:

• DoD UAP Report (Metallic Triangle)
• USCENTCOM / AARO UAP Report (Jan 2024 SWIR Diamond)
• Unresolved UAP Report, Greece, January 2024 (Video)
• USCENTCOM Mission Report 9329374 (Oct 2023 90-Degree Turns)
• USCENTCOM MDR 26-0019 (Oct 2023 Sea Level Object)
• AARO release of a USCENTCOM mission report (May 2022 Su-35 Incident)
• DoD/IC UAP Report (Arabian Gulf 2020)