Sigonella ISR Tracks Unidentified Object Over Eastern Mediterranean

Brief

A SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY MISREP filed by the 50th Attack Squadron, 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing documents a May 29-30, 2022 ISR mission flown from Sigonella Air Base monitoring Russian and Syrian naval and air assets off the Syrian coast. The platform collected on 39 designated targets, tracked multiple Russian surface combatants transiting the Eastern Mediterranean, and was intercepted at 2147Z by 1-3 Russian aircraft including a probable SU-30 that flew within 5 nautical miles beneath the U.S. platform. At 0117Z a screener logged one small UAP traveling north-northeast, tracked it as long as possible, and could not achieve a positive identification; no RF signatures were recorded. The companion report DoW-UAP-D14 characterized the UAP as a probable SU-27/35, referencing separate observations of Russian fighter activity at the same airfield logged 48 and 66 minutes earlier.

Metadata

Agency

Department of War

Release

5/8/26

Location

Iraq

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

9 pages

Classification

SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY

Programs

OP HUMMER SICKLE, 41EMD SRO Track, 603 AOC

Tags

UAP unidentified, FMV/infrared sensor, Eastern Mediterranean, Latakia Syria, 2022, OP HUMMER SICKLE, Russian military context, probable SU-27/35 companion ID

Key points

• A screener observed one small UAP at 0117Z May 30, 2022, flying north-northeast; no positive identification was achieved and no RF signatures were detected.p.8
• The mission narrative summary characterizes the UAP entry as 'ONE POSSIBLE SMALL UAP WAS OBSERVED' — a single line item among conventional military observations across a 20.5-hour sortie.p.1
• Separate FMV observations at 0011Z and 0029Z logged a probable SU-27/35 landing and then taking off to the south in the same general operating area; the companion report DoW-UAP-D14 uses these events to explain the UAP sighting.p.6
• At 2147Z, 1-3 Russian aircraft including a probable SU-30 passed within approximately 5 nautical miles of the U.S. platform, flying directly beneath its orbit at FL190 versus FL243 for approximately 2 minutes before departing.p.8
• A Russian A-50U MAINSTAY D airborne early warning aircraft and two IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft were observed parked in the Latakia area at 2120Z, establishing a dense Russian air surveillance posture the same night as the UAP sighting.p.6
• The platform collected on 39 designated targets during a 14-hour ISR window including Syrian Navy coastal positions, Latakia Naval facilities, Tartus Naval Base, and multiple Russian surface combatants by hull number.p.5
• UAP physical state, altitude, velocity, and trajectory fields were all left blank in the formal UAP section of the MISREP; only direction of travel and the inability to identify were recorded.p.8
• The reaction gentext on the SU-30 intercept carries a SECRET//NF caveat — stricter than the document's overall FVEY classification — suggesting the intercept details were treated as more sensitive than the UAP sighting itself.p.8

Verbatim

• AT 01172, ONE POSSIBLE SMALL UAP WAS OBSERVED. SEE UAP LINE 1.

  p.1

• SCREENER COULD NOT GET A POSITIVE ID ON THE UAP.

  p.8

• AT 0029Z, ONE PROBABLE SU-27/35 WAS OBSERVED TAKING OFF TO THE SOUTH.

  p.6

• ONE PROBABLE SU-27/35 OBSERVED LANDING

  p.9

Most interesting

• The war.gov portal lists the incident location as Iraq, but every geographic reference in the actual document — grid coordinates, named facilities, and targets — places the entire sortie over the Eastern Mediterranean monitoring Syrian and Russian assets around Latakia, Syria. The discrepancy is unexplained in the declassified text.
• The UAP was observed flying north-northeast at 0117Z, 48 minutes after a probable SU-27/35 took off heading south at 0029Z. The direction of travel and elapsed time create meaningful ambiguity around the companion report's SU-27/35 identification.
• The UAP first-seen location (37SBV28) and the SU-27/35 landing location (36SYE6) fall in different MGRS 100km grid squares, suggesting geographic separation between the two events that the MISREP does not resolve.
• Four distinct Russian warship classes were tracked by hull number during the same mission: Slava-class cruiser (hull 055), Gorshkov-class frigates (hull 461 and one unnamed), and Udaloy I-class destroyers (hulls 564 and 626).
• The platform carried no offensive armament whatsoever — every weapons field (AAM, gun rounds, air-to-ground) is a blank dash — consistent with a pure collection mission, which also means no defensive response to the SU-30 intercept was possible.