SWIR-Only Object Over Greece, January 2024

Brief

CENTCOM submitted report DOW-UAP-PR28 to AARO following a January 2024 encounter with an aerial object over Greece. The companion mission report, DoW-UAP-D7, characterized the object as diamond-shaped and estimated its speed at approximately 434 knots. Critically, the UAP was detectable only via short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensor; switching to visible spectrum caused the operator to lose the target entirely. The 65-second video shows the object holding roughly center-frame through most of the SWIR feed before the operator fails to reacquire it after a sensor modality swap.

Metadata

Agency

Department of War

Release

5/8/26

Location

Greece

Type

VIDEO • .mp4

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED

Programs

AARO, DoW-UAP-D7

Tags

diamond-shaped, SWIR-only, Greece, 2024, 434 knots, CENTCOM, multi-sensor, inverted-teardrop SWIR signature

Key points

• The UAP was visible only via SWIR sensor; when the operator switched to visible spectrum at 00:56, the object disappeared against the background.
• Mission report DoW-UAP-D7 described the object as diamond-shaped and estimated its speed at approximately 434 knots.
• At 00:55 the SWIR return resembles an inverted teardrop with a vertically linear trailing mass suspended below.
• The video opens in split-screen mode for the first ten seconds, with electro-optical on the right and SWIR on the left, before shifting to full-screen SWIR at 00:10.
• After switching back to SWIR (Black-Hot) at 00:57, the operator did not reacquire the area of contrast through the end of the recording at 01:05.
• The report was submitted by United States Central Command and filed with AARO, indicating theater-level command involvement in the reporting chain.

Most interesting

• The object's invisibility to electro-optical and visible-spectrum sensors while remaining detectable in SWIR suggests it either lacked a strong thermal signature in the mid-wave band or had optical properties that scatter or absorb visible light unusually.
• 434 knots is roughly the cruise speed of a fast jet at altitude, but the SWIR-only detectability profile does not match any known conventional aircraft or drone in the open-source record.
• The operator's inability to reacquire the target after switching back to SWIR (Black-Hot) at 00:57 raises the possibility of rapid departure, altitude change, or abrupt signature suppression within a roughly nine-second window.
• Two distinct documents govern this case: the video report (DOW-UAP-PR28) and a separate mission report (DoW-UAP-D7), suggesting a bifurcated filing structure within the DoW disclosure framework.
• The SWIR band (roughly 1.0–2.5 microns) is sensitive to reflected sunlight and certain thermal emissions, making it distinct from the mid-wave and long-wave infrared bands more commonly associated with UAP imaging in prior AARO disclosures.