Greece.Greece · a reconnaissance plane records a diamond with a “probe”

On January 25, 2024, a U.S. aircraft took off from Larissa Air Base, in Thessaly (Greece), at 01:09 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). It was on an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission that would run 20 hours and 40 minutes. Its primary sensor was a full-motion video camera. At 05:09 UTC, still on its way to its work area, the crew saw an object on their cameras that they could not identify.

The object crossed the field of view for about two minutes, until 05:11 UTC. When first seen it was flying at about 434 knots (about 800 km/h, the speed of an ordinary aircraft), while the aircraft was moving at 176 knots (about 325 km/h) at flight level 250, about 25,000 feet (7,600 meters). The object was estimated at flight level 200, about 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below the aircraft, heading west.

The operator described its shape as "round diamond shape with a straight, non-maneuverable 'tail'"; in the narrative text of the report, "the UAP appeared diamond in shape with a non-maneuvering probe at the bottom." The form records the physical state as solid and the propulsion and intelligent control as unknown. Under "anomalous characteristics or behaviors" the operator noted that the object maintained a steady flight path, increased and decreased its altitude, and did not change trajectory. The maneuverability and response-to-observer-actions boxes say "none," and the form does not explain how that squares with the altitude changes the operator noted.

The report says the object appeared only on the short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera, which picks up a band of light invisible to the eye, and the signatures box says "SWIR WHT," white in that band. The form answers "no" to the question on advanced capabilities or materials. The object was not interrogated with any sensor, there were no third-party observers, there were no effects on persons or equipment and no material was recovered. The observation was signed by an airman of grade E-4, the fourth enlisted level, who assessed the object as "benign." The aircraft continued its mission without further incident and landed at Larissa at 21:49 UTC.

AARO published on DVIDS, the Pentagon's video service, 1 minute and 5 seconds of the recording (DOW-UAP-PR28). According to its description, for the first ten seconds the screen is split: on the right, the electro-optical image; on the left, the SWIR one. At 4 seconds an area of contrast becomes distinguishable in the center of the right frame, the electro-optical one, which differs from the report, which says the object appeared only on SWIR. From 10 seconds the screen shows SWIR only, where the area resembles "an inverted teardrop with a vertically linear trailing mass suspended below." At 56 seconds the operator switches to visible light and loses the object against the background; on switching back to SWIR he does not reacquire it.

The report gathers shape, speed, altitude, heading, duration, detection band and an explicit operator assessment, in a structured form that the Pentagon designed to capture those fields.

The detail that deserves attention is that, according to the report, the object appeared only in short-wave infrared. That may indicate a peculiar thermal or reflectance signature, but it is also what a sensor fault, a sun reflection off a high-altitude surface, or a low-visual-contrast object that only SWIR separates from the background would produce. AARO's description of the video places the first contrast on the electro-optical image, which complicates the reading of the report. The operator did not treat it as an inexplicable anomaly: he marked "benign" and continued the mission.

A diamond with a straight probe beneath is not an exotic shape. At 434 knots on a steady heading, though rising and falling in altitude, the profile would fit a conventional aircraft seen from an unfavorable angle, a high-altitude drone, or a platform with a trailing antenna or sensor. Neither the report nor any other source proposes that or any other identification. Greek airspace is dense and militarily contested, with constant Greek, Turkish and allied aviation activity, which leaves open both classified human technology and an adversary platform.

The report does not settle whether the SWIR-only signature reflects a property of the object or a limitation of the sensor. The published video is short, AARO's description states that it is not an analytical judgment, and a calibration analysis of the sensor is not part of what was released. What remains is a faithful instrumental record of something the observer considered harmless and which was nonetheless logged as a UAP.