Gimbal and GoFast videos
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 6
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Gimbal, GoFast, FLIR1 |
| On the Timeline | 3 events, 2004–2020 |
The Gimbal and GoFast videos are two infrared videos of unidentified objects recorded by U.S. Navy F/A-18 aircrews from the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt off the U.S. East Coast in early 2015. Together with the 2004 "FLIR1" video from the USS Nimitz, they are the three "Pentagon UFO videos" that were leaked and published from 2017 and officially released by the Department of Defense on 27 April 2020.[1][2]
Recording
Both videos were taken with the AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pod, an infrared camera carried by Super Hornet fighters. The Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group was training off the Atlantic coast in 2014–2015, when pilots, including Lt. Ryan Graves, later said unknown objects appeared almost daily on their newly upgraded radars. Gimbal is dated to 20 January 2015, and GoFast to early 2015.[1][3]
- Gimbal shows a dark, oblong object with a glowing outline that appears to slowly rotate. The aircrew can be heard remarking on the object and on a "whole fleet" of others visible on radar.[1]
- GoFast shows a small object that appears to race low over the ocean as the camera locks on, with crew members expressing excitement.[1]
Release
The videos were first given to journalists by former Pentagon official Christopher Mellon, according to his own later account. The New York Times published FLIR1 and Gimbal with its 16 December 2017 report on the Pentagon's AATIP program, and To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science posted them online; GoFast followed in March 2018.[1][4] In September 2019 Pentagon spokeswoman Susan Gough confirmed that the videos had been recorded by naval aviators and were part of a wider problem of "training range incursions" by unidentified aerial phenomena.[1][5] On 27 April 2020 the Department of Defense formally released all three videos, saying it wanted to "clear up any misconceptions" about whether the circulating footage was real, and that the phenomena remained "unidentified".[2]
Analysis
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Analysts have argued that the videos show ordinary objects distorted by the camera: - Science writer Mick West argued that Gimbal's apparent rotation is caused by the camera's gimbal mechanism rotating an infrared glare, and that the object may be a distant aircraft's hot engines.[1][6] - For GoFast, West and others calculated from the on-screen data that the object was at an altitude of thousands of metres and moving slowly, appearing fast only because of parallax against the ocean far below; a NASA independent study team presented a similar analysis in 2023.[1][7] Supporters, including pilots who flew in the strike group, argue that these explanations do not account for radar tracks and visual reports made at the time.[3]
Later videos
In 2021 the Pentagon confirmed further leaked imagery, including a video of triangular, flashing objects filmed from the destroyer USS Russell in 2019 (which West suggested was an out-of-focus "bokeh" effect on aircraft lights) and a video from the USS Omaha of a spherical object appearing to descend into the sea.[1][8] AARO has since released and analysed other military videos, attributing several to aircraft and balloons.[1]
On the UAP Timeline
- USS Princeton data recordings claim (14 November 2004) — USS Princeton radar staff say two men took the Tic Tac encounter data recordings.
- Gradisher–Gough FOIA coordination emails (10 July 2020) — A Navy spokesman's email shows efforts to coordinate FOIA replies about UAP across agencies.
- Karson Kammerzell's Tic Tac account (30 November 2020) — A Navy communications operator describes the Tic Tac event from the USS Princeton.
References
- Pentagon UFO videos — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos" (27 Apr 2020) · war.gov · archived copy
- "'Wow, What Is That?' Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects", The New York Times (26 May 2019) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program", The New York Times (16 Dec 2017) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- "Those UFO videos are real, the Navy says, but please stop saying 'UFO'", The Washington Post (18 Sep 2019) · washingtonpost.com · archived copy
- "The Skeptic's Guide to the Pentagon's UFO Videos", Vice (6 May 2020) · vice.com · archived copy
- NASA UAP Independent Study Team report (2023) · science.nasa.gov · archived copy
- "Defense Department confirms leaked video of unidentified aerial phenomena is real", CNN (16 Apr 2021) · cnn.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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