Pentagon UFO videos

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"FLIR" video
"GIMBAL" video
"GOFAST" video

The Pentagon UFO videos are selected visual recordings of cockpit instrumentation displays from United States Navy fighter jets based aboard aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt in 2004, 2014 and 2015. The three grainy, black and white videos, widely characterized as officially documenting UFOs, were the subject of extensive coverage in the media in 2017, and later declassified by the Pentagon in 2020.

Publicity surrounding the videos has prompted a number of explanations, including drones or unidentified terrestrial aircraft, anomalous or artefactual instrument readings, physical observational phenomena (e.g., parallax), human observational and interpretive error, and, as is typical in the context of such incidents, extraordinary speculations of alien spacecraft.[1]

Background

On November 14, 2004, fighter pilot Commander David Fravor of the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group investigated radar indications of a possible target off the coast of Southern California.[2][3][4][5] Fravor said that he saw an object, white and oval like a Tic Tac, hovering above an ocean disturbance. He estimated that it was about 40 feet long.[5][2] A second wave of fighters, including pilot Lieutenant Commander Chad Underwood, took off from the Nimitz to investigate.[6] Unlike Fravor, Underwood's fighter was equipped with an advanced infrared camera.[6] Underwood recorded the FLIR video, but did not himself see any unusual object.[6]

During 2014–2015, fighter pilots associated with the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group were operating off the East Coast of the United States when they recorded the GIMBAL and GOFAST videos while reporting instrument detections of unknown aerial objects which the pilots were unable to identify. [7][8]

Release of videos

On December 16, 2017, the New York Times reported on the incidents and published three videos, termed “FLIR,” “GIMBAL,” and “GOFAST” purporting to show encounters by jets from Nimitz and Theodore Roosevelt with unusually shaped, fast-moving aircraft. The reports became subject to "fevered speculation by UFO investigators."[9] Those stories have been criticized by journalism professor Keith Kloor as "a curious narrative that appears to be driven by thinly-sourced and slanted reporting." According to Kloor, "Cursory attention has been given to the most likely, prosaic explanations. Instead, the coverage has, for the most part, taken a quizzical, mysterious frame that plays off the catchy “UFO” tag in the headline."[10]

The videos, featuring cockpit display data and infrared imagery, were initially provided to the press by Luis Elizondo, the former head of Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, the Department of Defense's investigation. Elizondo had resigned from the Pentagon in October 2017 to protest government secrecy and opposition to the investigation, stating in a resignation letter to US Defense Secretary James Mattis that the program was not being taken seriously.[11] In September 2019, a Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed that the released videos were made by naval aviators and that they are, "part of a larger issue of an increased number of training range incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena in recent years."[12] On April 27, 2020, the Pentagon formally released the three videos.[13][14][15][16]

In February 2020, the US Navy confirmed that, in response to inquiries, intelligence briefings presented by naval intelligence officials have been provided to members of Congress.[17][18][19][20]

Potential explanations

As of 2020, the aerial phenomena recorded from the Nimitz and Roosevelt events are characterized by the US Department of Defense as "unidentified".[21][22] Widespread media attention to these events has motivated theories and speculations from private individuals and groups about the underlying explanation(s), including those focused upon pseudoscience topics such as ufology. Regarding the pseudoscientific explanations. Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists told Space.com "It is somewhat dismaying to see how quickly 'unidentified' aerial phenomena are publicly interpreted and portrayed as UFOs of possibly extraterrestrial origin, Collectively, we should all be becoming more intelligent and more perceptive, not more stupid and gullible.".[23]

Because of parallax, perceived differences in motion can be interpreted as being due either to faster speeds or closer distances. In this animation, assuming that all the objects are stationary and that the observer is moving gives an illusion of considerable differences in distance between the three scenes. However, the animation only shows three different overlapping outlines moving at different speeds.

Mundane, non-pseudoscientific explanations by debunkers include instrument or software malfunction/anomaly/artifact,[24] human observational illusion (e.g., parallax) or interpretive error,[7][25][26][27] or common aircraft (e.g., a passenger airliner) or aerial device (e.g., weather balloon), with the science writer Mick West stating that the reported objects in these incidents are "most likely...a relatively slow-moving object like a bird or a balloon," and that "the jet filming it is moving fast, so this creates an illusion of speed against the ocean."[21][22] West stated that the GIMBAL video can be explained as footage of a distant plane with the apparent rotation actually being the glare in the IR camera rotating.[1] Eyewitness and Navy Pilots involved in the incident, Fravor and Underwood have rejected these explanations in public.[1][28][29] Science communicator Katie Mack stated regarding the debunking efforts that it requires experts in the fields of Military technology and Atmospheric optics effects writing "any attempt to figure it out will certainly involve a deep understanding of both those realms.".[30] Political scientist Alexander Wendt stated "I challenge anybody to do better than the Navy to explain what's in those videos. If the Navy couldn't do it...they had every reason to want this off their plate".[31]

Time magazine interviewed Joseph Gradisher, the spokesman for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare and reported "Gradisher would not speculate as to what the unidentified objects seen in the videos were, but did say they are usually proved to be mundane objects like drones—not alien spacecraft".[32] Gradisher told the History channel "Those three videos are just part of a larger effort by the U.S. Navy to try and investigate a series of incursions into our training ranges by phenomena that we’re calling unidentified aerial phenomena,". Gardisher also added "these videos represent only some of the UAP sightings the Navy is investigating." Former U.K Project Condign investigator Nick Pope commented "I think the clear perception is the Navy thinks we’re dealing with something real and tangible here. So not misidentifications, misperceptions, glitches or such".[33]

Following the congressional intelligence briefings and in order to encourage pilots to flag disturbances that "have been occurring regularly since 2014," the US Navy announced it had updated the way pilots were to formally report unexplained aerial observations.[14] Commenting on these updated guidelines, a spokesman for the deputy Chief of Naval Operations said, "The intent of the message to the fleet is to provide updated guidance on reporting procedures for suspected intrusions into our airspace."[7] Regarding the new guidelines, the spokesman said that one possible explanation for the increase in reported intrusions could be the rise in availability of unmanned aerial systems such as quadrocopters.[14]

The acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Marco Rubio says that he fears the UFOs in the videos may be Chinese or Russian technology.[34]

Retired Admiral Gary Roughead, who commanded both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets before serving as Chief of Naval Operations from 2007 to 2011, said in 2020 that in his time, "most of the assessments were inconclusive" as to what these videos showed. In the context of a lecture on China's 21st century military strategy, Roughead commented that development of unmanned autonomous aircraft that had the capability to be used as submersible military assets was a priority of the US, as well as other nations such as China and Russia.[35]

Scientific American magazine noted that the Scientific community has not commented much on the released videos stating "Part of the reason could be the apparent taboo around UAP phenomena, connecting it to the paranormal or pseudoscience,",[36] or due to lack of specific expertise.[37] Air & Space magazine noted the limited information coming out from official sources "The defense department has been little help in clearing up these mysteries".[38] While most interviewed experts in the media such as space journalist James Oberg or Astronomer Seth Shostak rejected the extraterrestrial explanation as even a probability,[39] and skeptics such as Robert Sheaffer rejected also the plausabilty of the idea,[40] few experts have not rejected the possibility. Former Pentagon Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program investigator Luis Elizondo finds that the evidence does suggest UFOs may have reached Earth.[41] Elizondo lists these videos as showing extraordinary, logic-defying capabilities of a UFO. Exemplifying what he calls the “five observables": Anti-gravity lift, Sudden and instantaneous acceleration, Hypersonic velocities without signatures, Low observability or cloaking and Trans-medium travel.[42] Former aviation editor for Jane’s Defense Weekly Nick Cook stated to Popular Mechanics that the “Tic Tac” UFO was not likely some type of classified drone. And "In the balance of probabilities, I don’t think it’s ‘ours’ ".[43] Mark Rodeghier, director of Center for UFO Studies noted that more information is needed in order to come to a conclusion, stating to Live Science "It would be extremely disappointing and frustrating if these reports are not released for scrutiny. We need high-quality data about UFOs to do better science," and that "If those reports are never released, all of this is going to be blip in UFO history,".[44]

In popular culture

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Gault, Matthew (2020-05-06). "The Skeptic's Guide to the Pentagon's UFO Videos". Vice. Vice Media LLC.
  2. ^ a b Cooper, Helene; Kean, Leslie; Blumenthal, Ralph (2017-12-16). "2 Navy Airmen and an Object That 'Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen'". The New York Times Co. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  3. ^ Bender, Bryan (December 16, 2017). "The Pentagon's Secret Search for UFOs". Politico. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Mellon, Christopher (March 9, 2018). "The military keeps encountering UFOs. Why doesn't the Pentagon care?". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Finucane, Martin (January 16, 2018). "This former Navy pilot, who once chased a UFO, says we should take them seriously". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Phelan, Matthew (19 December 2019). "Navy Pilot Who Filmed the 'Tic Tac' UFO Speaks: 'It Wasn't Behaving by the Normal Laws of Physics'". New York Magazine. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Cooper, Helene; Blumenthal, Ralph; Kean, Leslie (2019-05-26). "'Wow, What Is That?' Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  8. ^ McMillan, Tim (2020-01-17). "The Tale of the Tape: The Long, Bizarre Saga of the Navy's UFO Video". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  9. ^ a b Eghigian, Greg. "The Year of UFOs". airspacemag.com. Air & Space Magazine, February 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  10. ^ Kloor, Keith. "Will The New York Times Ever Stop Reporting on UFOs?". wired.com. Wired. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  11. ^ Hart, Benjamin (December 16, 2017). "Reports: The Pentagon Spent Millions on UFO Research". New York Magazine. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  12. ^ Taylor, Derrick Bryson (2019-09-26). "How Blink-182's Tom DeLonge Became a U.F.O. Researcher". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  13. ^ "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Na". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  14. ^ a b c Epstein, Kayla. "Those UFO videos are real, the Navy says, but please stop saying 'UFO'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  15. ^ "Navy Confirms Existence of 'Unidentified' Flying Objects Seen in Leaked Footage". Time. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  16. ^ "Yep, those are UFOs, Navy says about 3 videos of strange sightings". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  17. ^ Bender, Bryan. "U.S. Navy drafting new guidelines for reporting UFOs". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  18. ^ Bender, Bryan (2019-06-19). "Senators get classified briefing on UFO sightings". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  19. ^ "Congress receive classified briefing on 'UFO encounters with US navy'". The Independent. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  20. ^ McMillan, Tim (2020-02-14). "Inside the Pentagon's Secret UFO Program". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  21. ^ a b Kooser, Amanda (2020-04-27). "The Pentagon releases three classified 'UFO' videos filmed by US Navy". cnet. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  22. ^ a b Kooser, Amanda (2018-03-14). "UFO caught on video? Skeptics weigh in on weird footage". cnet. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  23. ^ "UFO Legacy: What Impact Will Revelation of Secret Government Program Have? | Space". www.space.com. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  24. ^ Kreidler, Marc (2018-05-01). "Navy Pilot's 2004 UFO: A Comedy of Errors | Skeptical Inquirer". Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  25. ^ Plait, Phil (2020-05-01). "So, those Navy videos showing UFOs? I'm not saying it's not aliens, but it's not aliens". SYFY Wirs. SYFY. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  26. ^ Lincoln, Don (June 21, 2019). "Why pilots are seeing UFOs". CNN. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  27. ^ Overbye, Dennis (December 29, 2017). "U.F.O.s: Is This All There Is?". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  28. ^ Fridman, Lex (2020-09-08). "#122 - David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | MIT | Artificial Intelligence Podcast". Lex Fridman. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  29. ^ Phelan, Matthew (2019-12-19). "Navy Pilot Who Filmed a UFO Speaks: 'It Wasn't Behaving by the Laws of Physics'". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  30. ^ Mack, Kaite (2020-05-06). "A Word about Those UFO Videos". Scientific American. Retrieved 2021-01-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ "Sorry, believers: Skeptics say there are rational explanations for military pilots' UFO videos". Salon. 2020-08-16. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  32. ^ September 18, Gina Martinez; Edt, 2019 3:07 Pm. "Navy Confirms Existence of 'Unidentified' Flying Objects Seen in Leaked Footage". Time. Retrieved 2021-01-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "Navy Confirms UFO Videos Are Real and Show Unidentified Aerial Phenomena | HISTORY". www.history.com. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  34. ^ "Marco Rubio Hopes UFOs Are Aliens, Not Chinese Planes". vice.com. 20 July 2020.
  35. ^ Cox, Billy (2020-01-15). "Former Navy Admiral Says UFO Analyses 'Inconclusive'". Sarasota Herald-Tribune, on Military.com. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  36. ^ "'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,' Better Known as UFOs, Deserve Scientific Investigation". Scientific American. 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2021-01-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  37. ^ Mack, Kaite (2020-05-06). "A Word about Those UFO Videos". Scientific American. Retrieved 2021-01-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  38. ^ Eghigian, Greg. "The Year of UFOs". Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  39. ^ "What does the Pentagon's new UFO task force mean? Experts weigh in. | Space". www.space.com. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  40. ^ Sheaffer, Robert (2019-06-05). "The Pentagon's UFOs: How a Multimedia Entertainment Company created a UFO news story". Skeptic. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  41. ^ "Evidence suggests UFOs may have reached Earth, says former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo - ABC News". amp.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  42. ^ "These 5 UFO Traits, Captured on Video by Navy Fighters, Defy Explanation | HISTORY". www.history.com. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  43. ^ McMillan, Tim. "Navy UFO | UFO Sightings | The Truth About the Navy's UFOs". www.popularmechanics.com. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  44. ^ David, Leonard (2020). "What does the Pentagon's new UFO task force mean? Experts weigh in". Live Science. Retrieved 2021-01-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/tic-tac-ufo-video-q-and-a-with-navy-pilot-chad-underwood.html

External links

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