The Navy videos
Three infrared clips, a leak, an official release, and some very careful trigonometry.
How this site works. Every fact is in our own words with its source linked beside it. The pictures are our own drawings. We never say aliens have been found, because nobody has shown that they have; we show what was reported, then what the evidence says.
In April 2020 the US Defense Department officially released three unclassified Navy videos: one from November 2004 and two from January 2015. US Defense Dept, 2020
The videos had already been circulating after unauthorised releases in 2007 and 2017. US Defense Dept, 2020
It released them to clear up confusion about whether the footage was real, or whether there was more to it. US Defense Dept, 2020
The Department said the things seen in the videos remain characterised as “unidentified”. US Defense Dept, 2020
The clips
One, known as the Gimbal video, was filmed by fighter pilots with the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier group off the US East Coast in 2014–15. Britannica
Another, the GoFast video, seems to show a small object skimming above the ocean at great speed. NASA UAP study
Checking GoFast
NASA’s study team used the numbers on the display to work out that the object was at about 13,000 feet, more than four miles above the sea behind it. NASA UAP study
The impression of speed comes at least partly from the fast-moving jet itself, about 435 mph, plus parallax. NASA UAP study
The object moved about 390 metres in 22 seconds, roughly 40 mph: a typical wind speed at that height. NASA UAP study
The object was colder than the ocean, so there was no sign of heat from an engine. It was most likely drifting with the wind. NASA UAP study
NASA added that more data would allow a firmer conclusion. NASA UAP study
Why fast can be an illusion
AARO explains that motion parallax can make a still or slow object look fast to a fast-moving observer: the background rushes past, not the object. AARO FAQ
Ordinary planes can look strange from unusual angles, in poor visibility or through infrared cameras. AARO FAQ
Unidentified, or explained?
The Department said the things seen in the videos remain characterised as “unidentified”. US Defense Dept, 2020
The object was colder than the ocean, so there was no sign of heat from an engine. It was most likely drifting with the wind. NASA UAP study
Both can be fair: one is an official label, the other a careful best guess from the numbers on the screen.
Our view: the GoFast analysis is the best thing on this whole site. NASA didn’t need special access, just the numbers already printed on the screen, and some school trigonometry.