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@ -41,25 +41,25 @@ On June 1, 2019 Pentagon spokesperson [[Christopher Sherwood]] told Keith Kloor
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### The placement, in sequence
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In 2016 [[Tom DeLonge]] cold-called [[Christopher Mellon]], who told Bender in 2021: "Tom called me up out of the blue and then through him I met Jim and Hal," meaning [[Jim Semivan]] and Puthoff. Mellon, who had kept his security clearance, then met Elizondo at a Pentagon briefing.[^6] In an email from August 2017, reviewed by Politico, Elizondo described a plan for an unclassified "community of interest" database of unidentified aerial phenomena reports. Politico reported that the [[Washington Headquarters Services]] declassification division approved three Navy videos "for unlimited distribution" within the government, and that Mellon, Elizondo and "others now in DeLonge's orbit" concluded that this was not enough and "needed to kick up a media firestorm."[^6]
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In 2016 [[Tom DeLonge]] cold-called [[Christopher Mellon]], who told Bender in 2021: "Tom called me up out of the blue and then through him I met Jim and Hal," meaning [[Jim Semivan]] and Puthoff. Mellon, who had kept his security clearance, then met Elizondo at a Pentagon briefing.[^6] In an email from August 2017, reviewed by Politico, Elizondo described a plan for an unclassified "community of interest" database of unidentified aerial phenomena reports. Politico reported that the [[Washington Headquarters Services]] declassification division approved three Navy videos "for unlimited distribution" within the government, and that Mellon, Elizondo and "others now in DeLonge's orbit" concluded that this was not enough and "needed to kick up a media firestorm."[^6] The Office of the Secretary of Defense file released to [[The Black Vault]] under the Freedom of Information Act in August 2019 contains an August 23, 2017 email in which [[Luis Elizondo]] asked Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review to "consider our request for unrestricted release"; an August 24, 2017 reply from Russo that if the service-level classification authority verified that removing the metadata made the videos unclassified, "please feel free to move forward with release"; and a DD Form 1910 whose publication-data block reads "Not Applicable. Not for publication. Research and analysis ONLY and info sharing with other USG and industry partners for the purposes of developing a database to help identify, analyze and ultimately defeat UAS threats." Joseph Gradisher, a Navy spokesman, said in 2019 that neither the cognizant Navy offices nor the review office had a record of correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the videos in 2017.[^7]
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Elizondo resigned from the [[Department of Defense]] effective October 4, 2017 per the Pentagon; his resignation letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis cited "bureaucratic challenges and inflexible mindsets" (Kloor, 2019), and *The Intercept* noted the letter does not mention AATIP or Elizondo's role as its director.[^2][^7] On October 4, 2017, at Mellon's request, Kean was called to a meeting in the bar of a hotel near the Pentagon, where Puthoff and Semivan introduced her to Elizondo, whose last day at the Pentagon had been the previous day, according to the account Kean gave [[Gideon Lewis-Kraus]] of *[[The New Yorker]]*. Over three hours she was taken through documents. Lewis-Kraus wrote that Kean "was told that she could have the videos, along with chain-of-custody documentation, if she could place a story in the Times."[^4] Kean later gave "all the credit to Elizondo and Mellon for coming forward."[^4]
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Elizondo resigned from the [[Department of Defense]] effective October 4, 2017 per the Pentagon; his resignation letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis cited "bureaucratic challenges and inflexible mindsets" (Kloor, 2019), and *The Intercept* noted the letter does not mention AATIP or Elizondo's role as its director.[^2][^8] On October 4, 2017, at Mellon's request, Kean was called to a meeting in the bar of a hotel near the Pentagon, where Puthoff and Semivan introduced her to Elizondo, whose last day at the Pentagon had been the previous day, according to the account Kean gave [[Gideon Lewis-Kraus]] of *[[The New Yorker]]*. Over three hours she was taken through documents. Lewis-Kraus wrote that Kean "was told that she could have the videos, along with chain-of-custody documentation, if she could place a story in the Times."[^4] Kean later gave "all the credit to Elizondo and Mellon for coming forward."[^4]
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After Elizondo left the Pentagon he and the other AATIP participants named above joined [[To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science]]. At the company's launch event in October 2017 (reported as October 11) DeLonge invited Elizondo onstage and Elizondo announced that the group was "planning to provide never-before-released footage from real [[U.S. government]] systems."[^4][^8]
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After Elizondo left the Pentagon he and the other AATIP participants named above joined [[To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science]]. At the company's launch event in October 2017 (reported as October 11) DeLonge invited Elizondo onstage and Elizondo announced that the group was "planning to provide never-before-released footage from real [[U.S. government]] systems."[^4][^9]
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Kean telephoned Blumenthal, an old friend and former Times staffer then at work on a biography of the [[Harvard University|Harvard]] psychiatrist [[John E. Mack]]. Blumenthal e-mailed executive editor [[Dean Baquet]] to say they wanted to pitch "a sensational and highly confidential time-sensitive story" in which a "senior U.S. intelligence official who abruptly quit last month" had decided to expose "a deeply secret program, long mythologized but now confirmed." After a meeting with representatives of the Times's Washington bureau, the paper agreed and assigned Cooper, its Pentagon correspondent.[^4] Bender wrote in 2021 that Mellon, "by then also a paid adviser to DeLonge's TTSA," acted as Elizondo's "unofficial public relations manager" and "started dangling the story to the New York Times, POLITICO and several other mainstream outlets," over several months; that reporters were shown the videos and unclassified documents on Bigelow's contracts; that the Times "was granted permission to broadcast the videos"; and that Politico "was shown the videos but not provided copies."[^6]
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### The videos
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The Times article carried two videos, "FLIR1" and "[[GIMBAL]]," captioned "U.S. Department of Defense" and described as "released by the Defense Department's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program"; the third, "GOFAST," was published in March 2018, according to The Black Vault.[^4][^9] In a 2020 interview for the documentary *[[The Phenomenon (2020 film)|The Phenomenon]]*, Mellon said: "I received the videos, the now famous videos in the Pentagon parking lot from a Defense Department official. I still have the packaging." He added that "somebody bent the rules a little bit, and they did so for the larger good." *[[Vice]]* reported it could not independently verify the account.[^10]
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The Times article carried two videos, "FLIR1" and "[[GIMBAL]]," captioned "U.S. Department of Defense" and described as "released by the Defense Department's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program"; the third, "GOFAST," was published in March 2018, according to The Black Vault.[^4][^10] In a 2020 interview for the documentary *[[The Phenomenon (2020 film)|The Phenomenon]]*, Mellon said: "I received the videos, the now famous videos in the Pentagon parking lot from a Defense Department official. I still have the packaging." He added that "somebody bent the rules a little bit, and they did so for the larger good." *[[Vice]]* reported it could not independently verify the account.[^11]
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Bender wrote in 2021 that reporters "were shown the declassified videos," and quoted Mellon: "A huge breakthrough occurred because the Navy was confirming the videos were authentic and declassified on the Hill."[^6]
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The Navy's formal position on release changed twice. Sherwood told Kloor in 2019 that the videos were released "for research purposes ... and not for general public release."[^2] On April 27, 2020 the Department of Defense issued a "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," which read that the department "has authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, one taken in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015, which have been circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017," and that the aerial phenomena "remain characterized as 'unidentified.'"[^9] A [[Galileo Project]] announcement of October 30, 2021 credited Mellon and Elizondo with being "pivotal in bringing about the Pentagon's release and confirmation" of the three videos.[^11]
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The Navy's formal position on release changed twice. Sherwood told Kloor in 2019 that the videos were released "for research purposes ... and not for general public release."[^2] On April 27, 2020 the Department of Defense issued a "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," which read that the department "has authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, one taken in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015, which have been circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017," and that the aerial phenomena "remain characterized as 'unidentified.'"[^10] A [[Galileo Project]] announcement of October 30, 2021 credited Mellon and Elizondo with being "pivotal in bringing about the Pentagon's release and confirmation" of the three videos.[^12]
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### Later correction and follow-on reporting
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In July 2020 Kean and Blumenthal wrote in the Times that Reid "believed that crashes of vehicles from other worlds had occurred and that retrieved materials had been studied secretly for decades, often by aerospace companies under government contracts"; the Times appended a correction the next day, and Reid told Lewis-Kraus he "had never seen proof of any remnants" but "was told for decades that [[Lockheed Martin|Lockheed]] had some of these retrieved materials."[^4] In June 2023 Kean and Blumenthal published the first account of the claims of [[David Grusch]] on the website [[The Debrief]], according to *[[New York Magazine]]*.[^12]
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In July 2020 Kean and Blumenthal wrote in the Times that Reid "believed that crashes of vehicles from other worlds had occurred and that retrieved materials had been studied secretly for decades, often by aerospace companies under government contracts"; the Times appended a correction the next day, and Reid told Lewis-Kraus he "had never seen proof of any remnants" but "was told for decades that [[Lockheed Martin|Lockheed]] had some of these retrieved materials."[^4] In June 2023 Kean and Blumenthal published the first account of the claims of [[David Grusch]] on the website [[The Debrief]], according to *[[New York Magazine]]*.[^13]
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### Footnotes
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@ -69,9 +69,10 @@ In July 2020 Kean and Blumenthal wrote in the Times that Reid "believed that cra
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[^4]: Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. "How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously." *The New Yorker,* May 10, 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/how-the-pentagon-started-taking-ufos-seriously. The October 4, 2017 meeting, the offer of the videos for a Times placement, the Blumenthal to Baquet e-mail and the Reid correction are as reported by Lewis-Kraus from interviews with Kean, Reid and others.
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[^5]: Greenewald, John, Jr. "Pentagon Reinforces Mr. Luis Elizondo Had 'No Responsibilities' on AATIP; Senator Harry Reid's 2009 Memo Changes Nothing." The Black Vault, June 14, 2019. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/pentagon-reinforces-mr-luis-elizondo-had-no-responsibilities-on-aatip-senator-harry-reids-2009-memo-changes-nothing
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[^6]: Bender, Bryan. "The Hidden History of How Washington Embraced UFOs" (web title "How Harry Reid, a Terrorist Interrogator and the Singer From Blink-182 Took UFOs Mainstream"). *Politico Magazine,* May 28, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/28/ufos-secret-history-government-washington-dc-487900 (read via Internet Archive copy). Mellon and Elizondo quotations are as given to Bender; the WHS approval is stated from "documents obtained by POLITICO" that are not reproduced.
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[^7]: Kloor, Keith. "UFOs Won't Go Away." *Issues in Science and Technology,* March 1, 2019. https://issues.org/ufos-wont-go-away/
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[^8]: The October 11, 2017 date of the Seattle launch event is from a secondary summary and the coordinator's brief; the New Yorker gives only "later that month." Original press materials not yet opened.
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[^9]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/); Greenewald, John, Jr. "Navy Officially Releases UFO/UAP Videos, Calls Them 'Historical.'" The Black Vault, April 27, 2020 (reproduces the statement and gives the GOFAST date). https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/navy-officially-releases-ufo-uap-videos-calls-them-historical/
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[^10]: Banias, MJ. "Ex Intel Official Says He Was the Source of the Pentagon's UFO Videos." *Vice,* October 20, 2020. https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-guy-says-he-was-the-source-of-the-pentagons-ufo-videos/. Sole source for the passages so cited: Mellon's on-camera statement to filmmaker James Fox in *The Phenomenon* (2020).
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[^11]: The Galileo Project. "The Galileo Project Welcomes Christopher Mellon and Luis Elizondo as Research Affiliates," October 30, 2021. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/galileo/files/mellon-elizondo_announcement_final_2.pdf (Internet Archive copy).
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[^12]: Baker, Nicholson. "How We Lost Our Minds About UFOs." *New York Magazine,* January 31, 2024. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/leslie-kean-ufo-sightings-aliens.html
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[^7]: [[The Black Vault]], FOIA release of Office of the Secretary of Defense case 18-F-0644, August 2019 (emails of August 23 and 24, 2017 between Luis Elizondo and Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, with the DD Form 1910; the form's text is poorly legible in the scan and is quoted as transcribed in the research notes), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/18-F-0644.pdf ; Joseph Gradisher quoted in "U.S. Navy Confirms Videos Depict Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Not Cleared for Public Release," The Black Vault, September 2019, https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/u-s-navy-confirms-videos-depict-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-not-cleared-for-public-release/
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[^8]: Kloor, Keith. "UFOs Won't Go Away." *Issues in Science and Technology,* March 1, 2019. https://issues.org/ufos-wont-go-away/
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[^9]: The October 11, 2017 date of the Seattle launch event is from a secondary summary and the coordinator's brief; the New Yorker gives only "later that month." Original press materials not yet opened.
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[^10]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/); Greenewald, John, Jr. "Navy Officially Releases UFO/UAP Videos, Calls Them 'Historical.'" The Black Vault, April 27, 2020 (reproduces the statement and gives the GOFAST date). https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/navy-officially-releases-ufo-uap-videos-calls-them-historical/
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[^11]: Banias, MJ. "Ex Intel Official Says He Was the Source of the Pentagon's UFO Videos." *Vice,* October 20, 2020. https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-guy-says-he-was-the-source-of-the-pentagons-ufo-videos/. Sole source for the passages so cited: Mellon's on-camera statement to filmmaker James Fox in *The Phenomenon* (2020).
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[^12]: The Galileo Project. "The Galileo Project Welcomes Christopher Mellon and Luis Elizondo as Research Affiliates," October 30, 2021. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/galileo/files/mellon-elizondo_announcement_final_2.pdf (Internet Archive copy).
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[^13]: Baker, Nicholson. "How We Lost Our Minds About UFOs." *New York Magazine,* January 31, 2024. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/leslie-kean-ufo-sightings-aliens.html
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@ -3,23 +3,25 @@ category: "Modern Incident"
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summary: "Unclassified Navy video of an F/A-18 Super Hornet crew's encounter with an object rotating against the wind, published in December 2017 and authorized for release by the Pentagon on April 27, 2020."
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date: 2015-01-21
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location: "Atlantic Ocean, off East Coast of the United States"
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updated: 2026-10-03
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---
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The [[GIMBAL]] is one of three unclassified Navy [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena|UAP]] videos; the [[New York Times]] published it in December 2017 ([[December 2017 New York Times AATIP Report]]).[^1] Politico reported in 2021 that [[Washington Headquarters Services]] had approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government, and the [[Pentagon]] stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos "circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^1][^2] The video, which was captured by the crew of an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the [[USS Roosevelt]] Carrier Strike Group in 2015, shows a UAP exhibiting flight characteristics that are not possible with any known aircraft.[^3]
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The [[GIMBAL]] is one of three unclassified Navy [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena|UAP]] videos; the [[New York Times]] published it in December 2017 ([[December 2017 New York Times AATIP Report]]).[^1] Politico reported in 2021 that [[Washington Headquarters Services]] had approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government, and the [[Pentagon]] stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos "circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^1][^2] The Office of the Secretary of Defense file released to [[The Black Vault]] under the Freedom of Information Act in August 2019 contains an August 23, 2017 email in which [[Luis Elizondo]] asked Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review to "consider our request for unrestricted release"; an August 24, 2017 reply from Russo that if the service-level classification authority verified that removing the metadata made the videos unclassified, "please feel free to move forward with release"; and a DD Form 1910 whose publication-data block reads "Not Applicable. Not for publication. Research and analysis ONLY and info sharing with other USG and industry partners for the purposes of developing a database to help identify, analyze and ultimately defeat UAS threats." Joseph Gradisher, a Navy spokesman, said in 2019 that neither the cognizant Navy offices nor the review office had a record of correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the videos in 2017.[^3] The video, which was captured by the crew of an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the [[USS Roosevelt]] Carrier Strike Group in 2015, shows a UAP exhibiting flight characteristics that are not possible with any known aircraft.[^4]
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### The Sighting
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The GIMBAL video was recorded during a series of encounters between the USS Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and multiple UAP off the coast of the Southeastern [[United States]]. In the video, the pilots track a single object from a fleet of five. The object is described as a white, elongated shape, but when the camera mode is switched, it appears as a black, lenticular, or "flying saucer" shape with a bulge on its top and bottom.[^3]
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The GIMBAL video was recorded during a series of encounters between the USS Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and multiple UAP off the coast of the Southeastern [[United States]]. In the video, the pilots track a single object from a fleet of five. The object is described as a white, elongated shape, but when the camera mode is switched, it appears as a black, lenticular, or "flying saucer" shape with a bulge on its top and bottom.[^4]
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The most remarkable aspect of the video is the object's ability to rotate in mid-air against a 120-knot headwind without losing altitude. The object slows, parks itself in the air, and then rotates, or "gimbals," in a way that defies the known laws of aerodynamics. The pilots can be heard expressing their astonishment and disbelief at the object's performance.[^3]
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The most remarkable aspect of the video is the object's ability to rotate in mid-air against a 120-knot headwind without losing altitude. The object slows, parks itself in the air, and then rotates, or "gimbals," in a way that defies the known laws of aerodynamics. The pilots can be heard expressing their astonishment and disbelief at the object's performance.[^4]
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### Analysis and Significance
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The GIMBAL video is significant because it provides clear, high-fidelity evidence of a UAP exhibiting several of [[The Five Observables]], including low observability (no heat signature), antigravity (hovering against a strong headwind), and instantaneous acceleration. The object's ability to rotate without any apparent means of propulsion or control surfaces is a key piece of evidence that it is not a conventional aircraft.[^3]
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The GIMBAL video is significant because it provides clear, high-fidelity evidence of a UAP exhibiting several of [[The Five Observables]], including low observability (no heat signature), antigravity (hovering against a strong headwind), and instantaneous acceleration. The object's ability to rotate without any apparent means of propulsion or control surfaces is a key piece of evidence that it is not a conventional aircraft.[^4]
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The release of the GIMBAL video, along with the [[Tic Tac]] and [[GoFast]] videos, was a watershed moment in the UAP disclosure movement. It provided the public and Congress with undeniable evidence that the U.S. military was encountering objects with capabilities far beyond our own, and it helped to legitimize the UAP issue as a serious national security concern.[^3]
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The release of the GIMBAL video, along with the [[Tic Tac]] and [[GoFast]] videos, was a watershed moment in the UAP disclosure movement. It provided the public and Congress with undeniable evidence that the U.S. military was encountering objects with capabilities far beyond our own, and it helped to legitimize the UAP issue as a serious national security concern.[^4]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/). Greenewald, John, Jr. "Navy Officially Releases UFO/UAP Videos, Calls Them 'Historical.'" The Black Vault, April 27, 2020 (reproduces the statement and gives the GOFAST date). https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/navy-officially-releases-ufo-uap-videos-calls-them-historical/
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[^2]: Bender, Bryan. "The Hidden History of How Washington Embraced UFOs." *Politico Magazine,* May 28, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/28/ufos-secret-history-government-washington-dc-487900
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[^3]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
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[^3]: [[The Black Vault]], FOIA release of Office of the Secretary of Defense case 18-F-0644, August 2019 (emails of August 23 and 24, 2017 between Luis Elizondo and Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, with the DD Form 1910; the form's text is poorly legible in the scan and is quoted as transcribed in the research notes), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/18-F-0644.pdf ; Joseph Gradisher quoted in "U.S. Navy Confirms Videos Depict Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Not Cleared for Public Release," The Black Vault, September 2019, https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/u-s-navy-confirms-videos-depict-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-not-cleared-for-public-release/
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[^4]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
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summary: "Unclassified Navy video of an F/A-18 Super Hornet crew's encounter with an object moving at extreme speed low over the ocean, first published in March 2018 and authorized for release April 27, 2020."
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date: 2015-01-21
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location: "Atlantic Ocean, off East Coast of the United States"
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updated: 2026-10-03
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---
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The [[GoFast]] is one of three unclassified Navy [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena|UAP]] videos; it appeared in March 2018, after the two videos the [[New York Times]] published in December 2017 ([[December 2017 New York Times AATIP Report]]).[^1] Politico reported in 2021 that [[Washington Headquarters Services]] had approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government, and the [[Pentagon]] stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos "circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^1][^2] The video, which was captured by the crew of an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the [[USS Roosevelt]] Carrier Strike Group in 2015, shows a small, fast-moving object that appears to be traveling at an incredible speed just above the surface of the water.[^3]
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The [[GoFast]] is one of three unclassified Navy [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena|UAP]] videos; it appeared in March 2018, after the two videos the [[New York Times]] published in December 2017 ([[December 2017 New York Times AATIP Report]]).[^1] Politico reported in 2021 that [[Washington Headquarters Services]] had approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government, and the [[Pentagon]] stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos "circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^1][^2] The Office of the Secretary of Defense file released to [[The Black Vault]] under the Freedom of Information Act in August 2019 contains an August 23, 2017 email in which [[Luis Elizondo]] asked Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review to "consider our request for unrestricted release"; an August 24, 2017 reply from Russo that if the service-level classification authority verified that removing the metadata made the videos unclassified, "please feel free to move forward with release"; and a DD Form 1910 whose publication-data block reads "Not Applicable. Not for publication. Research and analysis ONLY and info sharing with other USG and industry partners for the purposes of developing a database to help identify, analyze and ultimately defeat UAS threats." Joseph Gradisher, a Navy spokesman, said in 2019 that neither the cognizant Navy offices nor the review office had a record of correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the videos in 2017.[^3] The video, which was captured by the crew of an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the [[USS Roosevelt]] Carrier Strike Group in 2015, shows a small, fast-moving object that appears to be traveling at an incredible speed just above the surface of the water.[^4]
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### The Sighting
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The GoFast video was recorded during the same series of encounters as the [[GIMBAL Video]], which took place off the coast of the Southeastern [[United States]]. The video shows a small, round object that is being tracked by the aircraft's targeting pod. The pilots can be heard expressing their astonishment at the object's speed, with one exclaiming, "Whoa, got it! Whoo-hoooo! What the f--- is that thing?"[^3]
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The GoFast video was recorded during the same series of encounters as the [[GIMBAL Video]], which took place off the coast of the Southeastern [[United States]]. The video shows a small, round object that is being tracked by the aircraft's targeting pod. The pilots can be heard expressing their astonishment at the object's speed, with one exclaiming, "Whoa, got it! Whoo-hoooo! What the f--- is that thing?"[^4]
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### Analysis and Significance
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The GoFast video is significant because it appears to show a UAP exhibiting hypersonic velocity at a very low altitude, a feat that is not possible with any known conventional aircraft. While some analysts have suggested that the object's speed may be an illusion caused by a parallax effect, the pilots who witnessed the event were clearly impressed by its velocity.[^3]
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The GoFast video is significant because it appears to show a UAP exhibiting hypersonic velocity at a very low altitude, a feat that is not possible with any known conventional aircraft. While some analysts have suggested that the object's speed may be an illusion caused by a parallax effect, the pilots who witnessed the event were clearly impressed by its velocity.[^4]
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The release of the GoFast video, along with the [[Tic Tac]] and [[GIMBAL]] videos, was a crucial moment in the UAP disclosure movement. It provided another piece of credible evidence that the U.S. military was encountering objects with extraordinary capabilities, and it helped to fuel the public and congressional demand for greater transparency on the UAP issue.[^3]
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The release of the GoFast video, along with the [[Tic Tac]] and [[GIMBAL]] videos, was a crucial moment in the UAP disclosure movement. It provided another piece of credible evidence that the U.S. military was encountering objects with extraordinary capabilities, and it helped to fuel the public and congressional demand for greater transparency on the UAP issue.[^4]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/). Greenewald, John, Jr. "Navy Officially Releases UFO/UAP Videos, Calls Them 'Historical.'" The Black Vault, April 27, 2020 (reproduces the statement and gives the GOFAST date). https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/navy-officially-releases-ufo-uap-videos-calls-them-historical/
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[^2]: Bender, Bryan. "The Hidden History of How Washington Embraced UFOs." *Politico Magazine,* May 28, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/28/ufos-secret-history-government-washington-dc-487900
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[^3]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
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[^3]: [[The Black Vault]], FOIA release of Office of the Secretary of Defense case 18-F-0644, August 2019 (emails of August 23 and 24, 2017 between Luis Elizondo and Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, with the DD Form 1910; the form's text is poorly legible in the scan and is quoted as transcribed in the research notes), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/18-F-0644.pdf ; Joseph Gradisher quoted in "U.S. Navy Confirms Videos Depict Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Not Cleared for Public Release," The Black Vault, September 2019, https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/u-s-navy-confirms-videos-depict-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-not-cleared-for-public-release/
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[^4]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
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@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ category: "Modern Incident"
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summary: "UAP encountered by the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group in November 2004 and captured on video as 'Tic Tac'; the FLIR1 video was published in December 2017 and authorized for release April 27, 2020."
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date: 2004-11-14
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location: "Pacific Ocean, off San Diego, California"
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updated: 2026-10-03
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---
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The [[Tic Tac]] refers to a specific [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena|UAP]] encountered by the [[USS Nimitz]] Carrier Strike Group in November 2004. The object was designated the "Tic Tac" by the pilots and crew due to its resemblance to the white, oblong candy. The series of encounters is considered a cornerstone case in modern UAP investigation due to the high-fidelity data collected by multiple military sensor platforms and the corroborating testimony from numerous highly credible and trained observers.[^1]
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@ -24,10 +25,11 @@ Later that day, a second flight, piloted by Lieutenant Chad Underwood, was launc
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The incident was investigated by [[Jay Stratton]] for the [[Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]] (AATIP). The analysis concluded that the Tic Tac exhibited performance characteristics well beyond any known technology, including hypersonic velocity and instantaneous acceleration, which would subject a conventional craft to thousands of G-forces. The lack of official follow-up at the time of the incident, and the subsequent dismissal by some in the chain of command, highlighted the deep-seated stigma surrounding the UAP topic within the military.[^1]
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The "FLIR1" (Tic Tac) video was one of two published by the [[New York Times]] in December 2017 ([[December 2017 New York Times AATIP Report]]).[^2] Politico reported in 2021 that [[Washington Headquarters Services]] had approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government, and the [[Pentagon]] stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos "circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^2][^3] The publication of the video, along with the testimony of Commander Fravor and Lieutenant Dietrich, was a seminal event in the UAP disclosure movement. It provided credible, verifiable evidence that forced a public and congressional conversation about the reality of UAP and the potential national security threat they represent.[^1]
|
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The "FLIR1" (Tic Tac) video was one of two published by the [[New York Times]] in December 2017 ([[December 2017 New York Times AATIP Report]]).[^2] Politico reported in 2021 that [[Washington Headquarters Services]] had approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government, and the [[Pentagon]] stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos "circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^2][^3] The Office of the Secretary of Defense file released to [[The Black Vault]] under the Freedom of Information Act in August 2019 contains an August 23, 2017 email in which [[Luis Elizondo]] asked Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review to "consider our request for unrestricted release"; an August 24, 2017 reply from Russo that if the service-level classification authority verified that removing the metadata made the videos unclassified, "please feel free to move forward with release"; and a DD Form 1910 whose publication-data block reads "Not Applicable. Not for publication. Research and analysis ONLY and info sharing with other USG and industry partners for the purposes of developing a database to help identify, analyze and ultimately defeat UAS threats." Joseph Gradisher, a Navy spokesman, said in 2019 that neither the cognizant Navy offices nor the review office had a record of correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the videos in 2017.[^4] The publication of the video, along with the testimony of Commander Fravor and Lieutenant Dietrich, was a seminal event in the UAP disclosure movement. It provided credible, verifiable evidence that forced a public and congressional conversation about the reality of UAP and the potential national security threat they represent.[^1]
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### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
|
||||
[^2]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/). Greenewald, John, Jr. "Navy Officially Releases UFO/UAP Videos, Calls Them 'Historical.'" The Black Vault, April 27, 2020 (reproduces the statement and gives the GOFAST date). https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/navy-officially-releases-ufo-uap-videos-calls-them-historical/
|
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[^3]: Bender, Bryan. "The Hidden History of How Washington Embraced UFOs." *Politico Magazine,* May 28, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/28/ufos-secret-history-government-washington-dc-487900
|
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[^4]: [[The Black Vault]], FOIA release of Office of the Secretary of Defense case 18-F-0644, August 2019 (emails of August 23 and 24, 2017 between Luis Elizondo and Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, with the DD Form 1910; the form's text is poorly legible in the scan and is quoted as transcribed in the research notes), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/18-F-0644.pdf ; Joseph Gradisher quoted in "U.S. Navy Confirms Videos Depict Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Not Cleared for Public Release," The Black Vault, September 2019, https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/u-s-navy-confirms-videos-depict-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-not-cleared-for-public-release/
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