The U.S. Navy has officially releases declassified three now-infamous videos that pilots flying F/A-18 Hornets shot of unidentified flying objects, also referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), on separate occasions in 2004 and 2015.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense 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.
The Pentagon announced the official release of the trio of videos, commonly known by their filenames “FLIR,” “GO FAST,” and “GIMBAL,” on Apr. 27, 2020. Naval Air Systems Command posted copies of all three online via their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) document library. The first video, which first appeared online more than a decade ago, shows an object that has become colloquially referred to as the “Tic Tac.” By every indication, all three videos are identical to the ones that have been circulating widely online for years now.
The military officials said the U.S. Navy previously acknowledged that these videos circulating in the public domain were indeed Navy videos.
The full Pentagon statement is as follows:
“The Department of Defense 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. The U.S. Navy previously acknowledged that these videos circulating in the public domain were indeed Navy videos. After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena. DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as “unidentified.” The released videos can be found at the Naval Air Systems Command FOIA Reading Room: https://www.navair.navy.mil/foia/documents.”
In a statement Monday, the Pentagon said it is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as “unidentified.”
CNN previously reported that the clips, released between December 2017 and March 2018 by To The Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences, appear to show fast-moving, oblong objects captured by advanced infrared sensors.
In footage from 2004, sensors lock on a target as it flies before it accelerates out of the left side of the frame, too quickly for the sensors to relocate it.
It seems very likely that the Navy’s official release of these videos, so many years after the fact, is likely to prompt renewed debate and more questions about the events they show and other U.S. military encounters with and activities related to unidentified aerial phenomena.
Aw, that ain’t nothin’. Sonny’s salad bar guy saw a translucent blimp dropping photon orbs over Ft. Meyers back in ’95’ !