The Defense Department has authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, captured in 2004 and 2015, that purport to show unidentified flying objects — or to use the Pentagon’s preferred term, unidentified aerial phenomena.
- UFO fans have long known about these videos, known by the filenames FLIR, GOFAST and GIMBAL, thanks in part to a highly publicized leak in 2017. In a statement issued today, the Defense Department noted that the videos have been “circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017.”
- The Defense Department said the videos captured by Navy pilots, which appear to show fast-moving objects on tracking screens, don’t reveal any sensitive military capabilities or impinge upon any subsequent investigations. “The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified,’ ” the Pentagon said. Last year, the Navy updated its guidelines for reporting such phenomena.
- In a Twitter update, former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who facilitated federal funding for UFO investigations while he was Senate majority leader, said he was “glad the Pentagon is finally releasing this footage, but it only scratches the surface of research and materials available.” U.S. officials need to “take a serious, scientific look at this and any potential national security implications,” he said. “The American people deserve to be informed.”
