For the first time, the U.S. Navy acknowledged the three UFO videos that were released by the New York Times and To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA) as real “unidentified” objects. The Navy admitted that the videos referred to as the “FLIR1,” “Gimbal,” and “Gofast” were “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (UAPs).
Two of the three UFO videos were released in December of 2017, and the “GoFast” video was released in March of 2018.
The first video of the unidentified object was taken on Nov. 14, 2004, by an F-18 gun camera. The second and third video was taken on the same day on Jan. 21, 2015, but it is still unclear whether the two videos display the same object.
Many contradictions arose on what these UAP encounters are, and some believe they may simply be a by-product of U.S. military training exercises using a classified drone or related technology.
But the U.S. Navy Joseph Gradisher told The Black Vault, a website dedicated to declassified government documents, “the navy considers the phenomena contained/depicted in those three videos as unidentified.” Gradisher added, “the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena terminology is used because it provides the basic descriptor for the sightings/observations of unauthorized/unidentified aircraft/objects that have been observed entering/operating in the airspace of various military-controlled training ranges.”
These new statements by the Navy labeling the cases as “unidentified aerial phenomena” are making some second guess that theory.
Although the term, “Unidentified Flying Object” or UFO is much more common than UAP, the U.S. Navy is starting to accept the latter.
John Greenewald, Jr., who publishes The Black Vault, told Motherboard he was not expecting the language the Navy used in its official statement.
“I very much expected that when the U.S. military addressed the videos, they would coincide with the language we see on official documents that have now been released, and they would label them as ‘drones’ or ‘balloons,'” Greenwald told Motherboard. “However, they did not. They went on the record stating the ‘phenomena’ depicted in those videos, is ‘unidentified.’ That really made me surprised, intrigued, excited, and motivated to push harder for the truth.'”
Luis Elizondo, the former head of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), has said that people should pay attention to the comments the government is making about UFOs.
“What the pilots encountered that day was able to perform in ways that defied all logic and our current understanding of aerodynamics,” Elizondo wrote in a Fox News op-ed of the 2004 encounter by U.S. Navy pilots who witnessed the object off the coast of San Diego.
“Furthermore, beyond what the pilots saw with their own trained eye, the technological feat they encountered was further verified by the impressive Aegis SPY-1 radar, America’s premier radar system at the time, and even gun camera footage and sonar systems from submarines accompanying the carrier.”
Earlier this year, the Navy released new guidelines on how to report such instances “in response to unknown, advanced aircraft flying into or near Navy strike groups or other sensitive military facilities and formations,” reported Fox News.
The Defense Department also briefed Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), in June, along with two other senators, as part of what appeared to be increased efforts to familiarize politicians about encounters with unidentified aircraft.
According to Politico, Warner’s spokesperson indicated that the senator sought to examine safety concerns surrounding “unexplained interference” naval pilots faced.
President Trump said he had been briefed on unidentified flying objects, but remained skeptical about the existence of UFOs. “I want them to think whatever they think,” Trump told ABC News‘ George Stephanopolous earlier this year, referring to the Navy pilots. “I did have one very brief meeting on it. But people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly.”
