LONDON, June 16 — The U.S. Department of Defense officially authenticated and released the ‘Gimbal’ and ‘GoFast’ videos in April 2020, four years after they were first leaked online.
The two clips were recorded by U.S. Navy pilots in 2015 using forward-looking infrared cameras. They show objects moving in ways that puzzled the aircrews. Along with the 2004 ‘FLIR1’ footage, they became central evidence in the Pentagon’s later Unidentified Aerial Phenomena investigations.
Under the hood, the technical reality is that these are sensor readings, not eyewitness accounts. The Gimbal video shows a small, oblong object rotating against a cloudy sky while the pilot exclaims, “Look at that thing!” The GoFast clip captures a fast-moving object skimming low over the ocean surface. Both were captured by the same ATFLIR pod systems mounted on F/A-18 Super Hornets.
The detail that matters is the authentication itself. The Pentagon’s official release in April 2020 came after years of unofficial circulation. The Department stated the videos were “authorized for public release” and that they depicted “unidentified aerial phenomena.” The language was precise: not “UFOs” in the popular sense, but UAPs — a term the military now uses to avoid the cultural baggage.
As ever, the Pentagon’s UAP Task Force, established in 2020, used these clips as foundational evidence. The objects displayed no visible means of propulsion, no wings, and no exhaust plumes. The aircrews reported no electronic emissions or radar signatures consistent with known aircraft.
One wry observation: the videos are grainy, infrared, and brief. Yet they have generated more congressional briefings and classified reports than almost any other defense topic. The objects themselves remain unidentified. The Pentagon has not publicly attributed them to any foreign power, natural phenomenon, or advanced U.S. program.
The GoFast footage shows the object tracking at high speed just above the water, while the Gimbal object rotates in a way that defies conventional aerodynamic logic. Both were recorded off the U.S. East Coast.
What to watch next: the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which replaced the earlier task force, continues to review similar incidents. Whether the 2015 clips will ever receive a definitive explanation remains an open question. For now, they sit in the public record as authenticated, unexplained, and technically intriguing.
