USS Theodore Roosevelt UAPs
Hundreds of UAP sightings were reportedly observed by US Navy pilots flying off of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the mid-2010's. Two notable videos of such sightings--the "Gimbal video" and the "Go Fast video"--were verified as authentic by the Pentagon and were released to the public in 2019.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt-- among the US Navy's largest nuclear-powered aircraft carriers---was involved in numerous alleged UFO sightings while operating in waters off the east coast of the US in the mid-2010's. Reports of UFO sightings on the USS Theodore Roosevelt became increasingly common starting in mid-2014. Many of the Navy F-18's had been retrofitted with advanced Raytheon APG-79 radar systems in early 2014; the uptick in reported sightings on the USS Theodore Roosevelt immediately followed the deployment of this new technology.
Frequent reports of radar-detected UAP were reported during the period of 2014-2015. In many of the sightings, the objects were described as spherical in shape, sometimes as a "partially transparent sphere with a cube inside". The objects were smaller than a typical aircraft, but larger than a quadcopter drone, measuring approximately 15'-20' in diameter. According to Navy pilot Danny Accoin, the craft "had no distinct wings, no distinct tail, no distinct exhaust plume." The objects were typically observed on radar, with few visual observations recorded. Strangely, multiple Navy pilots reported having locked radar on an object but being unable to see it visually despite the object being within the pilot's expected field of view.
"These things would be out there all day"
According to Ryan Graves, a former US Navy F-18 pilot with the VFA-11 Red Rippers out of Virginia, the sightings were a daily occurrence. "These things would be out there all day" stated Graves, who also could not reconcile how the objects seemingly never ran out of fuel. Graves reported in a 60 Minutes interview as having seen the objects "every day for at least a couple of years." Hundreds, and potentially thousands, of individual UAP objects were seen. The situation became so common--and unsettling--that Graves filed a hazard report with the Naval Safety Center in late 2014, fearing that an F-18 might collide with one of the objects. The day prior, one of the objects was observed to be flying in between the wings of two F-18's flying in formation a mere 100' apart.
The "Gimbal" Video
A January 2015 encounter off the East Coast of the US was caught on cockpit camera and released to the public by Tom DeLonge's To The Stars Academy in 2019. Commonly referred to as the "Gimbal" video , the clip shows what appears to be a craft operating in an unusual manner, including rotating along multiple axes while flying, as if on a gimbal. The pilots in the recording sound excited and unsure of what they are looking at during the recording.
The "GoFast" Video
Another video taken from the area in 2015 shows a Navy pilot successfully getting a radar lock on an unidentified object flying at what appears to be a high rate of speed very close to the water. Known as the "GoFast video" , this clip was also released by To The Stars Academy in 2019. Former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo was instrumental in having the videos declassified; both videos have been acknowledged to be authentic by the Pentagon.
Graves testified before a House Intelligence Committee meeting regarding the incidents, stating in a press conference outside of the meeting "at the end of the day we have to treat it like it's a foreign adversary ... there's no other option." Committee member Mike Gallagher (R-WI) stated after the hearing "any time you have something fouling a range, it's certainly a threat to our pilots ... so it is at least a safety issue. I'm not willing to say it's a dramatic threat to homeland security at this point, but it's something we need to take seriously, of course."
The popularity of these videos, and the subsequent media storm surrounding them, have led to sharp backlash by some critics. Renowned skeptics Michael Shermer and Mick West both have put forth efforts to debunk an extraterrestrial explanation for these objects. West, particularly, believes the Go Fast video to be the product of a phenomenon known as parallax effect, and the Gimbal video to be the product of an inadvertent camera trick.
The claims made by Graves, Accoin, and others are notable for the sheer volume of sightings reported, the radar technologies involved in these sightings, and the proximity of many of these incidents to operating U.S. military craft. Graves currently advocates for awareness of the UAP issue in the name of air traffic safety through the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aviation's (AIAA) "UAP Community of Interest'' program.
