In this video, I take a closer look at three widely circulated videos of unidentified flying objects. The videos were captured by US Navy fighter pilots in 2004 and 2015 and have been the subject of much heated debate. The cryptic footage, alongside firsthand witness accounts by experienced aviators and sailors, amounts to a surprisingly potent cocktail of intrigue and mystery.
I'm mispronouncing the name "Louisville" during this part of the video.
During this part of the video, the pilots are saying "SA", not "AESA". "AESA" stands for Active Electronically Scanned Array and refers to the specific type of radar technology with which the aircraft had recently been retrofitted. "SA" stands for "situational awareness" and, in this context, refers to a page or display which shows contacts picked up by radar.
The two sentences partially marked as "unclear" during this part the video likely refers to something known as "launch and steering". As I understand it, the pilots are trying to determine whether the target tracked by radar is the same as the target tracked by ATFLIR. So the transcript should read: "That's not on L&S though, is it?", followed by "That is on L&S, dude." I decided to mark these parts as "unclear" as different sources provide different transcripts. But it is all but certain that that is what the pilots are saying. The text "L+S" is also printed vertically along the right-hand side of the video.
The USS Nimitz encounters were first described in early 2007 when a user named "thefinaltheory" submitted a thread to a forum called Above Top Secret. In their original post, they claim to have seen a video of a disc-shaped UFO while serving onboard a US Navy aircraft carrier somewhere off the coast of western Mexico. The video was later provided in reference #2.
The video captured during the USS Nimitz encounters was first leaked online in early 2007 when a user named "thefinaltheory" submitted a thread to an online forum called Above Top Secret. Apart from the video itself, "thefinaltheory" also claimed to be in possession of a Word document and a PowerPoint presentation. While the contents of the Word document was later provided in reference #2b, the PowerPoint presentation has never been released. Furthermore, "thefinaltheory" claimed to be in possession of three other versions of the video. See reference #2c.
The video provided by "thefinaltheory" was hosted on a website owned by a group of German film students. This led some to denounce the clip as an attempted hoax.
The Word document appears to be an event summary produced around the time of the USS Nimitz encounters.
While answering questions, "thefinaltheory" claims to be in possession of three alternate versions of the video they provided. Two of them are said to be shorter, while the fourth is said to be twice as long. None of which has ever been released.
In 2008, retired Navy veteran, Kevin Day, wrote a short story called "The See'r". The story is a highly fictionalized account of the USS Nimitz encounters. Day later incorporated the story as part of a self-published book series called the Sailor's Anthology.
In late 2010, Day published an abbreviated version of his short story on a forum called Open Minds Forum. As the website has since been taken down, the forum thread can be found within a downloadable archive. The thread ID is 9353.
In a revised edition of the book, Day explains that he chose to fictionalize the story in order to protect the identities of those involved.
In 2013, the events of the USS Nimitz encounters were recounted once again by an anonymous user on Reddit.
In 2015, the USS Nimitz encounters were described in great detail by a retired US Navy pilot named Paco Chierici. The article is based on the firsthand account of Chierici's friend and fellow pilot, David Fravor, as well as the "executive report" of reference #12.
In late 2017, The New York Times broke a story about a secretive government program known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. Featured alongside the article were two videos said to depict encounters between US Navy fighter jets and UFOs.
A companion piece featuring an interview with Commander David Fravor, who witnessed the USS Nimitz encounters.
To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science is a company founded by former Blink 182 band member Tom DeLonge. It appears to be some sort of hybrid company with a focus on both entertainment and UFO research. The New York Times and TTSAAS jointly released the first two videos in late 2017. The third video was then released by TTSAAS in March of 2018. TTSAAS obtained the videos after Luis Elizondo left his government position at the Pentagon and joined the company.
This History channel program was produced by To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science and features a number of interviews with witnesses of both the USS Nimitz- and USS Theodore Roosevelt encounters. Where it not for these interviews with experienced aviators and sailors, I would not have put much stock in a program that airs on the same channel as Ancient Aliens.
In 2018, an undated "executive report" on the USS Nimitz encounters was leaked online. While some question its authenticity, it contains a lot of important information.
In 2020, the US Department of Defense officially released the three videos, thereby confirming their authenticity. The government merely characterize the objects seen in the videos as "unidentified aerial phenomena".
The three videos are labeled "FLIR.mp4", "GOFAST.wmv", and "GIMBAL.wmv" and can be downloaded from this website.
A group known as the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (previously known as the Scientific Coalition for Ufology) has spent a great deal of time analyzing the video from the USS Nimitz encounters. They've also conducted interviews with some of the witnesses.
This independently produced documentary is a must-watch if you want to learn more about the USS Nimitz encounters as it features important interviews with some of the witnesses. The uncut interviews can also be viewed separately on the same channel.
An interview with US Navy fighter pilot Commander David Fravor who witnessed the USS Nimitz encounters.
An interview with US Navy fighter pilot Chad Underwood who filmed the video taken during the USS Nimitz encounters.
Another interview with Chad Underwood.
An interview with Sean Cahill, who was the Chief Master-at-Arms onboard the Princeton during the USS Nimitz encounters.
Another interview with Sean Cahill.
An interview with former Blink 182 band member Tom DeLonge. I'm only including this as it provides some background about To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science.
An interview with electro-optical engineer and ATFLIR expert John Ehrhart. Ehrhart dispute claims that the rotation seen in the second video was the result of a glare within the camera optics.
An interview with former intelligence officer Luis Elizondo who is the person responsible for making the videos available to the public.
A fantastic overview of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program as well as To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science.
A comprehensive article about the confusion which surrounds the secret government-funded UFO program known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.
This article about a simulated version of ATFLIR provides a lot of information about how the real-world system works.
Some question whether Luis Elizondo actually was the director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. As the program remains clouded in secrecy, we may never know for certain.
This article features interviews with Lieutenant Ryan Graves and Danny Aucoin. Both of whom are US Navy fighter pilots who witnessed the USS Theodore Roosevelt encounters.
Debunker and skeptic, Mick West, has spent a great deal of time trying to debunk the three videos. Most of the relevant information can be found via this discussion thread on his forum Metabunk. West has also produced a number of videos on the subject which you can find on his YouTube channel. See reference #61a.
A Quora thread about the slightly unclear transcript of the GIMBAL video.