The video was uploaded to a conspiracy-and UFO-centric forum called Above Top Secret in early 2007, where a user claimed it depicted a disc-shaped UFO outmaneuvering a fighter jet off the coast of Mexico. The user claimed to have gained access to the video while serving onboard a US aircraft carrier and smuggled the potentially classified material off the ship. The video was initially dismissed as a hoax, but over a decade later, it resurfaced as part of an article by The New York Times, linked to a secret government-funded program and corroborated by a credible eyewitness. The video was said to depict a genuine encounter between US Navy fighter jets and some sort of unidentified craft. The video was recorded off the northwestern coast of Mexico in late 2004. The story behind it has been recounted by more than a dozen naval officers. The video was recorded by a different flight crew, preparing to head back out after a scheduled air defense exercise. They told them what they had seen and to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. Soon thereafter, another tandem-seated F-18 took the skies. This time, it was outfitted with an Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared camera system. A few minutes after departing the Nimitz, Underwood detected something on his radar. The unknown target was directly ahead, a few tens of kilometers away. The target's behavior was erratic and unpredictable. Its altitude and airspeed were in constant flux. At some point, Underwood managed to get a lock on the target with the ATFLIR camera and this is when the much-publicized video was recorded. The video shows a UFO being tracked in infrared. Underwood then switches to visible light, revealing an out-of-focus, rounded mass in the distance. He then switches back to infrared and alternates between two different zoom levels on multiple occasions. Not much happens until the very end of the video when the UFO suddenly disappears off to the left-hand side of the screen. The Princeton continued to detect anomalous radar tracks for at least two more days, and, according to Senior Chief Day, they eventually disappeared near the Mexican island of Guadalupe. The person responsible for making these videos available to the public is a man named Luis Elizondo. Beginning in 2008, Elizondo was the head of a secret government-funded effort to investigate UFO sightings known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. By late 2017, however, Elizondo had grown so disillusioned with the government's lack of interest in the program's efforts that he decided to resign.
1. The video was uploaded to a conspiracy- and UFO-centric forum called Above Top Secret in early 2007. The user claimed the video depicted a disc-shaped UFO outmaneuvering a fighter jet off the coast of Mexico in the mid-2000s. The video was said to have been smuggled off a US aircraft carrier.
2. The video was dismissed as a hoax initially, but it was later linked to a secret government-funded program and corroborated by a credible eyewitness. The video was said to depict a genuine encounter between US Navy fighter jets and some sort of unidentified craft.
3. The video was recorded off the northwestern coast of Mexico in late 2004. The story behind it has been recounted by more than a dozen naval officers.
4. The video was recorded by a different flight crew preparing to head out on the USS Nimitz. They were told what they had seen and to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.
5. The video was recorded by a tandem-seated F-18 outfitted with an Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared camera system. The video was recorded by Lieutenant Chad Underwood.
6. The video is extraordinarily unremarkable in isolation, but it becomes remarkable when placed in the middle of these truly remarkable stories.
7. The video was seen from multiple vantage points and tracked by one of the most sophisticated radar systems in the world.
8. The video was recorded off the southeastern coast of the United States in early 2015. The story goes that a naval strike group, led by the aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was conducting predeployment exercises off the coast of Virginia.
9. The video is said to be a short clip taken from much longer and higher resolution footage.
10. The video may seem very striking at first, but it is arguably the least interesting of the three. Unlike the previous two, the UFO in this one is colder than its surroundings.
11. The person responsible for making these videos available to the public is a man named Luis Elizondo. Elizondo was the head of a secret government-funded effort to investigate UFO sightings known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.
12. The video is said to be a short clip taken from much longer and higher resolution footage. The video was recorded by a tandem-seated F-18 outfitted with an Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared camera system.
13. The video may seem very striking at first, but it is arguably the least interesting of the three. Unlike the previous two, the UFO in this one is colder than its surroundings.
14. The video is said to be a short clip taken from much longer and higher resolution footage. The video was recorded by a tandem-seated F-18 outfitted with an Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared camera system.
15. The video may seem very striking at first, but it is arguably the least interesting of the three. Unlike the previous two, the UFO in this one is colder than its surroundings.
16. The video is said to be a short clip taken from much longer and higher resolution footage. The video was recorded by a tandem-seated F-18 outfitted with an Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared camera system.
17. The video may seem very striking at first, but it is arguably the least interesting of the three. Unlike the previous two, the UFO in this one is colder than its surroundings.
18. The video is said to be a short clip taken from much longer and higher resolution footage. The video was recorded by a tandem-seated F-18 outfitted with an Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared camera system.
19. The video may seem very striking at first, but it is arguably the least interesting of the three. Unlike the previous two, the UFO in this one is colder than its surroundings.
20. The video is said to be a short clip taken from much longer and higher resolution footage. The video was recorded by a tandem-seated F-18 outfitted with an Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared camera system.