GoFast Video, USS Roosevelt
Approximately 35-second ATFLIR video appearing to show a small object skimming rapidly above the ocean surface, with aircrew exclaiming 'Look at that thing! It's flying!'
GOFAST: mid-wave infrared ATFLIR video from an F/A-18F of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group, Atlantic Ocean, January 2015. Released by the Department of Defense on April 27, 2020.
US Department of Defense / DVIDS
Provenance metadataFields marked “not disclosed” are transparent gaps in the release, not omissions on our end.
- Coordinates
- Not disclosed in this release
- Altitude
- Not disclosed in this release
- Sensor detail
- Not disclosed in this release
- Encounter duration
- Not disclosed in this release
- Witness count
- Not disclosed in this release
- Operational context
- Not disclosed in this release
- Weather / visibility
- Not disclosed in this release
- Chain of custody
- Not disclosed in this release
- Classification
- Not disclosed in this release
Official description
Mid-wave infrared video from the same Roosevelt deployment as Gimbal. Released in 2017 via NYT/TTSA, formally acknowledged by DoD in April 2020.
Editor's context
Geometric analysis using the metadata visible on the FLIR display has substantially constrained the object's actual speed. The visual impression of high speed is largely a parallax artifact: the ATFLIR pod is moving rapidly over a nearly stationary object, making it appear to fly. Several independent analyses converge on this conclusion.
Prevailing explanation
What scientists and analysts generally think
Detailed parallax analysis of the on-screen sensor metadata shows the object is moving slowly relative to the air mass, consistent with a small balloon, bird, or piece of debris drifting with the wind. The rapid apparent motion is caused by the aircraft's own velocity over a near-stationary target. This is now the consensus among analysts who have worked the geometry, including Mick West and the SCU's response.
In the margins
Transcribed redactions, stamps, and handwritten markings, the paratext of the file. Often the most human part of a declassified document, and worth reading on its own.
- Stampp. video headerDECLASSIFIED, DoD Public Release, April 27, 2020
- StampVFA-211 / USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, UNCLASSIFIED
- AnnotationAircrew radio audio: 'Whoa! Got it! Woo-hoo!' followed by 'What the [expletive] is that thing?'
- AnnotationATFLIR display readouts (visible on the recording) yield aircraft altitude ~25,000 ft, range ~3.4nm, target altitude ~13,000 ft. These numbers are what enables the parallax calculation.
- AnnotationMick West's published geometry: object's actual ground speed ~30 mph, consistent with a small wind-drifting object. Apparent high speed is parallax due to camera motion over a near-stationary target.
- AnnotationReferenced at the July 26, 2023 Grusch hearing (Graves testimony) and the November 13, 2024 Exposing the Truth hearing.
Cite the primary source
Citations center the originating government agency and link to the official record. This archive is listed as the access point, not the author.
U.S. Department of Defense. "GoFast Video, USS Roosevelt." Released via PURSUE program, 2017-12-16. https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Records/. Accessed 2026-08-12 via Social Media for Aliens archive, https://socialmediaforaliens.com/files/gofast-2015.
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