The Setting
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was conducting a training mission for a deployment to the Persian Gulf . The maneuvers took place in the Atlantic Ocean near the US East Coast between Virginia and Florida.
During this mission, from summer of 2014 to March 2015, several pilots and other Navy personell encountered strange objects, almost on a daily basis. The UAPs were noticed by the pilots after their 80s-radar was upgraded to a more advanced system.
Lt. Graves, Lt. Accoin and other pilots who had UAP encounters were part of the VFA-11 "Red Rippers" squadron, based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.
The Encounters
According to Lt. Graves, there are more than 50 witnesses of multiple UAP encounters. Five of them spoke to The New York Times but only Graves and Accoin allowed to be named.
Graves and others report that the objects demonstrated outstanding flying capabilities, such as 12 hours in air operation at high speeds, and no visible engine or infrared exhaust plumes. Also mid-air tilting like a spinning top without losing altitude, as well as low visual observability is mentioned. They appeared almost daily, high in the skies over the East Coast, and were noticed by the pilots after their radar systems were upgraded to the latest iteration.
In late 2014, a Super Hornet pilot had a near collision with one of the objects, and an official Mishap-Report was filed. The pilot of that aircraft told Lt. Graves that he and his wingman were flying in tandem about 100 feet apart when something flew between them. The pilot decribed the obejct as "a sphere encasing a cube".
The Videos
Some of the incidents were captured on videos, that were taken by F/A-18 Super Hornets with an ATFLIR targeting pod. One video was released to the public named "Gimbal" on December 16, 2017. According to The New York Times, the incident took place off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., on Jan. 20, 2015. The other video is named "Go Fast" and has been published on March 9, 2018. The second video was allegedly taken a few weeks later.
Lt. Danny Accoin stated that he recognises the voices in the videos and that he personally knows the pilot(s) and their weapon system officer(s) that can be heard on the videos.
The two videos "Gimbal" and "Go Fast" have been released to the public due to efforts of Luis Elizondo, who allegedly headed the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) until he resigned in October 2017. Shortly after leaving the Pentagon, Elizondo joined To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science in the role of Director of Global Security and Special Programs. TTSA published videos, reports and interviews on that topic, starting from December 16, 2017. The New York Times and The Washington Post broke the story that day, including the "Gimbal" video.
On April 27, 2020 the Department of Defense has authorized the release of the unclassified Navy videos "GOFAST", "GIMBAL" and one other video which can be found at the Naval Air Systems Command FOIA Reading Room.
Official Confirmation
The authenticity of the videos has been later confirmed by Susan Gough, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, as well as by Joseph Gradisher, spokesperson for the deputy chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare.
Gradisher told The Black Vault on September 10, 2019 that "the Navy designates the objects contained in these videos as unidentified aerial phenomena". Gough earlier said "the videos were never officially released to the general public by the DoD and should still be withheld".
On April 27, 2020 the Department of Defense has released a statement which confirms that the videos are indeed Navy videos and that the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as "unidentified".
