Gimbal Video
TopicCase FileGimbal Video
TopicCase FileA January 2015 U.S. Navy infrared recording of an unidentified object, notable for apparent rotation, pilot commentary, and unresolved disputes over its optics and motion.
A January 2015 U.S. Navy infrared recording of an unidentified object, notable for apparent rotation, pilot commentary, and unresolved disputes over its optics and motion.
“Gimbal” is the name attached to an infrared targeting-pod video recorded by a U.S. Navy F/A-18 aircrew off the U.S. East Coast in January 2015. The short monochrome clip shows a bright, oblong infrared signature near the center of the display. Crew audio expresses surprise, refers to a “whole fleet,” and comments as the image appears to rotate. The public video does not show that wider formation, leaving the remark as important testimony rather than imagery visible in the clip itself.
The footage circulated outside official channels before the Defense Department formally released it with “FLIR” and “GoFast” in April 2020. The department said the authorized release did not disclose sensitive capabilities and that the phenomena in the videos remained characterized as unidentified. That statement authenticated the recording as a Navy video; it did not endorse a particular explanation, velocity, distance, or origin. “Unidentified” here reflects what the official public record had established, not a finding of non-human technology.
The central dispute concerns what the image conveys. Some aviators and analysts interpret the apparent rotation and contextual accounts as signs of unusual flight behavior. Optical analyses argue that glare from a hot source can rotate on screen as the targeting system’s field of view changes, making the displayed blob turn without the underlying object doing so. The clip also lacks the full sensor data, precise geometry, and corroborating files needed to reconstruct the encounter. That makes sensor evidence and military video expertise essential: a targeting display is measurement data, but it is also an image produced by an optical and software chain.
Gimbal remains one of the defining modern UAP recordings because its provenance is official, the operators were trained, and its unanswered context helped drive public and congressional interest. It is often paired with the GoFast video, recorded by a Navy crew in the same broad period, although each clip poses a different geometric problem. The durable conclusion is narrower than either dismissal or extraordinary certainty: the public file documents a real military encounter and an apparently rotating infrared signature, while the object’s identity and the physical meaning of that rotation remain unsettled in the released record.
For clarity, this was never intended as a debunking post. Quite the opposite! Of all the absurd claims and interpretations Beau raised during this podcast, there was one question I genuinely couldn’t answer, so I shared it seeking clarification. I consider the Gimbal incident one of the strongest evidence-backed UAP cases we have. My goal is to help more people recognize its significance, not undermine it.
A new twist in the Gimbal UFO mystery. If the Navy pilots were as amazed as they sounded, why were they casually banking at 30° instead of hitting their afterburners and banking at 90° to pursue the object? Retired F-16 Top Gun instructor Beau Rogers raises the question. From my recollection, the pilots did pursue the objects. Does anyone know more?
[Retweeted] @JasonColavito This is the fifth report of an anomalous “black triangle” UAP in the PURSUE releases. The acting director of AARO confirmed that this morphology is one of two that stumped the USG. And, I’m well versed in “scientific measurement” of UAP (e.g., Gimbal). https://t.co/HP9SZTsfvS
"The day that I got the Gimbal video...Lue was the first person I brought in the room to say, 'Hey, Lue, what do you think of this?' ~Jay Stratton "[Lue] and I complimented each other very greatly." (Tell me again how Lue didn't play an important role in AATIP. I would've included this in Jay's book.) "Lue opened doors for me when I needed help, and any other service colleague. And we worked together, and we had friends that helped, right?" ~Stratton "Lue...always looked at things differently...
Probed ingest of: Jay Stratton’s FIRST-EVER Interview - Before The World Knew His Name
Interesting video! And it was on my 9th birthday https://t.co/fBRlkwQ5LF [Quoted] A luminous UAP is filmed in Hong Kong in 1995, long before the release of the famous Navy gimbal video. The objects hovers stationary, then disappears... https://t.co/iLGJIZEwCA
This theory proposes that the object recorded in the 2015 Gimbal FLIR video may have been a distant, low-observable U.S. aircraft, such as an F-35, participating in a compartmentalized electronic warfare operation during the Roosevelt workups. In this scenario, the aircraft generates deceptive radar contacts near its general line of sight, but deliberately displaced from its true position. The Roosevelt aviators detect these contacts on radar and direct their FLIR toward the same general area...
This theory proposes that the object recorded in the 2015 Gimbal FLIR video may have been a distant, low-observable U.S. aircraft, such as an F-35, participating in a compartmentalized electronic warfare operation during the Roosevelt workups. In this scenario, the aircraft generates deceptive radar contacts near its general line of sight, but deliberately displaced from its true position. The Roosevelt aviators detect these contacts on radar and direct their FLIR toward the same general area...
RT @MvonRen: An excellent headline story in @TIME. We’ve come a long way. Including “Gimbal,” a truly remarkable UAP case which occurred…
