Documents / Official release
This All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) case resolution from the U.S. Department of Defense is dated February 2025. It covers the "Go Fast" FLIR video, which a U.S. Navy F/A-18F recorded off Florida in January 2015. AARO found the object was at about 13,000 feet and moving between 5 and 92 mph once wind is accounted for. It assesses with high confidence that the object showed no anomalous performance and attributes the apparent high speed to motion parallax. A technical appendix explains the calculations.
UNCLASSIFIED 13 UNCLASSIFIED = √(4,510 − 4,251)2 + (−4,941 − (−4,890))2 + (3,612 − 3,591)2 (13𝑏) = √67,081 + 2,601 + 441 = 265 𝑚 (13𝑐) Dividing this distance by the 13 seconds elapsed between t1 and t2 gave an estimated speed of about 20 m/s or 45 mph. The heading of the UAP, φUAP, was also calculated from the Δx and Δy components of the locations. 𝜑𝑈𝐴𝑃 = tan−1 (Δ𝑦 Δ𝑥) = tan−1 ((−4,890 − (−4,941)) (4,251 − 4,510) ) = −11.14° (14) The UAP heading is forward along the +x-axis and slightly in the negative y direction, moving in the same general direction as the F/A-18 (-9.6°) but about 9 times slower. As a reminder, all depicted locations and directions are relative to the defined coordinate system. Referencing directions such as North, South, East, and West cannot be done without knowledge of the location or heading of the F/A-18. Estimating the UAP Path of Travel The previous sections explained the methodology used to calculate the positions of the UAP at the two endpoints of the time interval, t1 and t2. The resulting speed and relative heading assumed the UAP traveled in a mostly straight, direct path between these two points. The same mathematical approach was then applied to every frame of the thirteen-second video to estimate the continuous path of the UAP from the first to last points. This calculation required an estimate of the time, sensor azimuth and elevation, range to target, and the F/A-18 location for all frames in the period. The metadata did provide relative frame times, with 0.033 seconds elapsing between frames in the 30 Hz video. Path of the F/A-18 The F/A-18’s altitude, bank angle, and airspeed remained constant between t1 and t2. Therefore, the radius of the curvature of its flight path remained constant from (6). The distance traveled at each point in time was the elapsed frame time multiplied by the speed. Location and yaw were then calculated using the previously describe methods. Path of the UAP The sensor azimuth, sensor elevation, and range to the object were changing during the video. The sensor’s display indicated these changes in integers so that many frames would pass before a value was incremented or decremented. More accurate estimates were made by noting the frames and times when a quantity incremented or decremented. For example, in the frame that a08Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 2/14/2025
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 26 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.