The Pentagon authorized the release of three new videos containing footage of “unidentified aerial phenomena” on Monday.
In a statement, the Pentagon said that after a review of the three videos, it determined that the videos do not “reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena.” In one video, a U.S. Navy pilot exclaims there is a “whole fleet” of the unidentified objects.
The videos were made available by a U.S. Navy freedom of information website. There is one video from a November 2004 event and two videos from a January 2015 event. The videos have been circulating since 2007 and 2017 respectively, as a result of unauthorized releases.
The Pentagon said it released the footage to “clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos.”
“The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified,'” the Pentagon press statement added.
The U.S. Navy previously raised concerns about the 2004 footage, claiming its release could cause “grave damage” to U.S. national security. The footage was previously obtained and published by former Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge at his company “To the Stars Academy.”
The footage from the 2004 incident was previously reported on by the New York Times and appears to show an oblong 40 foot object hovering about 50 feet above the water, which U.S. Navy pilots said quickly ascended and flew away when they attempted to approach.
“It accelerated like nothing I’ve ever seen,” one of the pilots told the Times.
The 2015 footage shows various 2013 incidents, in which multiple other flying objects are observed. The first 2015 shows an object speeding across the ocean at high speeds, prompting one pilot to ask “What the fuck is that?”
In the second 2015 video, one of the pilots says “Dude, this is a fucking drone, bro.”
Another pilot says, “there’s a whole fleet of them.”
The first pilot also noted that the objects are flying against the wind, which he said was going “120 knots to the west.”
