Case file · Disclosure & CE-5

The GoFast video

Infrared footage from early 2015 (USS Theodore Roosevelt group) appearing to show a small object racing low over the ocean.

2015 CE · 36.80, -75.50 · status: explained

The account

First published by The Washington Post in December 2017 and released by the Pentagon in April 2020, the clip seems to show a fast object skimming the waves. Its apparent speed made it a staple of disclosure documentaries.

The sceptical view

Using the angles and range shown on screen, NASA panel member Joshua Semeter calculated the object was at roughly 13,000 feet moving at about 30–40 mph, consistent with the wind; the 'speed' is a parallax effect of the jet's own motion.

The researched reading

A clip that looks like a fast object skimming the sea but is a slow object high up, filmed from a fast jet.

Explanation	Weight	Why
Something known, misidentified	80%	Using the range and angles on screen, NASA panel member Joshua Semeter put the object at about 13,000 ft moving at wind speed; a balloon or bird fits, and the apparent speed is parallax.
Perception, memory or mind	6%	The aircrew’s excited commentary made a slow object seem fast.
Genuinely anomalous	5%	Some disagree on how wind was handled, but no analysis puts it near the sea surface at high speed.
Secret human technology	4%	A small drone would fit the numbers as well.
A known natural phenomenon	3%	A thermal artefact over water is possible but less likely than a real object.
A poorly understood natural phenomenon	1%	Nothing points to an unusual natural process.
A hoax or fabrication	1%	The footage is authentic Navy video.

Official position: The Department of Defense lists it as unidentified; NASA’s panel presented an analysis showing an ordinary altitude and speed.

Connections in the atlas

Sources

Open it in the living atlas