Chilean Navy helicopter infrared video
A Chilean Navy helicopter filmed an unidentified heat source off the central coast on infrared; the government's CEFAA studied it for two years and released it as unexplained.
2014 CE · -33.30, -71.80 · status: disputed
The account
On 11 November 2014 the crew of a Navy Airbus AS-532 Cougar flying along the coast between San Antonio and Quintero recorded about nine minutes of FLIR video of an object that radar and air traffic control could not identify, and which at one point seemed to shed a hot plume. The footage was handed to CEFAA, Chile's official committee for anomalous aerial phenomena, which consulted experts and released it in January 2017 as still unidentified.
The sceptical view
Independent analysts on the Metabunk forum matched the object's position and track to an airliner climbing out of Santiago, with the 'plume' being its contrail or a fuel dump; they argued CEFAA had not checked flight-tracking data properly.
The researched reading
Authentic Navy infrared footage of a distant object that was very probably an airliner leaving Santiago. The official “unidentified” label reflects an incomplete check of flight data.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 50% | Metabunk analysts matched the bearing, track and timing to Iberia flight IB6830 departing Santiago. Its twin hot engines and a contrail or water dump at long range explain the shape and the “plume”. Distant airliners are a known trap for narrow-field infrared cameras. |
| Undetermined | 32% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 8% | A government committee studied it for two years and called it unidentified. However, its analysis did not engage the specific flight match. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 3% | Thermal contrast from clouds or sea can make odd shapes, but the object moved consistently. |
| Secret human technology | 3% | An unannounced military aircraft is possible but unnecessary given the airliner match. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 2% | Nothing points to an unusual natural source. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 1% | The record is a sensor video, not a perception. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 1% | The footage is authentic military video. |
Official position: CEFAA, Chile’s official committee, released it in 2017 as unidentified after two years of study.
Connections in the atlas
- Corporal Armando Valdés, Putre
- El Bosque air base object, Santiago
- Mexican Air Force FLIR video, Campeche
- CEFAA / SEFAA (Chile)