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'Wow, What Is That?' Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects:
The strange objects, one of them like a spinning top moving against the wind, appeared almost daily from the summer of 2014 to March 2015, high in the skies over the East Coast. Navy pilots reported to their superiors that the objects had no visible engine or infrared exhaust plumes, but that they could reach 30,000 feet and hypersonic speeds.
"These things would be out there all day," said Lt. Ryan Graves, an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot who has been with the Navy for 10 years, and who reported his sightings to the Pentagon and Congress. "Keeping an aircraft in the air requires a significant amount of energy. With the speeds we observed, 12 hours in the air is 11 hours longer than we'd expect."
In late 2014, a Super Hornet pilot had a near collision with one of the objects, and an official mishap report was filed. Some of the incidents were videotaped, including one taken by a plane's camera in early 2015 that shows an object zooming over the ocean waves as pilots question what they are watching.
"Wow, what is that, man?" one exclaims. "Look at it fly!"
No one in the Defense Department is saying that the objects were extraterrestrial, and experts emphasize that earthly explanations can generally be found for such incidents. Lieutenant Graves and four other Navy pilots, who said in interviews with The New York Times that they saw the objects in 2014 and 2015 in training maneuvers from Virginia to Florida off the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, make no assertions of their provenance.
But the objects have gotten the attention of the Navy, which earlier this year sent out new classified guidance for how to report what the military calls unexplained aerial phenomena, or unidentified flying objects.
Note: To view the imbedded video, Javascript must be enabled.
See also: 2 Navy Airmen and an Object That 'Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen'.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @04:40PM
They heard this strange "oink" sound, and that wasn't a coke bottle that fell to the ground.
(Score: 3, Touché) by fustakrakich on Tuesday May 28 2019, @04:43PM (3 children)
The pilots are being "debriefed" with the Navy's new flashy thingy.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by crunchy_one on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:45PM
Dry cleaning bags filled with marsh gas.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Bot on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:54PM
Well, a weather balloon might be capable of hypersonic speeds and unreal trajectories. We dunno until we try removing systemd from its onboard system.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @08:32AM
US AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION CHART [imgur.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by istartedi on Tuesday May 28 2019, @04:48PM (19 children)
You don't need to enable JavaScript on that site, or deal with the NYT subscription BS.
It's on YouTube. [youtube.com]
Yeah, Google isn't a saint either, but they're less annoying.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @05:44PM (18 children)
Except YouTube doesn't work without javascript enabled.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Pino P on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:05PM (7 children)
Even if YouTube requires script in the browser, youtube-dl doesn't.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:24PM (6 children)
But youtube-dl wasn't what GP was talking about.
What's more, I have no interest in downloading *anything* from youtube. Actually, I have little interest in watching anything on YouTube, and certainly not this irrefutable proof of the existence of intelligent, technological extraterrestrials.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:40PM (2 children)
Someone check his pulse - he's a zombie, a bot, or an alien.
(Score: 3, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday May 28 2019, @08:55PM
Pretty sure he's not a zombie. Let me check his braaaiiin.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 29 2019, @12:33PM
he doesn't have any blood. it's in his name!
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:47PM (2 children)
YouTube has more and better quality "jackass" knockoff and "kick in the balls" videos than anywhere else. Not to mention "social media influencers" who play video games all day or shake their parts in front of the camera.
Is there somewhere else you expect to find such high brow [google.com] quality entertainment?
Young people won't believe you if you say you're older than Google. (born before 1998-09-03)
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @09:48PM (1 child)
Decidedly. I (and you) can find even better here [soylentnews.org].
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday May 28 2019, @10:28PM
Ah, good times. Good, good times.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:07PM (1 child)
Just get the video using: https://youtube-dl.org/ [youtube-dl.org]
And a GUI front-end at: https://github.com/MrS0m30n3/youtube-dl-gui [github.com]
(Score: 0, Redundant) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:21PM
How about I don't and say I did?
Better yet, how about I don't and say I didn't?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Informative) by hemocyanin on Tuesday May 28 2019, @07:53PM (3 children)
He gave the link. Pop open a terminal window and type "youtube-dl [link]".
No sign on. No age confirmation. No javascript. Downloaded locally. Open with your favorite video player.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday May 28 2019, @07:55PM (1 child)
Well -- seems I should have scrolled down past your post before replying!
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @09:40PM
All this bickering about how to watch the video, so I put a picture of the UFO in full detail on the next line...
.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @09:45PM
Rockin'! I'm sure that will please the folks who need those "Jackass" knockoff and kick in the balls videos [soylentnews.org].
I do appreciate that GP was trying to be helpful, as he thought I was complaining about javascript requirements on YouTube (as you thought as well).
But that's a side issue for me.
I was merely pointing out that the youtube *website* (which GGP? GGGP? recommended instead of TFA, using javascript as his/her reasoning) requires javascript, not that it was the sole reason I don't choose to use YouTube.
You said in a subsequent comment [soylentnews.org]:
Apparently, my reasoning wasn't made clear (quite possibly until the comment I'm writing now, and possibly not even then?) in my initial reply. So your initial response was quite appropriate.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 29 2019, @10:50AM (3 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Touché) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 29 2019, @12:35PM (2 children)
you know you're among geeks when they spend more time arguing about how to play a video without enabling javascript than they do about the frickin' UFOs
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Thursday May 30 2019, @07:06AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 30 2019, @08:47AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bikeshedding [wiktionary.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @04:48PM
You fly high
Get D-U-I
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday May 28 2019, @05:19PM (8 children)
It would be so interesting if these were UFOs but like BigFoot, all there is some grainy footage. I found this to be interesting as well:
If you want avoid NYT, this appears to be a reprint: https://twnews.us/us-news/wow-what-is-that-navy-pilots-report-unexplained-flying-objects [twnews.us]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Tuesday May 28 2019, @05:35PM (6 children)
I wonder why the US air force does not engage them. Nowadays any flight in violation (and those definitely were) would be intercepted and, if failed to communicate, supposedly shot down.
Hence, one way or another, this is BS. Unless there is a standing order never ever shoot UFO.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:47PM
Not sure about "shot down" unless there was clear and convincing evidence that the flight is a threat. "Follow and intercept" still seems to be the rule unless it is flying into a security area or displaying signs of beligerency. This isn't quite "Clear and Present Danger" yet.
But the most obvious explanation is that the objects are unidentified to the Navy, but perhaps there are individuals in the Air Force who are well aware of what they are and telling the interception commands to stand down before the alert is launched.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:52PM
It might be difficult to engage something moving at hypersonic speeds.
Young people won't believe you if you say you're older than Google. (born before 1998-09-03)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:54PM (3 children)
You seem to presume that our craft are capable of shooting the objects down. Not knowing what the objects are, it's impossible to say whether they can be shot down. Obviously something is there, but how will a missile, a bullet, or a bomb affect - ohhhh - some phantom electrical charge dancing on the edge of a whirlwind? I'd call it a dustdevil, but there isn't much dust out at sea. Let's remember that we've had foo fighters since about the 1940's or so. Now I'm curious - when was the first foo fight? Wikipedia says 1944 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter [wikipedia.org]
And, of course, under "history", I'm reminded of the story contained in the "Heavy Metal" movie, with the green globe following and attacking the bomber.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Gaaark on Tuesday May 28 2019, @10:38PM
Ah man, haven't seen Heavy Metal in DECADES....nor Fritz the Cat.
Might have some viewing to do!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Insightful) by legont on Wednesday May 29 2019, @01:22AM
Well, the audio suggests that pilots are simply having fun locking on the "object". They do not even attempt to intercept let alone behave seriously. They are there to protect the Motherland, aren't they?
I have heard real intercepts a couple of times on my aircraft radio and they are dead serious type of communications. Come to think about it, what are the procedures anyway? Why there is no call to the intruder on 121.5? Perhaps, she would reply. Regardless, this is the law as I understand it. It'd hard to imagine that an unknown flying object is free to fly into the US airspace accompanied by laughing border security.
That's why it is likely BS.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Wednesday May 29 2019, @12:23PM
Ah yes, the Loc-Nar [fandom.com] (mature content).
(Score: 5, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:04PM
By the strict definition, they are: Unidentifed, and Flying.
I would be more interested in corroborating simultaneous video - say from 2 or more Hornets tracking the same object from different perspectives.
All that has been released... At least if there were two Hornets, several miles apart and perhaps at different altitudes, tracking the same object at the same time - grainy or not, that goes a long way toward eliminating reflection artifacts and other possible spurious causes.
Maybe somebody doctored the YouTube videos, one of the objects was much more than a grainy blob, it clearly had cartoon-UFO like features - antennae and maybe landing-legs extended.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @05:34PM
i think those are called vimanas and i love the quality of our 40 billion dollar fighter cameras.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:55PM
Maybe it is a practical joke in some contractor's firmware?
Or the Chinese testing out their exploit.
Young people won't believe you if you say you're older than Google. (born before 1998-09-03)
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday May 28 2019, @07:03PM (1 child)
They're Kradens. [goodreads.com]
Or Formics. [goodreads.com]
Or Fithp. [goodreads.com]
Oh my!
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @09:57PM
Possibly synthetics created by a sentient [wikipedia.org]?
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by aristarchus on Tuesday May 28 2019, @07:38PM
This is the third or fourth sub we have had on this one pilot's mental illness. Are we going to have more coverage of David Ickes, and Scientology?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @10:34PM (2 children)
I haven't been able to load any pictures or video to see what the fuss is all about.
But ...
If I had a satellite that mounted a powerful, say, weapons-grade laser system, and I pointed that laser system at the Earth, below, and moved the focus ... I could make the far end of the beam move pretty fast.
Of course, the turbulence - from the rapidly heating air - would describe a trail, upwards, back to the satellite. That's no good.
So my Version Two satellite system would synchronize several satellites to focus their hypothetical laser beams on the same precise location in the atmosphere, at the same time. This would allow the several contributing beams to create a strictly local hot spot - revealed by the vortex of turbulence it created as a side effect - without any one beam contributing enough energy to provide a visual clue as to its source (a satellite).
That may sound kind of science-fictional, but not too long ago I saw a weather map that displayed a disturbingly precise set of dots describing a Cartesian coordinate system, where each dot was the result of local turbulence. The image was presented as evidence of weather modification; it seemed to suggest that someone had the ability to modify the weather by strategically creating pockets of turbulence, presumably with lasers.
Food for thought.
~childo
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday May 29 2019, @07:22AM
Interesting idea except for one thing
Fighter jets have IR and thermal targeting systems, if the object was caused by super heated air the pilots would have been able to detect something.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by Taibhsear on Wednesday May 29 2019, @04:34PM
Not sure about the feasibility but your comment made me think of it being something like a macro-scale optical tweezer [wikipedia.org] system. Basically a multi-laser tractor beam. Focus on an ultralight and/or low density object or the area surrounding it and moving that pocket/focal point around like a warp bubble carrying the object around with it. Wouldn't need an engine or leave exhaust, right?
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @03:33AM (3 children)
Fact one: The SR71 is still considered the fastest man-made aircraft (excluding spacecraft), but it's at least 60 year old technology.
Fact two: The future is already here, it's just not widely distributed yet. Military secrets take even longer.
Fact three: The top speed of the SR71 is still classified, but we know it's somewhere around Mach 4.
Fact four: Geologists in California can track high-speed aircraft from the shock-waves they produce. Seismic detection equipment is that sensitive.
Fact five: There have been a lot of Mach 25 and faster aircraft tracked cruising up and down the California coast (but never seen) in the wee-hours by those detectors.
Fact six: [redacted]
Fact seven: [redacted]
Fact eight: [redacted]
Fact nine: Michael Crichton, Sphere (the book, not the movie) was based on [redacted].
[remainder of comment redacted]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 29 2019, @08:57AM (1 child)
Manmade planes, using UFO technology.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @12:25PM
Seems that this time they finally succesfully removed the homing device from those salvaged Goa'uld death gliders. * [fandom.com]
At least they keep tracking that pesky Apophis mothership still disguised as an asteroid [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @01:09PM
You forgot to mention that [redacted]. Oh, and [redacted]. All in all, [redacted].