GOFAST

Unidentified · motion explained

In January 2015, off Florida, an F/A-18F display seems to show an object racing over the sea. The display's own numbers place it at about 13,000 feet, moving roughly with the wind.

Date: Jan 2015
Location: Atlantic, off Florida's east coastAARO places the case off Florida's east coast; the aircraft's exact position is unknown.See the area on the globe →
Platform: F/A-18F Super Hornet · aviators from USS Theodore Roosevelt [1 · p. 1][2 · p. 28]
Sensor: Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) · AN/ASQ pod [1 · p. 1, 5]
Official status: AARO publishes it as a case resolution: high confidence of no anomalous performance. The object remains unidentified [1 · p. 1]

01 Sensor readout

Official video · verified linkWatch the GOFAST video NAVAIR FOIA Reading Room · 34.4 s · 640×480 · 9.7 MBReleased Apr 27, 2020 · checked Oct 4, 2026 · SHA-256 02ec3458ad40…Opens on the official site. The frames below are taken from this very file; the built-in player arrives in V2.

Infrared display over the ocean: a small object between brackets with the sensor readouts around it. — Frame t1 of AARO's analysis (clock 4239): these are the numbers the altitude is calculated from.
Frame · Video 19.1 s · Sensor clock 4239A · U.S. Navy / NAVAIR FOIA Reading Room · Public domain
Image record
Author
U.S. Navy
Origin
NAVAIR FOIA Reading Room
Original file
3 - GOFAST.mp4 ↗
License
U.S. Government work: no U.S. copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105)
Retrieved
2026-10-04
Video SHA-256
02ec3458ad40d9db1d5385291c3fba53bfa7cf68113335a58e602967784cd559
The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

The same display 13 seconds later: the object is still centred and the readouts have changed. — Frame t2 (clock 4252), 13 s later: the pod turns further left and down, and the range drops to 3.4 NM.
Frame · Video 32.6 s · Sensor clock 4252A · U.S. Navy / NAVAIR FOIA Reading Room · Public domain
Image record
Author
U.S. Navy
Origin
NAVAIR FOIA Reading Room
Original file
3 - GOFAST.mp4 ↗
License
U.S. Government work: no U.S. copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105)
Retrieved
2026-10-04
Video SHA-256
02ec3458ad40d9db1d5385291c3fba53bfa7cf68113335a58e602967784cd559
The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

02 Parallax lab

The display shows what the camera sees, not where the object is. A slow, high object seen from a fast jet seems to sweep across the ocean behind it at great speed.

Object's real altitude13,200 ft

Appears to move over the sea at: 379 mph · 610 km/h
Actually moves at: 46 mph · 73 km/h

Illustrative diagram: the jet flies at 25,000 feet at about 190 m/s and tracks the object, which moves 265 m in 13 s. Only the altitude changes.

03 Images from the file

Only images from the records themselves: official pages, charts and photos, and drawings the witnesses handed in. Artist's recreations and AI-generated images are not shown, even when the catalogue includes them.

GOFAST infrared frame with AARO's yellow labels: sensor azimuth and elevation angles, range to target (4.0 nautical miles), 14° bank angle, Mach 0.61, altitude 25,000 feet and time 4239. — Official recordOne of the two frames AARO measured, with the data it read off the screen: the sensor angles, the range, the aircraft's speed and altitude. From them it worked out where the object was: at about 13,000 feet, well above the sea. [1 · p. 6]

AARO diagram: two cases side by side. At the top, the aircraft moves between t1 and t2; in the middle, the object at 3,962 m barely moves (265 m and 426 m); at the bottom, in red, the much longer “apparent distance travelled” over the sea. — Official recordWhy it looked so fast: the aircraft covers more than 2 km in 13 seconds and the object a few hundred meters. Projected onto the sea, the line of sight sweeps a huge distance: that is parallax. With the aircraft flying into the wind, the effect is amplified (right). [1 · p. 26]

04 Timeline

Jan 2015
An F/A-18F records with its infrared pod an object that seems to skim the ocean at high speed. [1 · p. 1]
2017
The video circulates after an unauthorized leak. [6][8 · p. 11]
Apr 27, 2020
The DoD authorizes its release; the Navy hosts it in its FOIA library. [6][7]
Sep 14, 2023
NASA analyzes the display's numbers: the object is at about 13,000 feet, moving at about 40 mph, a typical wind speed at that altitude. [2 · p. 28]
Nov 19, 2024
AARO presents its analysis to the Senate: about 13,000 feet and 45 mph. [3 · p. 5][4 · p. 15]
Feb 6, 2025
AARO publishes the resolution with every calculation: high confidence of no anomalous performance; the object is not identified. [1 · p. 1–26]

05 Hypotheses

Status as stated by the official sources cited. The archive takes no side.

Ruled out
An object skimming the sea at high speed
What it looked like. The altitude derived from the display itself (elevation and range) is about 13,000 feet, not the surface. [1 · p. 1][2 · p. 28]
Compatible
A slow object at about 13,000 feet; the speed is parallax
The apparent speed comes from the aircraft's motion and parallax against the ocean behind. [1 · p. 3–4][2 · p. 28]
Compatible
Something drifting with the wind: a balloon, bird or small drone
AARO: one meter or less, “comparable to a small drone or bird”, and never against the wind. NASA: colder than the ocean, with no propulsion heat. No source identifies it. [1 · p. 1, 4][2 · p. 28]

06 Testimony

“the object is not actually close to the water but is rather closer to 13,000 feet.”

Jon Kosloski, AARO director · Senate hearing, 2024 [4 · p. 15]

07 Editor's reading

The editor's opinion, not an official finding. It rests on the records cited and changes if they do.

Conventional explanation likely
Open
Anomalous

At about 13,000 feet, the speed that impresses in the video is parallax: the object moves at about 40–45 mph, roughly with the wind. [1 · p. 1, 3–4][2 · p. 28]
It measures one meter or less and never moves against the wind: it fits something drifting, like a balloon. [1 · p. 1, 4]
It is colder than the ocean and shows no propulsion heat. [2 · p. 28]
What keeps it open: no source identifies it. Unidentified does not mean anomalous. [1 · p. 1]

— Isaac Chaves, editor · Reading of Oct 5, 2026

08 Discrepancies between sources

AARO's Senate slides (2024) date the case to “January 2016” and say the DoD released the video in 2017. AARO's 2025 report and the DoD say January 2015; 2017 was the leak and the official release is from 2020. [3 · p. 5][1 · p. 1][6]
NASA estimates about 40 mph over 22 s at about 15° of bank; AARO, about 45 mph over 13 s at about 14°. They are different stretches of the video and reach the same conclusion. [2 · p. 28][1 · p. 7, 13]

09 Sources

[1]
Report · All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) · Feb 6, 2025
Case: “Go Fast” · Case Resolution (with Appendix A: Estimating UAP Location, Speed, and Heading)
AARO calculates the object was at about 13,000 feet, moving at 5 to 92 mph with the wind removed. It concludes with high confidence there was no anomalous performance, though it cannot identify the object.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
[2]
Report · NASA · Sep 14, 2023
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team Report
NASA's independent team sets out how to study UAP with calibrated data. As an example it analyzes GOFAST: about 13,000 feet and 40 mph, a typical wind speed at that altitude.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
[3]
Record · All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) · Nov 19, 2024
AARO case slides · Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
AARO's Senate slides on three resolved cases, including GOFAST: about 13,000 feet and 45 mph.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
[4]
Hearing · U.S. Senate · Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities · Nov 19, 2024
To Receive Testimony on the Activities of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
Transcript of the hearing where AARO director Jon Kosloski presented the GOFAST analysis.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
[5]
Record · All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)
UAP Imagery
AARO's official imagery catalogue. It lists FLIR and GIMBAL as unresolved cases and GOFAST with its case resolution.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
[6]
Press release · U.S. Department of Defense · Apr 27, 2020
Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos
The DoD authorizes the release of three unclassified Navy videos (one from November 2004, two from January 2015), previously leaked in 2007 and 2017. The phenomena remain characterized as “unidentified”.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
[7]
Record · Naval Air Systems Command (U.S. Navy) · Apr 27, 2020
NAVAIR FOIA Reading Room · Document Library (FLIR, GIMBAL, GOFAST)
The official library where the Navy hosts the three videos. The frames in this archive come from there.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗
[8]
Report · All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) · May 30, 2025
Fiscal Year 2025 Consolidated Annual Report on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena
AARO receives 319 new reports and resolves 370 cases in the period; its holdings total 1,870 reports as of May 30, 2025.
Checked on Oct 4, 2026 · Open the original ↗

May contain errors by the AI and the editor · always check the official source. · Privacy