File / gofast-2015
GOFAST
An object “racing over the water” that flies at wind speed once the geometry is worked out
ATFLIR footage in which a small object appears to skim just above the ocean surface at enormous speed. One of the three videos whose authenticity the Department of Defense confirmed.
Official position
The DoD confirmed the material is authentic. Geometric analyses — including by NASA's independent study team — showed the apparent speed is a product of parallax.
Alternative hypotheses
- An object at about 4 km altitude (not near the surface), a few kilometres away, moving at some tens of km/h — that is, at wind speed.
The best proof that the eye is wrong about speed
GOFAST looks exactly like an object flying centimetres above the water at breathtaking speed. It is not.
The data needed to work it out is on the footage itself: the viewing angle and the range to target are displayed on the HUD. Once applied, the object turns out to be high above the surface rather than near it, and its actual airspeed is on the order of the wind.
The sense of velocity comes from the motion of the observing aircraft. This is parallax — the same effect by which roadside trees “fly past” while distant mountains stand still.
Why the case stays in the database with an anomaly score of 1/5
Because it is one of three videos whose authenticity the Pentagon confirmed — and it is still presented as evidence of non-terrestrial performance. Separating those two things — an authentic recording and an extraordinary object — is this database’s principal job.
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