Within Pentagon Videos
Was Go Fast Really Skimming the Ocean?
AARO found that GoFast was high above the ocean and moving at ordinary speed, with parallax creating the impression of extreme motion.
On this page
- What viewers think the video shows
- How altitude and viewing geometry change the estimate
- Why AARO found no anomalous performance
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Introduction
The 2015 GoFast video is one of the three US Navy infrared recordings that became central to public debate over unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), especially after their promotion through media coverage and figures such as Tom DeLonge and To the Stars Academy. At first glance, the footage appears to show a small object racing just above the ocean at extraordinary speed. However, detailed analysis by the US government’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and the NASA UAP Independent Study Team reached a different conclusion: the apparent extreme motion is largely a parallax illusion, created by the geometry between a fast-moving fighter aircraft, its targeting camera and a much more distant object.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
Rather than demonstrating exotic flight characteristics, the available telemetry embedded in the video indicates that the object was thousands of feet above the sea and moving at a speed consistent with ordinary winds at that altitude. The object itself has not been definitively identified, but the dramatic impression of impossible velocity is no longer regarded by US government analysts as evidence of anomalous performance.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
Was GoFast Really Skimming the Ocean?
The first impression created by the footage is compelling. The infrared targeting pod tracks a small object while the ocean fills the background, making it appear as though the target is only metres above the waves. Crew members can be heard reacting with surprise as they acquire the object.
That visual impression is misleading because the video compresses a three-dimensional scene into a two-dimensional image. The camera is mounted on a fighter aircraft travelling at several hundred miles per hour while viewing a distant target at a shallow downward angle. Without reconstructing the geometry from the telemetry displayed on the screen, the eye naturally interprets the target as being much closer to the water than it actually is.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
This distinction is important because the extraordinary claim surrounding GoFast was never simply that an unidentified object existed, but that it appeared to be flying at remarkable speed just above the sea surface. The altitude estimate fundamentally changes that interpretation.
What Viewers Think the Video Shows
The illusion arises because several visual cues encourage an incorrect interpretation.
Many viewers assume:
- the object is almost touching the ocean;
- the background water is stationary while the object races across it;
- the object’s apparent sideways movement reflects its true speed.
In reality, the background itself appears to slide beneath the target because the observing aircraft is moving rapidly and changing its viewing angle. The camera continuously compensates to keep the target near the centre of the frame, while the ocean sweeps past underneath. This makes the object appear to streak over the surface even if its own motion is relatively modest.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
Parallax is a familiar phenomenon in everyday life. From a moving train, nearby trees seem to rush past while distant hills barely move. The GoFast video presents a more complicated version of the same effect because both the observing aircraft and its stabilised targeting system are in motion.
How Altitude and Viewing Geometry Change the Estimate
The key evidence comes not from the image itself but from the numerical information permanently displayed on the targeting-pod recording.
NASA’s Independent Study Team showed that the displayed range to the target, the aircraft altitude and the camera’s depression angle allow straightforward trigonometric reconstruction of the encounter. Their calculation places the object at roughly 13,000 feet above sea level, not immediately above the ocean surface. The same reconstruction indicates that the object was approximately 4.2 miles beyond the point on the ocean that appears directly beneath it in the image.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
Once that geometry is established, the apparent high speed largely disappears.
Using the changing bearing of the target over approximately 22 seconds, together with the aircraft’s own speed and turn, NASA estimated that the object’s average ground speed was about 40 mph (roughly 35 knots). That is comparable to wind speeds commonly encountered at that altitude rather than the hundreds or thousands of miles per hour suggested by casual viewing. The report notes uncertainties in the calculation but concludes that the available data do not require any extraordinary velocity.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
Another observation supports this interpretation. In the infrared display settings used during the encounter, the object appears colder than the surrounding ocean rather than exhibiting obvious thermal signatures expected from a powerful propulsion system. While this does not identify the object, it provides no evidence for unusually energetic flight.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
Why AARO Found No Anomalous Performance
AARO revisited the GoFast case using geospatial analysis and reached essentially the same conclusion presented earlier by NASA.
During congressional testimony, AARO Director Dr Jon Kosloski stated that the office had high confidence the object was located at approximately 13,000 feet altitude and that parallax created the misleading appearance of rapid low-level flight. According to AARO, the object’s apparent speed resulted primarily from viewing geometry rather than exceptional manoeuvring.[New York Post]nypost.comDuring a Congressional hearing, Dr. Jon Kosloski from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office reported that the object seen moving rapid…
Importantly, AARO did not claim to know exactly what the object was. Instead, its finding was narrower:
- the object was much higher than it appeared;
- its observed motion can be explained without invoking extraordinary acceleration;
- the available evidence does not demonstrate anomalous flight performance.[New York Post]nypost.comDuring a Congressional hearing, Dr. Jon Kosloski from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office reported that the object seen moving rapid…
That distinction reflects the broader approach adopted by both AARO and NASA: resolving apparent anomalies in motion does not necessarily identify every observed object, but it can remove the strongest evidence for extraordinary behaviour.
What the GoFast Case Demonstrates
The GoFast analysis illustrates an important lesson for interpreting military sensor footage. Human intuition is poorly suited to estimating the motion of distant objects viewed through stabilised infrared cameras mounted on fast-moving aircraft. Telemetry, geometry and sensor metadata are often more informative than the visual impression alone.
Within the wider discussion of the Pentagon UFO videos, GoFast therefore serves as a case where careful reconstruction substantially changed the interpretation. The footage remains an authentic Navy recording of an unidentified object at the time of observation, but the best-supported technical analyses indicate that its seemingly dramatic speed was an artefact of perspective rather than evidence of extraordinary technology.[NASA Science]smd-cms.nasa.govScience NASAUNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA…
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Endnotes
1.
Source: smd-cms.nasa.gov
Title: Science NASA
Link:https://smd-cms.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/uap-independent-study-team-final-report.pdf
Source snippet
UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA...
2.
Source: science.nasa.gov
Title: Science UAP
Link:https://science.nasa.gov/uap/
Source snippet
NASA ScienceUAP - NASA Science...
3.
Source: nasa.gov
Title: UPDAT E: NASA Shares UAP Independent Study Report; Names Director
Link:https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/update-nasa-shares-uap-independent-study-report-names-director/
4.
Source: nasa.gov
Title: NAS A to Release, Discuss Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Report
Link:https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-to-release-discuss-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-report/
5.
Source: nasa.gov
Title: NAS A Provides Coverage of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Meeting
Link:https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-provides-coverage-of-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-meeting/
6.
Source: nasa.gov
Title: NAS A Announces Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Study Team Members
Link:https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-announces-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-study-team-members/
7.
Source: nypost.com
Link:https://nypost.com/2024/11/20/us-news/pentagon-claims-to-debunk-famous-gofast-ufo-radar-video/
Source snippet
During a Congressional hearing, Dr. Jon Kosloski from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office reported that the object seen moving rapid...
Additional References
8.
Source: ufouap.net
Title: NAS A UAP Study: Findings and Remaining Questions | Global UFO Archive
Link:https://www.ufouap.net/en/explainers/nasa-uap-study
Source snippet
NASA UAP Study: Findings and Remaining Questions | Global UFO ArchiveJuly 23, 2026 — Science / Updated 2026-07-23 / 9 min read NASA AND U...
Published: July 23, 2026
9.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsU4p0Gsas
Source snippet
GoFast UFO parallax illusion Mick West NASA Explained: "Go Fast" UFO Video - Not Low and Not Fast - Like a Balloon...
10.
Source: uaplogbook.com
Title: Which UAP cases remain unexplained?
Link:https://uaplogbook.com/uap-evidence-ledger-[unresolved-cases
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A 2026 evidence ledgerJuly 22, 2026 — THE NEW FILES ARE NOT NEW ANSWERS The Department of War’s PURSUE programme is the other major 2026...
Published: July 22, 2026
11.
Source: aatip.com
Title: UAP Case Files & Official Reports | AATIP.com
Link:https://www.aatip.com/inpage/case-files/
Source snippet
Recorded by a U.S. Navy F/A-18F in January 2015 off Florida, GoFast appears to show a small target raci...
Published: January 2015
12.
Source: wikidisc.org
Title: Mick West | Wiki Disc
Link:https://www.wikidisc.org/wiki/Mick_West
Source snippet
Mick West | WikiDiscJuly 1, 2026 — UAP/UFO ANALYSIS AND INVESTIGATIONS[EDIT | EDIT SOURCE] METHODOLOGY AND TOOLS[EDIT | EDIT SOURCE] Over...
Published: July 1, 2026
13.
Source: youtube.com
Title: How scientists use math to help explain UFO videos
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diPXow8zgc8
Source snippet
Breaking Down UAP Footage with the Head of The Pentagon’s UAP Taskforce, Dr. Jon Kosloski...
14.
Source: defense.gov
Link:https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3701297/dod-report-discounts-sightings-of-extraterrestrial-technology/
15.
Source: ufouap.net
Title: Speed ca
Link:https://www.ufouap.net/en/explainers/parallax-in-uap-videos
Source snippet
Parallax in UAP Videos: Why Objects Seem Fast | Global UFO ArchiveJuly 11, 2026 — Evidence / Updated 2026-07-11 / 7 min read PARALLAX IN...
Published: July 11, 2026
16.
Source: ufopress.com
Link:https://www.ufopress.com/articles/aaro-releases-four-information-papers-on-uap-classification-satellite-flaring-se/
17.
Source: liberationtimes.com
Link:https://www.liberationtimes.com/home/nasa-confirms-it-has-no-official-position-on-gofast-ufo-video