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Tag: Historical case

  • The Stephenville Lights — Stephenville, TX (2008)

    Historical case When: January 8, 2008  ·  Where: Stephenville, Texas

    Status: Explained (officially) — the Air Force Reserve said F-16s were training in the area. Some witnesses and researchers dispute that this accounts for everything.

    In January 2008, dozens of people in and around Stephenville, Texas, reported seeing patterns of lights in the night sky. Some described a single large unidentified object, and local constable Lee Roy Gaitan, among others, gave interviews to national media as the small town became known around the world.

    The Air Force Reserve later issued a statement from NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base that F-16s of the 457th Fighter Squadron had been in military airspace designated for training when people reported the lights. An FAA email later showed two groups of F-16s on radar at about 6:17 and 6:26 p.m. local time.

    MUFON collected dozens of witness reports, and independent researchers analyzed radar data and said some tracks lacked transponders. Whether the training flights fully explain the reports is still debated. The town has since embraced the attention, selling T-shirts that call Erath County the “new Roswell.”

    Sources: Wikipedia: Stephenville, Texas — Stephenville lights

    Historical case. This is a summary written by the Department from the published sources listed above, in our own words. It is a historical case added to the map for context, not a reader submission. Reports are claims or findings as described in those sources; they are not proof of anything, and where an official or widely accepted explanation exists we say so. For entertainment and curiosity only. Spotted a mistake, or know more? Add a verification note below, or email paranormaldepartment1@gmail.com.

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  • The “Gimbal” Video — U.S. East Coast (2015)

    The “Gimbal” Video — U.S. East Coast (2015)

    Historical case When: 2015 (date listed by the Navy)  ·  Where: Atlantic Ocean, off the U.S. East Coast (approximate)

    Status: Unresolved — AARO lists this as an unresolved case; explanations such as camera artifacts have been proposed.

    GIMBAL — official Department of Defense video (34 s), posted on DVIDS by AARO in 2025.
    Credit: U.S. Navy / Department of Defense (via DVIDS, video ID 956955) · Licence: Public domain (U.S. government work) · Source

    The “Gimbal” video is a 34-second infrared recording made by a Navy F/A-18 targeting camera in 2015. It is one of three videos from the Navy's 2014–2015 East Coast operations that the Pentagon officially released in 2020. Navy pilots associated with the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, including Lt. Ryan Graves, said they were repeatedly unable to identify objects detected on instruments off the East Coast.

    In the video, a single heat source moves across the display and appears to rotate on its axis, which gave the clip its name. Aircrew can be heard reacting as they watch it. The footage was first published by The New York Times in December 2017 and released officially by the Department of Defense in 2020. In 2025, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) posted it on DVIDS, the department's video site.

    AARO lists GIMBAL among its unresolved cases and says available data are insufficient to determine what it shows. Other analysts have suggested explanations including a camera or lens effect, a distant aircraft or drone, or a misreading of the sensor display. The exact location was not published, so this pin is placed near the carrier group's home port region only as a general marker.

    Sources: DVIDS: GIMBAL — UAP · AARO: Official UAP imagery

    Historical case. This is a summary written by the Department from the published sources listed above, in our own words. It is a historical case added to the map for context, not a reader submission. Reports are claims or findings as described in those sources; they are not proof of anything, and where an official or widely accepted explanation exists we say so. For entertainment and curiosity only. Spotted a mistake, or know more? Add a verification note below, or email paranormaldepartment1@gmail.com.

    📍 See this case on the map. Were you nearby, or can you explain it? Add a verification note below — notes are read by a person before they appear.

  • The “GoFast” Video — U.S. East Coast (2015)

    The “GoFast” Video — U.S. East Coast (2015)

    Historical case When: 2015  ·  Where: Atlantic Ocean, off the U.S. East Coast (approximate)

    Status: Resolved by AARO (2025) — assessed as showing no anomalous speed or behavior; the apparent speed is an effect of the aircraft's own motion.

    GOFAST — official Department of Defense video (34 s), posted on DVIDS by AARO in 2025.
    Credit: U.S. Navy / Department of Defense (via DVIDS, video ID 956683) · Licence: Public domain (U.S. government work) · Source

    The “GoFast” video is a 34-second infrared clip recorded by the aircrew of a Navy F/A-18F in 2015, associated with the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group's operations off the East Coast. It shows a small object that seems to skim just above the sea surface at high speed while the camera tracks it, and aircrew can be heard reacting. The Pentagon released it officially in 2020.

    The clip's apparent speed made it famous, but the video alone does not show speed. In February 2025, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) published an analysis of the sensor data. It estimated that the object was at about 13,000 feet, that it appeared to move at roughly 72 to 161 mph, and that its actual speed, once wind was taken into account, was much lower, in the range of about 5 to 92 mph. AARO said the object generally moved with the wind, never against it, and that the sense of speed came from the camera's own motion relative to the object, known as parallax.

    AARO's pixel analysis suggested that the object was one meter or less across, which it described as comparable to a small drone or bird. AARO found no anomalous performance characteristics.

    Sources: DVIDS: GOFAST — UAP · AARO: Official UAP imagery

    Historical case. This is a summary written by the Department from the published sources listed above, in our own words. It is a historical case added to the map for context, not a reader submission. Reports are claims or findings as described in those sources; they are not proof of anything, and where an official or widely accepted explanation exists we say so. For entertainment and curiosity only. Spotted a mistake, or know more? Add a verification note below, or email paranormaldepartment1@gmail.com.

    📍 See this case on the map. Were you nearby, or can you explain it? Add a verification note below — notes are read by a person before they appear.