--- category: Modern Incident date: 2015-01-21 location: Atlantic Ocean, off East Coast of the United States summary: Unclassified Navy video of an F/A-18 Super Hornet crew's encounter with an object rotating against the wind, published in December 2017 and authorized for release by the Pentagon on April 27, 2020. updated: 2026-10-03 --- The [GIMBAL](/events/gimbal/) is one of three unclassified Navy [UAP](/concepts/unidentified-anomalous-phenomena/) videos; the [New York Times](/organizations/new-york-times/) published it in December 2017 ([December 2017 New York Times AATIP Report](/events/december-2017-new-york-times-aatip-report/)).[^1] Politico reported in 2021 that Washington Headquarters Services had approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government, and the [Pentagon](/organizations/pentagon/) stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos "circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^1][^2] The Office of the Secretary of Defense file released to The Black Vault under the Freedom of Information Act in August 2019 contains an August 23, 2017 email in which [Luis Elizondo](/people/luis-elizondo/) asked Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review to "consider our request for unrestricted release"; an August 24, 2017 reply from Russo that if the service-level classification authority verified that removing the metadata made the videos unclassified, "please feel free to move forward with release"; and a DD Form 1910 whose publication-data block reads "Not Applicable. Not for publication. Research and analysis ONLY and info sharing with other USG and industry partners for the purposes of developing a database to help identify, analyze and ultimately defeat UAS threats." Joseph Gradisher, a Navy spokesman, said in 2019 that neither the cognizant Navy offices nor the review office had a record of correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the videos in 2017.[^3] The video, which was captured by the crew of an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the [USS Roosevelt](/concepts/uss-roosevelt/) Carrier Strike Group in 2015, shows a UAP exhibiting flight characteristics that are not possible with any known aircraft.[^4] ### The Sighting The GIMBAL video was recorded during a series of encounters between the USS Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and multiple UAP off the coast of the Southeastern [United States](/places/united-states/). In the video, the pilots track a single object from a fleet of five. The object is described as a white, elongated shape, but when the camera mode is switched, it appears as a black, lenticular, or "flying saucer" shape with a bulge on its top and bottom.[^4] The most remarkable aspect of the video is the object's ability to rotate in mid-air against a 120-knot headwind without losing altitude. The object slows, parks itself in the air, and then rotates, or "gimbals," in a way that defies the known laws of aerodynamics. The pilots can be heard expressing their astonishment and disbelief at the object's performance.[^4] ### Analysis and Significance The GIMBAL video is significant because it provides clear, high-fidelity evidence of a UAP exhibiting several of [The Five Observables](/concepts/the-five-observables/), including low observability (no heat signature), antigravity (hovering against a strong headwind), and instantaneous acceleration. The object's ability to rotate without any apparent means of propulsion or control surfaces is a key piece of evidence that it is not a conventional aircraft.[^4] The release of the GIMBAL video, along with the [Tic Tac](/events/tic-tac/) and [GoFast](/events/gofast/) videos, was a watershed moment in the UAP disclosure movement. It provided the public and Congress with undeniable evidence that the U.S. military was encountering objects with capabilities far beyond our own, and it helped to legitimize the UAP issue as a serious national security concern.[^4] [^1]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/). Greenewald, John, Jr. "Navy Officially Releases UFO/UAP Videos, Calls Them 'Historical.'" The Black Vault, April 27, 2020 (reproduces the statement and gives the GOFAST date). https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/navy-officially-releases-ufo-uap-videos-calls-them-historical/ [^2]: Bender, Bryan. "The Hidden History of How Washington Embraced UFOs." *Politico Magazine,* May 28, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/28/ufos-secret-history-government-washington-dc-487900 [^3]: [[The Black Vault]], FOIA release of Office of the Secretary of Defense case 18-F-0644, August 2019 (emails of August 23 and 24, 2017 between Luis Elizondo and Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, with the DD Form 1910; the form's text is poorly legible in the scan and is quoted as transcribed in the research notes), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/18-F-0644.pdf ; Joseph Gradisher quoted in "U.S. Navy Confirms Videos Depict Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Not Cleared for Public Release," The Black Vault, September 2019, https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/u-s-navy-confirms-videos-depict-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-not-cleared-for-public-release/ [^4]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.