Like it or not, there has been a tectonic shift in public awareness about UFOs. Since December of 2017, news outlets around the globe have picked up the story about one of the Department of Defense programs that actively investigates UFOs - and also about a fighter pilot named Commander David Fravor who had first-hand experience tactically engaging an Advanced Aerial Vehicle of unknown origin and intent. Now, more than ever, there is a bright light shining on the UFO problem; yet translation is needed to understand what has happened and its significance. Naturally, there are more questions than answers. More division than alignment; and more confusion than clarity.
Many believe the news of late is a type of "confirmation" or “acknowledgement” from the U.S. Government about the mystery of The Phenomenon, as well as, the ongoing government interest and involvement in the study of UFOs. As un-orchestrated as it is - I would agree with that - to a degree.
It’s certainly true that some of the brightest minds in the political, military, intelligence and aerospace communities have acknowledged unequivocally and publicly that we - the people of Earth - are being engaged by intelligently controlled technology of unknown origin; craft that perform maneuvers far beyond current human aerospace and flight capabilities. The global media has been abuzz about this UFO business, and it’s exciting to to be a witness at this time in history.
“The waves were breaking over something that was just below the surface. Whatever it was, it was big enough to cause the sea to churn. The disturbance looked like frothy waves and foam, as if the water were boiling. It accelerated like nothing I’ve ever seen. It had no plumes, wings or rotors and outran our F-18s." - Cmdr. David Fravor, F/A-18F fighter pilot & former Commanding Officer of VFA-41 the Black Aces.
Military interest in UFOs begins with the fact that the vehicles encountered represent a new technology. A technology that fits within our known understanding of physics, yet remains outside human replication - at this time. We are on a cosmic precipice; and to some, what we are learning represents a critical defense-code to be cracked by a motivated nation. And in this game, the winner takes all.
However, the issue of UFOs traversing our airspace with impunity is a small aspect of a much larger performance that is commonly referred to by those in-the-know as, "The UFO display" or "The Phenomenon". The entirety of the performance is regarded by our defense and intelligence communities as a "threat to our National Security". It is of note to say that up until now, UFOs have not displayed a recognizable or overt hostility to the people of planet Earth. But this is a much bigger conversation and we are still divided over the fundamentals. It is recklessly reductive to conjure imaginary scenarios to explain away the exotic as ordinary and the profound as mundane. Critics and debunkers have coordinated elaborate philosophical gymnastics to ignore and betray the evidence - twisting knowledge into an unrecognizable ooze of pseudo-explanation - for each and every aspect of what has come to light surrounding this topic. It has to be exhausting to cling to the past paradigm of the Marlboro Man and Isaac Newton, while beating the drum of ignorance and self-glorification with false cleverness. Harnessing one’s will in this way is corrosive, like an acid. It’s blinding, like standing too close to an atomic blast.
Understanding is a game of inches and degrees. It takes thoughtful inquiry and a collected approach. And nobody will do the work for you… well, sometimes they do. Thanks to a recent television report (in a series of illuminating investigations on the subject), by KLAS Investigative Reporter - George Knapp - a document was released. This small piece of paper is just one of many tangible artifacts born from over three-decades of hunting for UFO truth as a mainstream reporter with ties to all aspects of this field of inquiry. If history is a good indicator of future events - I suspect there is much more to come from Knapp on this path of obtaining documentation that is denied to exist at all. He did it with the Bob Lazar case; he did it with the AAWSAP & AATIP UFO programs. I suspect he will continue the trend moving forward.
This particular document provides proof that the famous footage of Anomalous Aerial Vehicles - captured by fighter pilots on both coasts of the United States - were indeed officially authorized for study under the direction and sanction of the U.S. Government. That the videos were property of the U.S. Government, and that they were cleared for additional use. That is despite the initial and outright denial by the Pentagon and their spokespersons that this was the case. Thankfully, we now know the truth about this piece of the puzzle. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
Specifically, Knapp obtained the DD 1910 request - a part of the paper trail - the final step in a multi-step process, issued by the Department of Defense office of prepublication and security review. This is just one of many supporting documents and pieces of evidence surrounding the government’s role and interest in studying the UFO phenomenon. Knapp laid it at the feet of the public. It’s excellent investigative reporting.
This recent development has me looking at the public response to the UFO videos. It has highlighted for me that the general understanding of what is being seen on the footage can be confusing. In the age of mass accessibility to crystal-clear imagery, Instagram filters and pocket sized cellphone cameras - thermal imaging is not something that the average Snapchat user is exposed to on a daily basis. It made me wonder if there was a way to translate what we are seeing in those exquisitely puzzling FLIR camera videos from US fighter pilots. After all, this footage is the Muhammad Ali of UFO videos; it has weight in the ring. And it’s imperative that we try to understand more deeply what we are seeing; or we lose the battle toward understanding.
As we are well aware in this ever expanding cyber-savvy connected reality we call “now”; technology is a language. And it can be foreign, especially when we’re trying to decipher its capabilities. It can take translation to understand what we are looking at. I was seeking a uniquely capable FLIR-shaman to help read the entrails of this new sacrifice to our ending paradigm - and to assist me on my quest.
My friend Dave (@DaveFalch on Twitter) does interesting work; and is an expert with military FLIR cameras (FLIR pods). He’s exceptionally qualified to understand the footage as seen in the TIC TAC / GIMBAL / GO FAST videos; his comparisons and explanations are insightful. He’s mystified by the mental gymnastics performed by “debunkers” in the attempt to minimize the significance of the Pentagon released F-18 contact footage with Anomalous Aerial Vehicles. Below are a few recent correspondences with Dave - including video explanations to a few of my questions about the government FLIR footage. Dave provided me with insight to understand FLIR technology, and what we might glean in the TIC TAC and GIMBAL event videos. He eloquently and pragmatically challenges the debunker’s attempts at demystifying the footage of the captured UFO phenomenon.
Dave has also provided a detailed “Thermal Signature Comparison” specifically reviewing aspects of the GIMBAL incident. His explanation is informative for anybody interested in hearing the perspective of an expert in the technology.
For a clear picture of Dave’s qualifications - he was an Aviation Electronics Technician in the Navy (E-5) working on F-18/P-3/S-3 avionics. His current position is that of Depot Level FLIR Technician; a contractor that currently works for a government agency. He has been factory trained by several manufacturers in FLIR technology and worked directly off of the Naval Air Station Jacksonville flight line.
Dave knows of what he speaks when it comes to FLIR and the footage we have all been exposed to. He tests his hypotheses, and has been kind enough to break-down some of the basics regarding the technology he works on - and what he sees in the Pentagon released thermal UFO footage.
Enjoy!
Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell
Creator, Extraordinary Beliefs
THERMAL SIGNATURE COMPARISON by Dave (@DaveFalch)
Infrared signatures, or thermal signatures, are what an infrared detector sees in relation to the object it is viewing. For example, birds and planes appear different to the detector due to the heat differences and movement. A wall that was a uniform temperature will show a handprint if someone places their hand on the wall for only a few seconds. I know a guy that I can identify in infrared just from his cold fingers!
This becomes important in identifying objects when using infrared detectors. At the current time, this is crucial when identifying objects using government infrared systems. Two government infrared systems that I will address here are the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) and the ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared). While these are different systems produced by different manufacturers for different purposes, the technology has a large overlap that is relevant to my opinions on the matter.
Let’s begin with the ATFLIR video the social media has been discussing recently called the “Gimbal.”
In this video we see an unidentified object that’s oval in appearance and has a small point at what looks like the bottom of a vehicle of some sort. The video is set to black hot on this picture, and the heat appears uniform over the presumed craft. A rather large “halo” surrounds the object, perhaps an edge enhancement of sort from the ATFLIR, maybe a characteristic of the craft itself. The clouds below it does not interfere with the viewing of the object, and they minimally affect the auto gain/level the system would compensate for. In other terms, the infrared detector is seeing a good representation of the thermal image with minimal interference from other surrounding objects or conditions.
When I view the video, I see no flaring from jet engines, or any other typical variances in a thermal signature I normally see with jets and planes. The uniformity of the heat is unique to what I view every day. Then there is the movement of the object. It appears to me as mechanical, but in a coarse way; normal aircrafts are very gradual and flexing - smooth in nature. It makes me think of what the angle of the attack would be like in such a coarse adjustment, not to mention how the craft itself would be capable of this rotation.
That being said, let’s take a look at a picture of a trainer jet that I caught on infrared recently. This was taken with a FLIR system.
I purposefully adjusted the focus to where it would somewhat resemble the ATFLIR video object. However, there are differences that are worthy of mention and debate.
First, you can see the outline of the jet if you look closely. There are darker greys that show the wings horizontally, and the tail and landing gear can be seen. I’ll blow up the image and get a closer look. Granted, it’s not that easy to see. It’s easier to watch the videos and compare them to see the difference, but it’s there. You will also notice an obvious flaring of the jet engine as the jet flies away: there is spiking and changing of the heat signature that is indicative of a jet. Nothing like that is shown in the Gimbal video.
Now let’s take a look at what is seen with the daylight camera of the FLIR compared to the infrared image. It’s common for FLIR systems to have a few different types of cameras mounted on a chassis that are aligned to each other. This is called boresighting. The cameras are aligned to see the same image in an overlapping manner.
It’s faint, I know. If you look closely though, you can see the outline of the jet when you compare the images in this simple juxtaposition. Now let’s compare the Gimbal video image versus that of which I took:
Experience tells me that this is an anomaly to which I am not familiar with. There are some things that need to be taken into consideration, though.
Different infrared detectors. I have not worked with ATFLIR systems, so I am only relying on my experience on the multitude of FLIRs I have worked on. My experience spans from FLIRs that date from approximately 1998 to present. Hundreds of systems, different manufacturers.
In-air versus ground-based. My experiences are mostly ground-based versus the in-air Gimbal video. I have flown in helicopters and planes and operated FLIRs, but not a jet fighter.
Video manipulation. When I viewed the Gimbal video, I am under the assumption that it is real and unedited. The same goes with other videos similar in nature.
Dave (@DaveFalch on Twitter)
ATFLIR & EXHAUST COMPARISON
Hi Jeremy,
Two videos, "ATFLIR Comparison" and "Gimbal Exhaust."
VIDEO #1 / NOT A SMUDGE - Let's start first with the ATFLIR comparison video. I simply rotated a surveillance FLIR 90 degrees so it is facing straight up. That way, the directional movement mimics that of an ATFLIR: there is now a continuous roll and a limited elevation (up-down). There was speculation among some debunkers that the Gimbal image was simply a smudge on the Infrared window that rolled, and this video was largely to dismiss that notion.
VIDEO #2 / WINGS & EXHAUST - The Gimbal Exhaust video is also to dismiss the debunkers, although it might not seem that way at first. You might notice that when I manually adjust the focus, an image from the jet exhaust is somewhat similar to the Gimbal video. However, you can clearly see wings in some frames of the video, and the flaring of the jet does not match that of the Gimbal video. Unfortunately the jet didn't turn, or it also would have shown a changing thermal signature.
The take-away is that the image in the Gimbal video is atypical to any I have seen before. The uniform heat and lack of flaring (from a engine/jet etc.) makes this odd, in addition to the "mechanical" turn it makes.See “Thermal Signature Comparison” below.
Dave (@DaveFalch on Twitter)
Hi Jeremy,
Recently I was fortunate to get two high-definition FLIR videos of F-18's doing some training flights. I switched between the four different cameras to get multiple aspects. On this particular system, there are two day cams (step zoom and continuous zoom (low light)) and two infrared cameras (normal MWIR and SWIR). MWIR is mid-wave infrared, and SWIR is short-wave infrared. MWIR is the most common type of infrared detector used with FLIR systems currently. I would consider the SWIR more "light-based" than "thermal-based," as you can see in the video.
When we look at the exhaust of the jets flying away, we again see a heat signature that doesn't match that of the Gimbal video. I defocused with the MWIR camera mode selected, and couldn't replicate the familiar Gimbal image. Instead what is shown is the intense and fluctuating heat of a jet engine, opposed to the crisp and consistent Gimbal video.This was a high-definition infrared system that is superior to previous infrared detectors, yet we can see the consistency of the thermal signatures among different FLIR systems. This video adds to my original thoughts that what we see in the Gimbal video is not a jet, and it remains unexplained.
Dave (@DaveFalch on Twitter)
ADDITIONAL UNEXPLAINED OBJECT REPORT
December 8, 2016 approximately 10:30 a.m
Typical workday, nothing out of the ordinary. Weather was around 65 degrees Fahrenheit, clear skies. I had taken my 10:00 break, and came back at 10:15 to check my work e-mail. I was engrossed in the process of typing a response when a junior technician approached me and said something of the nature of, “Hey Dave, can you look at this?” I was slightly annoyed because it interrupted my train of thought, but I stopped typing and asked him what he was talking about. He said something like, “You gotta check this shit out man, it’s been sitting in the sky for about 15 minutes and I don’t know what it is.”
I went to look at what he was talking about and saw the object on the video monitor. He was right - it wasn’t moving at all. I gathered some technicians to get some other points of view. I believe that 6 of us were watching the monitor and making observations. Some of us were analyzing, some were joking about the situation. One of the technicians made a comment that the object seemed to be “geosynchronous”; he indicated that the object didn’t seem to move at all. We watched this object for about 5-7 minutes without it moving, and the technician that originally alerted me to it said it didn’t move for the 10-15 minutes he first saw it. I pulled out my iPhone and made a recording of the monitor. I stopped after a brief recording because I thought I could get a better video of it with a better FLIR system.
We set up a better FLIR system (high-definition) and waited for it to cryogenically cool (4-5 minutes). We then focused the FLIR towards the area of the sky where the object had been sitting; there was nothing there. We panned the sky for maybe a movement of a blimp or something but there was nothing but open sky. We then thought it might be an anomaly with the original FLIR and got it running again - still nothing in the sky.
All of us, who have many years of looking in the sky at objects, still cannot explain what it was we saw that day. We take many things into consideration such as planets, aircraft, the ISS, etc. Still no explanation.
Dave (@DaveFalch on Twitter)
FINAL THOUGHTS
I hope Dave’s explanations and correspondence with me has been helpful. He has been generous with his time, and pragmatic with his efforts to clarify and distinguish fact from fiction regarding FLIR technology. What is observed in the government released UFO videos is worthy of our attention for understanding. It's kinda like pulling on a string to unravel a more complex story - a story that continues to get bigger and bigger. We must suspend our our predetermined disbelief long enough to accumulate the facts - despite any extensional discomfort. What’s been coming out about UFOs over the past few years is simply the tip of the spear. There is a lot of information poised to emerge in the public realm about the UFO problem. However it’s not going to release itself; it will take all of our efforts here on planet Earth.
It is of note to say that my film on Bob Lazar - and his account of working to reverse engineer an alien propulsion system for the United States military as part of a secret UFO study - can be gleaned from a different vantage now that we know more about the operations being conducted by our DoD. One aspect of Lazar’s account that I find particularly interesting, is the way he describes the gravitational propulsion system used in these flying saucers. Many people have compared the footage from the GIMBAL UFO encounter to the descriptions by Lazar. In-fact, Lazar and I have talked in depth and analyzed this. More on this soon, but if you are curious about Lazar’s description of the “Anatomy of a Flying Saucer”, check out this film clip where he details the way the craft maneuver through space/time.
Weaponize your curiosity,
Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell
Creator, Extraordinary Beliefs
