GoFast is the third of the three now-famous Navy UAP videos, named for the object’s apparent high speed relative to the ocean surface below it — though, as with the Gimbal case, the most striking visual element of this footage has a documented technical explanation worth understanding before drawing conclusions from the name alone.
What Was Recorded
The footage was captured in January 2015 by Navy F/A-18 pilots off the East Coast, again using an ATFLIR pod, showing a small object moving low over the ocean while the aircraft’s targeting radar tracks it. In the footage, the object appears to streak across the frame at extremely high velocity, which is what gave the case its nickname when it began circulating publicly.
The Radar Lock and the Real Speed Question
This case has a data point the Tic Tac and Gimbal videos don’t have to the same degree: an onboard radar track that produced an actual closing-speed measurement, which is part of why “GoFast” became a shorthand for the case. But the honest, technically important detail is this: the radar-derived speed reflects the object’s velocity relative to the aircraft’s sensor and radar frame, not necessarily its true speed relative to the ground or ocean surface below it.
Independent analysts, including some using publicly available angular-rate and altitude data visible in the footage itself, have calculated that the object’s apparent ground speed — how fast it appears to move relative to the ocean surface in the frame — is plausibly consistent with a much slower-moving object, potentially in the range of tens of miles per hour, viewed from a fast-moving aircraft at altitude and at a specific viewing angle. The “GoFast” name comes from how the object looks in the video, not from a confirmed, undisputed measurement of its actual velocity over the ground.
Why This Explanation Matters — and Its Real Limits
This parallax-style explanation is a genuine, technically grounded possibility, and it’s important context that responsible coverage of this case should include — it directly addresses why the object appears to move as fast as it does in the raw footage. What it does not fully resolve is the object’s apparent lack of any visible conventional means of propulsion, wings, or exhaust, or definitively establish what the object actually was, even at a more modest true speed. AARO has not issued an official resolved classification based on this or any other specific explanation, so this remains an informed independent analysis, not an official conclusion.
Two Separate Public Releases
GoFast has an unusual release history worth knowing: it first became public in 2019 via To The Stars Academy, a private organization co-founded by former Blink-182 musician Tom DeLonge that had obtained and published the footage independently. The Department of Defense then officially confirmed and re-released the video as part of its formal April 2020 announcement alongside the Tic Tac and Gimbal footage. Both releases show the same footage; the 2020 release is the one that carries official DoD confirmation of authenticity.
Current Status
GoFast remains listed among AARO’s unresolved cases. As with the other two 2020-released videos, the DoD’s confirmation covers authenticity of the footage, not an explanation of what the object was — and the parallax speed analysis, however credible, remains an independent technical hypothesis rather than an official finding.
Primary Sources
The DoD’s official April 2020 release statement and AARO’s public case classifications remain the authoritative primary record. See our Tic Tac and Gimbal explainers for the other two videos from the same official release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has AARO confirmed the parallax speed explanation?
No — it remains an independent technical analysis by outside researchers using publicly available footage, not an official AARO or DoD finding. The case’s official classification is still unresolved.
Why did To The Stars Academy release this footage before the DoD did?
The organization had obtained the footage through channels separate from the official 2020 DoD release process; the full details of exactly how were not comprehensively documented publicly, but the 2019 release predated official government confirmation by roughly a year.
Is GoFast the same incident as the Tic Tac case?
No — different year (2015 vs. 2004), different location, and different aircraft and personnel. The two cases are frequently discussed together only because they were part of the same official 2020 DoD release, not because they’re related incidents.