All language subtitles for The Proof Is Out There S04E08 1080p WEB h264-EDITH

- Tonight, on The
Proof Is Out There.

A special episode probing
the truth about UFOs.

The United States
government admits

it's baffled by
videos like this.

- The Pentagon themselves have
listed this as unidentified.

- [Tony] But is it
hiding a deeper secret?

- I was informed in the
course of my official duties

of a multi-decade
UAP crash retrieval

and reverse engineering program.

- And there's been a
disinformation campaign in place

for the last 50 years.

- [Tony] What are these
unidentified objects

that keep turning up
near the US military?

- This one is truly anomalous.

- [Tony] Does this leaked
footage reveal an alien craft

the government wants
to keep secret?

- A helicopter or plane
is out of the question.

- [Tony] And a new take

on the most famous
UFO footage of all.

- The importance of this
video cannot be overstated.

- I'm not saying it's
aliens, but it's aliens.

- [Tony] Prepare yourself

for The Proof Is Out
There: The UFO Files.

(dramatic music)

Good evening and welcome

to The Proof Is Out
There: The UFO Files.

We're not talking about
science fiction here.

UFOs have become the subject
of congressional hearings,

government studies, and eye
popping whistleblower claims.

The topic isn't
fringe any longer.

We've decided to
devote an entire hour

to the best videos and images

of unidentified aerial
phenomena, or UAP,

the government's
preferred term for UFOs.

Some are recent, some go
back more than 30 years,

and some are out of this world.

Or are they?

Because during these last
few months, more than ever,

that's been the
biggest question.

Where are these
objects coming from?

- Maybe we're on the cusp.

Maybe we're on the cusp
of something brand new,

something exciting.

- [Tony] Both the Pentagon,

through its All Domain Anomaly
Resolution Office, or AARO,

and NASA, through its UAP
Independent Study Group,

say there have been 800
UAP sightings since 2022.

Of these, up to 5%
cannot be explained away

as aircraft, debris, birds,
or anything else we know of.

Officially, the officials
don't know what they are.

- Without sufficient data,

we are unable to reach
defendable conclusions

that meet the high
scientific standards

we set for resolution.

And I will not close a case

that I cannot defend
the conclusions of.

- Most UAP sightings

result in very limited data

that makes it even
more difficult

to draw scientific conclusions

about the nature of UAP.

- We're seeing advanced types
of propulsion being displayed,

but no real answers
as to what they are.

- [Tony] Neither agency
has gone as far as saying

these objects are
extraterrestrial,

but one man did go that far

and even if you
don't know his name,

you probably heard what he said.

- I was informed, in the
course of my official duties,

of a multi-decade
UAP crash retrieval

and reverse engineering program.

- [Tony] David Grusch,

former military
intelligence officer

turned Pentagon whistleblower,

came forward in June 2023,

claiming the government
has been running

a secret UFO crash
retrieval program

since at least World War II.

According to Grusch,

the US is in possession
of downed alien craft,

alien corpses, and the
US and other nations

may even have some kind of
ongoing diplomatic relationship

with aliens.

- Do you believe our
government has made contact

with intelligent
extraterrestrials?

- Something I can't
discuss in public setting.

- I believe David's
claims in the fact that

we are covering
extraterrestrial craft

and extraterrestrial bodies

from the general
scientific community

and the public at large

and there's been a
disinformation campaign in place

for the last 50 years.

- [Tony] Much of what
Grusch is claiming

has been said before.

What makes this version
of the story special

is who is saying it and
who he's saying it to.

- It's very interesting
to see someone

with such a
credentialed background

as an intelligence
officer make these claims

in such an official manner.

If he was lying, he could
be held criminally liable.

That would suggest to me that
he certainly is not lying

about what he's saying.

- [Tony] But while Grusch has
been making claims boldly

and without equivocation,

he has not presented the public

with any physical evidence,
documents, or images

that corroborate them.

- Unfortunately,
just testimony alone

is not enough to change
the public's perception.

We need physical evidence.

- I'm highly
skeptical of the idea

that the US government has
any type of crashed UFOs,

but I do find the information
that's being shared

or relayed certainly
merits investigation.

- [Tony] Some say
Grusch may himself

be part of a
disinformation campaign

to keep us talking about aliens

instead of the
uncomfortable truth.

The theory that many,
if not all of these UAPs

are really assets
of rival militaries

conducting reconnaissance
on our aircraft, warships,

and nuclear bases.

- It's possible
that this could be

secret military technology.

- [Tony] But until that
theory is backed up by proof,

the best evidence we have

is still these infinitely
intriguing videos.

- Now, Pentagon
whistleblower David Grusch

has claimed the US government

is sitting on much
more UFO evidence

than the handful of videos

that they have
officially released.

Even if that's the case,

what we've seen so far
is pretty compelling.

Like this video, that's left

top government
investigators stumped.

July 12th, 2022,

at an undisclosed location
in the Middle East,

an American MQ9 drone
observes a conversation

between two people
on the street below.

As they walk away from a house,

a strange object comes into
the sensor's field of view.

A shiny, metallic ball darts
diagonally across the frame,

prompting the camera to
jolt away from the people

and follow the sphere
eastward instead.

The sphere looks to be at
least a few feet across

and it shoots through the sky

in what appears to
be a straight line.

The grainy video ends with
the sphere in mid-flight

and center frame.

This sphere took
on greater meaning

when AARO presented
it to the public.

- This is essentially
all of the data

we have associated
with this event.

It is going to be
virtually impossible

to fully identify that.

- [Tony] That's right.

Unlike other UAPs
it's looked into,

AARO still considers
this video unresolved.

- Kirkpatrick was tight-lipped

about the exact
origins of this object,

but he did acknowledge
the almost inhuman speeds

at which it travels
and the strange design.

He also identified
the Middle East region

as a hotspot for UAPs.

- [Tony] Considering
the ongoing conflicts

in the region, we have to wonder

if these UFOs are
related to others

that have turned
up during wartime.

In 1951 during the Korean War,

a group of American GIs
stationed near Chowan

encountered a mysterious
glowing object

that floated to the center
of artillery explosions

but took no damage.

One veteran later claimed
the glowing craft pulsated

and changed colors.

In the following days,

the GIs fell sick
with what some believe

was radiation poisoning.

Some theorized that
this unidentified craft

and the hundreds reported
by US troops since 2021

are attracted to
military targets.

But why?

- One explanation is that
they're actually alien probes

measuring our defensive
or offensive capabilities.

In an optimistic view,
it's possible that

they are simply trying
to observe our behavior

and figure out why we
are so often in conflict.

- [Tony] Whatever the reason,

this sphere sighting
over the Middle East

appears to uphold the pattern.

A Pentagon report
released in 2022

found evidence that UFOs
can inflict injuries

including radiation burns,
paralysis, and brain damage.

So while Kirkpatrick's
office said

this object wasn't
an apparent threat,

we are inclined to
take another look.

(tense music)

We start by asking aviation
expert Tim McMillan,

could this be an
advanced military drone?

- This doesn't match
any type of technology

that we're aware of.

I don't see any obvious
signs of propulsion,

I don't see any wings.

So all the necessary components
for a typical aircraft.

You'll notice we can see
other features in the terrain

which is below this
object really clearly.

So you would be able
to definitely see

if there were wings,

there were rotors, any
of those features on it.

- [Tony] So it's a
spherical object in the sky

without apparent
means of propulsion.

Could it just be a balloon?

- It certainly could be
a balloon of some sort.

Particularly in the Middle East
there have been very crude,

airborne, improvised
explosive devices,

so you attach some
sort of explosive

to a balloon in hopes that it
collides with the aircraft.

The key piece of
missing evidence here

is we would want to
know the wind direction

and wind speed here.

- [Tony] That info
has been redacted.

Otherwise we could determine
whether wind is with

or against this object

and if it's against, then
this can be no balloon.

- I think that's what makes
this interesting for me

because the Pentagon has
listed this as unidentified

but they have access
to that information,

so they should have been
able to better narrow down

it being a balloon.

- [Tony] Then could
this really be

some kind of alien probe?

- Though this video is
definitely intriguing,

we also don't see any real
extreme flight characteristics

that require the
existence of aliens

or some type of
advanced physics.

- [Tony] That means this
UFO isn't displaying

the hallmarks the US
military has cataloged

on other UFOs,

including instantaneous
acceleration,

hypersonic velocities, cloaking,
and transmedium travel,

the ability to fly into
and out of the water.

Nor does it convince McMillan

that UFOs are particularly
interested in human conflict.

- There are more pilots

being perceptive of their
surroundings in a war zone.

So I think it gives us that idea

that perhaps UFOs are
interested in human conflict

when in fact, what it is

is we're paying more
attention to the skies

during human conflict.

(tense music)

- Our verdict, we're
calling this a possible UFO.

On one hand it has no wings
or obvious propulsion,

which is very UFO like.

There is a chance it's a
balloon pushed by a stiff wind.

But you'd think AARO
would know that by now.

If we get more information,
we'll let you know.

But you'd think AARO
would know that by noback, .

We are going to
continue our UFO special

with input from one of the
biggest names in ufology.

In recent years, freelance
filmmaker Jeremy Corbell

has built a reputation

for releasing
sensational UFO videos

allegedly leaked by
members of the military.

The videos have made
headlines worldwide

and tonight, we're gonna
look at some of his latest

and hear from the man himself.

On the morning of
April 16th, 2016,

an American MC12
reconnaissance plane

soars over Mosul, Iraq at
the time under ISIS control.

Its primary objective

is to observe what's
happening on the ground,

but today it captures something
highly unusual in the air.

This frame pulled
from the footage

reveals a metallic looking
ball flying over a city street.

The object reportedly moves
alongside the spy plane

without dropping in altitude,

traveling in a lateral
direction from south to north.

It would take seven years,
but on January 24th, 2023,

Jeremy and his
co-host George Knapp

obtained and released
this shocking image

to the American public
for the first time

on their podcast, "Weaponized".

- The Mosul orb
is the first time

we have a verified,
bonafide image

filmed by our military
over a conflict zone

that shows a UAP.

It raised a lot of interest
within our intelligence agencies

and Department of Defense

because they could
see that it was

under intelligent control.

- [Tony] A few months
later on March 6th, 2023,

Jeremy reveals six
more intriguing images

also shot in Iraq

on a thermal camera set
to display heat as white

and cooler objects in black.

- We labeled it the
Baghdad Phantom.

We have seen it
described as cylindrical

and under intelligent
control and controlled flight

with a stable lateral direction.

And it's designated UAP by
our Department of Defense.

- [Tony] Again, is
it possible that

some airborne power has an
interest in our military?

And if that's the case,
is it alien or human?

- Some people online are
claiming that this is

proof of non-human intelligences

operating within Iraqi airspace.

One other theory is that

these objects are potentially
some foreign adversary,

such as China or Russia,

that is operating
some sort of vehicle

or weapon system inside Iraq.

- Jeremy says intelligently
controlled UAPs

are picked up by
radar, seen by pilots,

and engaged by our
military on a daily basis.

He argues that there's no reason

this information should be
kept from the American public

and he believes the potential
for misidentification

in these incidents could have
devastating consequences.

So, let's turn to the experts
to assess the threat level.

(tense music)

First off, aviation
expert Tim McMillan

examines the image of the sphere

taken by a spy plane over Mosul.

- You can actually see

this object has three
dimensional shape,

so this appears to be airborne.

I don't see any obvious
signs of propulsion.

We don't see rotors,
we don't see wings,

and so it really
limits us to a balloon

is the only thing, given
that size and shape,

that it could possibly be.

- Astronomer and video effects
designer Marc D'Antonio

thinks he knows exactly
what kind of balloon it is.

- One of the earthly
possibilities for this

is that we're looking
at a weather balloon

that's got a payload
that we can't see.

- [Tony] But
according to records,

aerial winds at the time

would've been pushing
against this object.

Plus, McMillan sees evidence
presented in the video

that bursts D'Antonio's
weather balloon theory

once and for all.

- Because of the information
that's displayed,

we know at what altitude

the actual drone that's
filming this is at, 26,000 feet

and that would be
substantially lower

than most weather balloons
are gonna be flying.

- [Tony] Weather balloons
typically reach altitudes

between 60,000 and 105,000 feet.

And what about the
Baghdad Phantom?

Could this cylindrical UFO
be a plane or even a drone?

- I don't see any parts
that automatically suggest

that it is a drone,

so I don't see any wings
or control surfaces.

So it's certainly not
a drone or aircraft.

- [Tony] McMillan thinks

he may be zeroing
in on the target,

but just when he thinks he's
getting hotter, things go cold.

- My first impression is that

we're looking at, likely, a
surface to surface missile.

This particular video
was filmed in Iraq

and so there's a lot
of rocket attacks.

However, the fact that
the object is black,

meaning it's cooler than
the ambient air around it,

is inconsistent with
anything that I've ever seen

when filming missiles with
an IR system like this.

- [Tony] But
D'Antonio thinks

he may have an answer to
how a missile could display

such a surprisingly
cold heat signature.

- If this is really
black as cold,

the temperature difference
doesn't have to be a whole lot

and if this is flying over Iraq,

it's possible that the
ground is 130 degrees

and this object here, it's
possible it could be 90 degrees

and look as different as that.

- [Tony] So what
about the notion

that we're dealing
with genuine UFOs

in both the case
of the Mosul Orb

and the Baghdad Phantom?

D'Antonio doesn't see it.

- The fact that we know of other
objects that are human made

that look like this,
it's a stretch to say

that they're unidentified
flying objects.

They're probably
human made objects,

possibly a weather balloon

and very likely a
missile in this case.

- [Tony] McMillan
respectfully disagrees.

- The objects in both
images are unknown.

I cannot give you a concrete
explanation for what they are,

but potentially with
more information,

we could arrive at a
more firm conclusion.

(tense music)

- Our verdict? Split decision.

We're calling the Mosul
Orb a genuine UFO.

It's flying too low to
be a weather balloon.

We're going with D'Antonio
on the Baghdad Phantom.

It's most likely a missile.

Still, we can't say for sure,

since Jeremy claims
the government refuses

to release the complete video

that these images
were taken from.

to release the completFO invesn

with another video
released by the Pentagon

that instantly made headlines.

So far, we've been
focusing on UAPs

captured by our military in the
Middle East, but of course,

the US has airborne
assets all over the globe

and believers say this next
remarkable piece of footage

is proof that aliens do too.

January 15th, 2023,

an undisclosed location
in South Asia.

A remotely piloted
Air Force MQ9 drone

closely monitors
another MQ9 in the skies

via infrared cameras.

It seems like a routine
reconnaissance mission until...

Four seconds into the clip,

an oblong object flies
past the other MQ9

in an apparent near miss.

And take a closer look at this.

The UFO seems to leave
an atmospheric wake

as its zips across the
sensors field of view

right through here.

Now that could be fuel exhaust

or perhaps even a disturbance
in the air pressure.

One thing's for sure,

it doesn't look anything
like this drone.

Writer Amy Teitel says

that despite the
video's public release,

much still remains unknown.

- This video came out

as part of a congressional
hearing in April of 2023.

So we know that it
is a real video.

We don't know any
other details though.

- [Tony] What we do know is
like the Middle East UFO video,

this footage also earned a place

in Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick's
presentation

to the Senate's Armed
Services Committee.

- This one everyone thought
was truly anomalous,

but this is the kind of data
that we have to work with

and the type of analysis
that we have to do,

which can be quite extensive

when you have to pull
these apart frame by frame.

- [Tony] Dr.
Kirkpatrick told Congress

that out of the 650 UAP
reports under AARO review,

this one caught their attention
because of its odd shape.

- [Amy] It doesn't
have obvious wings,

it doesn't have a tail,

it doesn't have an
obvious propulsion source.

- [Tony] In other words,
it has the makings of a UFO.

According to AARO,

most of the UAP incidents
reported to them

occurred between 15 to
25,000 feet in altitude,

which is controlled
military airspace.

AARO subscribes to the theory

that unresolved
sightings are more likely

the work of US adversaries,

not extraterrestrial
intelligence.

Will our experts reach
the same conclusion

with this footage?

(tense music)

Could this be an object
sent by a foreign power?

The lack of information
has Tim McMillan unsure.

- Some key pieces of information
that would be contained normally

on the heads up
display of the drone,

critically, the date, the time,

and location would
help us narrow down

exactly where this is.

- [Tony] But that
very lack of information

might tell us something

about the nature
of this mission.

- Could this be related
to a classified mission?

In this case, probably not.

And the reason I say that is
that this long endurance drone

typically will fly
just by itself.

It doesn't need a support drone.

- [Tony] To McMillan,

the fact that there are
two drones operating here,

one in the footage, the
other doing the recording,

means this is probably
just a training mission.

So we turned to Rich Hoffman

of the Scientific Coalition
for UAP Studies to ask

could this simply
be a passing plane?

- I looked at it frame by frame

and you see what looks like
an aircraft tail and wings

and the fact that it's
flying consistently

in the same direction, that
it went by rather quick,

it has the appearance
of an airplane.

- [Tony] But
McMillan isn't so sure.

- You wanna look for signs
of a propulsion system,

so exhaust from a jet
engine, that type of thing.

We don't necessarily
see that with this,

although we, we can see
this interesting trail.

However, that is
actually an artifact

of the multi aperture
camera system.

So you're talking
about camera systems

that have hundreds of lenses

with hundreds of
independent sensor systems

that form one
fluid picture here,

but that can create ghosting

that appears like
a trail behind it

when in actuality,
what we're seeing

is the overlaying of all
of the different images

from those hundreds of
different camera lenses.

- [Tony] Then could
this be another drone?

- If it's similar to
an aircraft design,

much like the MQ9 Reaper,
it could be that as well.

- Certainly, it could be.

It could be a lot of things.

There's just not enough
information there.

- [Tony] Well, then
we have to ask,

could it be a UFO?

- You're trying to
deduce what you can

from just a short little clip,

but it flew in a straight
line, consistent speed.

The last hypothesis I
would've ever gone with

would've been
extraterrestrial craft.

The first and the most
predominant hypothesis

are that it's an aircraft
that you can't make out.

- McMillan says
that the Pentagon,

with that redacted
information at its disposal,

came to a conclusion
consistent with Hoffman's.

- The Pentagon was provided with

the date and time and
location and all of that,

and they were able to determine,

without a doubt that
what we're seeing here

is actually the rear end
of a commercial plane

that is actually flying
away from the two drones.

And so, the movement that we
see is actually the movement

that's being caused by the
drone itself in flight.

(tense music)

- We have to agree with the
experts at AARO for this one.

Our verdict is a plane.

While many UFO believers express

disappointment that
AARO seemed to downplay

truly anomalous phenomena
during the hearing,

other groups applauded this

public release of
factual UAP data.

Files.

So far, we've been
looking at UFO footage

captured by US forces
in foreign countries,

but of course, there are plenty
of homegrown sightings too.

One UFO researcher
has a series of clips

that indicate a pattern of
UFOs near the US Mexico border.

We've investigated one before
and now there's yet another.

Take a look.

February 3rd, 2020,
south of Tucson, Arizona

at approximately 2100 hours,

a border patrol fleer camera
scans a residential area.

Houses and cacti
populate the frame.

When suddenly a strange
white object appears.

It glides across the screen

with an almost
humanoid silhouette

passing over a long stretch of
desert and even some cattle.

It maintains both a
consistent elevation

and that bright white color.

The video is one of several
shot by US authorities

and leaked to UFO
Investigator Andy Marshal.

- The footage was
leaked to me by

Department of Homeland
Security agent.

He wished to remain anonymous.

He knew what was captured in
these videos were anomalous

and that he had to get
the videos out somehow

to show the world that
these things are real.

- Andy dubs the video La Bruja,
Spanish for "the witch",

because it looks like a witch
sitting upright on a broomstick.

Longtime FLIR
technician David Falch

says that to understand
the thermal footage,

you first need to know
that in this case,

the camera is set to display
white as cold and black as hot.

- What you're seeing
is a white object

and a black hot scene.

So, this being white
means it's ice cold.

You don't see anything
like that in the sky.

You see birds, you see aircraft,

everything is putting on
a warm thermal signature.

There's nothing out
there in the sky

that's got a cold
thermal signature.

- Nothing that we know of,

but Andy can think of a
similar unknown object

spotted around Tucson,

which came to be known
as the rubber duck.

- The rubber duck incident
took place November 23rd, 2019

and it was shot from
a reconnaissance plane

and as they were
overlooking the landscape,

an object came into view

and they recorded it
for up to 40 minutes.

That object that was
captured in that footage

is almost identical to the
one captured in La Bruja,

the shape, the fact that
it was emitting zero heat.

- [Tony] In 2021,

Andy helped leak the
rubber duck footage,

so called because it
looks like a rubber duck.

Here on Proof, we
declared it a genuine UFO

and a recent paper

from the Scientific
Coalition of UAP studies,

or SCU, concurred.

Falch, who contributed
to the paper,

can attest to the
in-depth analysis

which led to that conclusion.

- The paper investigated

the characteristics
of the rubber duck,

what the approximate
temperature was,

the speed of the aircraft, the
trajectory, the fight path.

- [Tony] The paper found
the rubber duck anomalous

in three respects.

It's white cold temperature,

it's odd shape, and its speed,

especially that it flew

against the wind,

meaning it could not

have been a balloon.

- All these things combined

to come up to this
big conclusion of,

they didn't know
what it was either.

- [Tony] So, is La Bruja

related to the
famed rubber duck?

- They're both ice cold, not
having any signs of propulsion,

not changing thermal signature,

looking like they're
on a linear travel.

It doesn't make any sense.

- Now because we're talking
about the US Mexico border,

we have to consider
whether both these objects

were aerial devices
used to smuggle drugs.

After all, border patrol
agents recently saw 21 cases

of drone infiltration along
the San Diego Mexico border

in a 13 month period.

But that's just one
possible explanation.

Let's see what our experts say.

(tense music)

We first ask SCU
President Rich Hoffman

if there is any way
this could be a bird.

- Even in infrared,

you can make out
a lot of details

that are pretty remarkable.

You'd be able to tell that
it was a bird or not a bird.

There's no flapping and
birds aren't cold like this.

In thermal, a bird
will appear dark.

- [Tony] And as we did with
the rubber duck footage,

we have to consider if this
could just be a balloon.

In this case, the wind
actually supports the theory.

Falch estimates that the FLIR
camera is pointed southwest,

meaning La Bruja
is headed southeast

and the weather data in Tucson
at the time of the sighting

shows a light breeze from
the west northwest.

But Hoffman says it
doesn't look quite right.

- Some party
balloons, for example,

like latex, will be see-through.

A mylar balloon will reflect
the heat from the ground

and so, it wouldn't be
completely white like this.

- [Tony] So could this be

some type of
conventional aircraft?

Falch doesn't think so.

- A helicopter or plane
is out of the question

because this FLIR is
just looking around,

kind of almost at
a ground level.

So if it was an aircraft,

it would have to be
extremely small in size

and it's not emitting
any type of heat,

so it's obviously
easy to rule out

that it's no type of aircraft.

- If it has to be low flying,
then could it be a drone?

- You would see
stop go movements

that would kind of
sway the object,

you don't see that in La Bruja.

And how the signature
looks compared to a drone,

you would see a
difference from the heat

in the thermal signature
generated from the engines.

- [Tony] So is
this really a UFO?

- Bottom line is, you've
got an unusual shape here

and I haven't been able to
put this to anything rational.

It just doesn't match up.

So it's unknown to me.

I can't begin to
classify it at all.

(tense music)

- Our verdict, like
the SCU's conclusion

with the rubber duck,

we also think La Bruja
is a genuine UFO.

If you're interested in
reading the SCU's full analysis

of the rubber duck incident,

feel free to visit the
organization's website,

at explorescu.org.

No words yet on whether La Bruja

will be given the
same treatment.

No words yet on whetherc music)a

- What's the best UFO
photograph ever taken?

That's depends on whom you ask.

But we're about to show you
one of the leading candidates

and this one was kept hidden
for more than 30 years.

August 4th, 1990,

two hotel employees
are on a walk

in the Scottish
Highlands near Calvine.

Mid hike, they allegedly
noticed something in the sky.

Overhead, the men see a
massive, diamond shaped UFO

accompanied by a military plane.

One of them snaps a photo.

The object is clear,
it has four sides

and a horizontal division

between an illuminated
top and a shadowed bottom,

like a three-dimensional
object illuminated by the sun.

After about 10 minutes,

the diamond allegedly shoots
straight up into the sky.

Writer Amy Teitel says

little is known about
this diamond shaped UFO.

- The Clavine photo is a
very classic UFO image.

It doesn't give us
a lot of details,

we can't tell from the
image how fast it's going,

what it's doing.

- [Tony] And it's
not just unidentified,

it's state certified
unidentified.

Nick Pope, a former
UFO investigator

for Britain's
Ministry of Defense.

says the MOD thought
the photo genuine.

However, despite
widespread speculation

that the object's origins
are extraterrestrial,

Teitel notes that
the Calvine UFO

might not be
interstellar at all.

- It's possible that
the Calvine photograph

is actually secret
military equipment.

- [Tony] In fact, rumors
at the time of this sighting

support that theory.

- There have been rumors
of the US Air Force

testing of reconnaissance
aircraft called Aurora

in Scotland.

- [Tony] The rumor
top secret aircraft

was purportedly 110
feet long, 60 feet wide

and capable of
speeds up to Mach 8.

- There were sightings
of this aircraft

said to be a black
triangular vehicle

in the late 1980s
and early 1990s.

- [Tony] So, was the Calvin
incident one of those sightings?

If you believe Nick
Pope, even the UK's

Ministry of Defense
considered the possibility

that the Calvine UFO

might have been the
rumored Aurora aircraft.

However, the MOD
itself remains mum

of what it thinks
the photo depicts.

So what is it?

Time to ask our experts.

(tense music)

First, is this photo even real?

Forensic video analyst Michael
Primeau says it's hard to say

because the negatives
have been lost.

It's only because of
journalist David Clark

that this print
recently came to light.

- Dr. Clark actually
tracked it down

by finding a former RAF press
officer named Craig Lindsay,

who had an original copy
of it still preserved.

- [Tony] Unfortunately, a copy

doesn't make a strong
case for authentication.

- We don't have the
original evidence.

We have a version
that was printed

and then surfaced
several years after.

But the photo
definitely looks real.

No abnormalities in the
physical aspects of the scene.

- [Tony] So we ask our skeptical
science writer, Mick West,

could this be the
rumored Aurora aircraft?

- No actual Aurora
craft has ever emerged.

And even the artist renderings
of the Aurora craft,

they don't really
look like this.

This doesn't look like
an aerodynamic craft.

There's no real visible exhaust.

There's no control surfaces.

It just looks like a weird
diamond shaped thing.

- [Tony] If it doesn't
look aerodynamic,

is there a chance it's
not even in the air?

Astrophotographer Andrew
McCarthy thinks so.

- The key piece of
evidence is the fence.

Fence posts, if
installed vertically,

actually give us
a vanishing point.

Now, if they were looking up
as they claim to have been

when they took that
photo, the fence posts

would've converged in
an upwards direction,

not a downwards direction.

And if it was pointed down,

then we are not looking
up into the sky at all.

- [Tony] So what
are we looking at?

- I think we're
looking at an object

that's reflecting
in a body of water.

- [Tony] Imagine you're
looking out at a lake,

a large triangular boulder
juts out of the water

and casts a perfect
reflection beneath it.

Looks a lot like the
Calvine photo, right?

But West isn't so sure.

- So I think it's
somewhat implausible

that you would get a such
a mirror-like, still pool

up in the Scottish highlands.

I tried recreating this in
my pool in the backyard,

which is very sheltered and
it's a very small body of water,

and I had to do it
early in the morning

before there was any wind.

So it's very difficult to do.

- [Tony] Instead, West suggests

we recalibrate our
sense of scale.

- We don't actually
know how far away it is.

What if it was only
say two feet away?

Then it could be
very small indeed.

And that kind of brings
us to the other way

we can fake images
just using a model.

I did a few tests outside,

just simply dangling the
object from the tree.

And so I think it's very easy

to have simulated this photo,

using just a simple model
hanging from this tree.

(tense music)

- Our verdict?

We're tempted to
call this one a hoax,

considering both West
and McCarthy proved

that it could be faked.

But the British
Ministry of Defense

has reportedly
investigated the image

and has not declared it a phony.

So for now,

we have to say this remains
an unidentified object,

but we're not
gonna call it a UFO

because we're not even
positive it's actually flying.

but we're not
gonna call it a UFO
)

- Finally tonight, we want
to talk about what's become

one of the most famous
UFO encounters ever.

The 2004 Nimitz Tic Tac UFO.

The US government
still considers this

an official, unresolved UAP.

But recently, our in-house
skeptic Mick West

says he came up with
an explanation for it.

So how will the
debunker's theory hold up?

Many of you already
know this by heart.

It's November 14th, 2004,
off the coast of San Diego.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz

is leading its strike
group on practice maneuvers

when something strange occurs.

While radar is indicating an
unknown object in the air,

Lieutenant Chad Underwood
seeks out the anomalous object

and manages to take a video.

What he captures on camera
changes ufology forever.

The infrared camera
picks up a white,

almost star-shaped blob

hovering at an altitude of
about 15,000 to 24,000 feet.

It has a bright white center,
meaning the object is hot

and several gray
spikes coming out of it

representing the
dispersion of heat.

The camera then switches
off its infrared setting

and we see the object as a solid
black disc in the distance.

The craft appears to rotate,

now resembling more
of a tic-tac shape.

Finally, the object subtly
shoots off the screen

at stunning speed to the
amazement of the pilots.

- They claim that it
was performing in ways

that were definitely anomalous.

For something that had
no propellers, no rotors,

it had no exhaust plumes,
it had no surfaces

that could generate lift,

and to them, it seemed
intelligently controlled.

The importance of this
video in the UFO circles

cannot be overstated.

It is continuously brought up

at government hearings
concerning UFOs.

It's brought up in
front of the Senate,

it's brought up in
front of Congress.

It's been brought up literally
to the president himself.

- As we said earlier, AARO
has reported that to date,

it's found no proof
of alien technology.

So does that mean the Nimitz
Tic Tac can be explained?

Science writer Mick
West thinks so,

but he's not the only
one with an opinion.

(tense music)

First, Mick tackles the tic-tac
seemingly extreme speed.

- There's two
points in this video

where the object
appears to demonstrate

amazing acceleration,

and the first one comes where
it appears to shoot off screen

very, very rapidly.

But that coincides, as
to most of the movements,

with a camera change.

- [Tony] Watch as
the sensor's zoom level

abruptly doubles during one of
the object's quickest movements.

- So even though it looks like
it's moving very, very fast,

all it is is the camera moving

from one magnification
to another.

- [Tony] However,
physicist Matthew Szydagis

thinks otherwise.

- With the testimony of
Lieutenant Chad Underwood,

who actually took the video,

we are actually seeing an object

that produced such
a high acceleration

that it broke the targeting lock

of our multi-million
dollar system

that should not be able
to lose lock so easily.

- [Tony] In fact, a peer
reviewed publication

authored by a
colleague of Szydagis's

suggests that the
accelerations we're seeing here

are far beyond the capabilities
of any known human aircraft.

- Professor Kevin Knuth at
the University of Albany

reviewed the video and found
that the most probable solution

to the motion we see
involves accelerations

of at least 70 G, which would
rip the engines off a plane.

- [Tony] Still, Mick West
wonders if this whole thing

might just be a case
of misidentification.

- I first thought
that it might be

a nearby commercial airplane

because these training
ranges are actually adjacent

to commercial traffic routes.

But a bigger jet would have two
hotspots where the wings are

so I think it's
probably more likely

to be something smaller.

Something smaller actually
fits the angles and the sizes

and the position of the
engines in the infrared.

It fits with something much
more like an F18 plane.

- [Tony] West says it's the
infrared that gives it away.

- You can see a little hotspot

on the right side of the plane

would correspond to the
engines of a small jet.

- [Tony] But again,
Szydagis disagrees.

- There is no FAA
or ADS-B record

of an airplane at
this day and time

because this was a
military exercise area

in the first place.

We have evidence
from multiple sources

corroborating from
the US government,

saying that the military
exercise was canceled.

That means there weren't
other F18s in the air

during the tic-tac encounter.

So we can conclusively rule out

without even arguing about
acceleration or speed,

that this is not an F18.

- [Tony] So, where do we land?

Szydagis is convinced.

- I think we're looking
at a genuine UFO.

I think it's very telling

that the speeds and
accelerations measured are

abnormally high

in a way that
would point towards

some sort of advanced craft

not constructed by human beings.

- [Tony] Mick West
remains unconvinced.

- This is all consistent

with something like
a distant plane.

I don't think it's a genuine UFO

in that it doesn't
actually demonstrate

any real anomalous properties,

which is something
you want from a UFO.

(tense music)

- Our verdict?

The Nimitz Tic Tac
remains a genuine UFO.

Mick West brings up
some interesting points,

but the preponderance
of evidence,

notably the testimony
of multiple Navy pilots,

still points to
something inexplicable.

And as we've seen tonight
with other footage,

this UFO is not alone.

That's our show
for this evening.

The great UFO question
continues to build momentum.

So if you see
something in the sky,

keep those cameras rolling.

(dramatic music)