USS Roosevelt UAP Encounters
From 2014 to 2015, Navy pilots from the USS Theodore Roosevelt encountered unidentified objects almost daily off the East Coast. The objects had no visible engines, reached hypersonic speeds, and demonstrated capabilities that defied known physics. These encounters led directly to the Pentagon's UAP Task Force.
For nearly a year, pilots from the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier group encountered strange objects in the skies over the Atlantic with such frequency that they became almost routine - and that routine nature may be the most disturbing aspect of all.
The Encounters Begin
The sightings began in 2014 after the Roosevelt’s radar systems were upgraded to a more advanced model. Almost immediately, operators began tracking objects that moved in ways that seemed impossible. The objects would hover at 30,000 feet in hurricane-force winds, then accelerate to hypersonic speeds without any visible means of propulsion. They would drop from high altitude to near sea level in seconds. And they appeared almost every day.
Lieutenant Ryan Graves, an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot, was among those who witnessed the objects repeatedly. In interviews, he has described craft that had no visible exhaust plume, no wings, and no control surfaces - yet maneuvered with precision that exceeded any known aircraft. The pilots nicknamed the most common type the “cube inside a sphere” for its unusual geometry.
Near-Collision
One incident nearly resulted in tragedy. A pilot on a training mission came within feet of colliding with one of the objects - an encounter so close and so startling that it prompted an official safety report. The Navy had previously never established protocols for reporting UAP encounters, but the Roosevelt incidents forced them to change that.
These weren’t fleeting glimpses or radar anomalies. Pilots tracked the objects visually, on radar, and on infrared sensors simultaneously. They observed them for extended periods and in broad daylight. The consistency of the sightings across multiple witnesses and multiple sensor systems made them essentially impossible to dismiss.
The Revelation
The Roosevelt encounters remained classified until December 2017, when the New York Times broke the story of the Pentagon’s secret Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The article included the now-famous GIMBAL and GOFAST videos, both recorded by Roosevelt pilots:
- GIMBAL shows a rotating disc-shaped object flying against 120-knot winds
- GOFAST shows an object skimming low over the ocean at high speed
- Both objects showed no exhaust or visible propulsion
- Pilots can be heard expressing shock at what they’re seeing
Legacy
The USS Roosevelt encounters fundamentally changed how the military and government approach unidentified aerial phenomena. The frequency and quality of the sightings, combined with the credibility of the witnesses, made denial untenable. Today, the Navy has formal UAP reporting procedures, Congress has held public hearings, and a dedicated Pentagon task force continues to investigate these phenomena.