Are rotating UFO shapes just infrared camera glare?

Introduction

Infrared glare can make an ordinary aircraft, engine exhaust or distant heat source appear as a rotating UFO-shaped object even when the real object is not rotating at all. This matters because some of the most famous modern UFO videos were recorded through military infrared targeting systems rather than normal visible-light cameras. In these systems, bright heat sources can bloom across the sensor, interact with the optics, and create large geometric shapes that look structured, metallic or spinning.

The best-known example is the US Navy “Gimbal” footage, where a glowing object appears to rotate dramatically while pilots react in surprise. A major technical debate emerged over whether the rotation belonged to the craft itself or to infrared glare generated inside the camera system. The distinction is important in AI-assisted UFO investigation because automated analysis tools can easily mistake sensor artefacts for evidence of exotic flight behaviour if the footage is not calibrated and interpreted correctly. NASA’s UAP study warned that poor sensor calibration and missing metadata can turn ordinary imaging artefacts into misleading anomalies. [NASA Science]science.nasa.govScience Independent Study Team ReportNASA ScienceIndependent Study Team ReportSeptember 13, 2023 — Indeed, several apparent UAP have been demonstrated to be sensor artifacts…Published: September 13, 2023 [NASA]science.nasa.govScience Independent Study Team ReportNASA ScienceIndependent Study Team ReportSeptember 13, 2023 — Indeed, several apparent UAP have been demonstrated to be sensor artifacts…Published: September 13, 2023

How infrared bloom creates false structure

Infrared cameras do not “see” shapes in the same way as the human eye. Thermal imaging systems detect differences in heat radiation and convert them into visible contrast. When a heat source becomes extremely bright relative to its surroundings, the image can spread beyond the object’s true boundaries. This is often called bloom, glare or sensor saturation.

In practical terms, a distant jet engine may occupy only a tiny portion of the real scene, but the infrared camera can display it as a large glowing object with edges, wings or geometric contours that do not physically exist. The hotter the source and the longer the imaging chain, the more dramatic the distortion can become.

Several effects combine to create these false “craft” shapes:

A key point in UFO analysis is that glare does not need to be a random blur. It can produce repeatable geometric patterns that look engineered. Polygonal or disc-like shapes often reflect the optical system itself rather than the object in the sky.

This becomes especially misleading in military targeting pods such as FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) systems. These devices are designed to track targets under difficult conditions, not to provide cinema-quality object identification. Their optics contain moving mirrors, stabilisation systems and rotating components that can influence how glare appears on screen.

The result is a powerful illusion: a tiny hot object can appear as a large rotating craft with visible structure and controlled movement even when the underlying target is relatively mundane.

Why the apparent rotation can be fake

The most confusing part of infrared UFO footage is often not the shape but the apparent rotation. Viewers naturally assume that if the bright object rotates, the craft itself must be physically turning in space.

However, infrared glare can rotate while the real object remains stable.

This happens because many military targeting systems use gimballed optics and de-rotation mechanisms to keep the image level as the aircraft manoeuvres. If glare forms within the optical system, the glare pattern may rotate in response to the camera hardware rather than to the target itself.

Investigators studying the Navy “Gimbal” footage argued that the rotating shape matched the behaviour expected from glare interacting with the camera’s de-rotation system. Technical reconstructions suggested that the glare orientation rotated with the sensor assembly while the underlying target likely continued on a more conventional flight path. [VICE]vice.comThe Skeptic's Guide to the Pentagon's UFO VideosMay 6, 2020 — He believes GIMBAL to be a plane as well, lit by the infrared flare of the engine and locked in place by a trick of the gim…Published: May 6, 2020 [3YouTube 3Metabunk(#endnote-4 "Snippet: A Gimbal]youtube.comYou Tube Gimbal UFOGimbal UFO - A New AnalysisThe gimbal ufo video almost certainly shows a glare that hides the actual object and that the shape of… Glare ExplainerJan 17, 2022 — But the gimbal needs to rotate much further than the object.. Mick West said: 7. The video is call…”)

This interpretation does not necessarily identify the underlying object with certainty. A glare explanation may account for the dramatic rotation without proving whether the source was a jet, drone or another aircraft. That distinction is often lost in public discussion.

For investigators, the important analytical separation is:

• What the object actually did
• What the camera system made it appear to do

Those are not always the same thing.

The Gimbal footage rotation debate

The 2015 Navy “Gimbal” video became one of the defining modern UFO cases because it appeared to show a structured craft rotating against the wind while pilots expressed astonishment. The footage was later officially authenticated as genuine military video, though authentication only confirmed the footage was real military imagery, not that the object was extraordinary. [Wikipedia]WikipediaPentagon UFO videosPentagon UFO videos

Supporters of the anomalous interpretation argued that:

Sceptical analysts focused instead on the imaging system itself. Technical reconstructions by independent investigators argued that the visible “craft” shape was likely infrared glare from a distant hot object, probably aircraft exhaust, and that the apparent rotation matched the behaviour of the camera optics during gimbal movement. [The Independent]independent.co.uknavy ufo video camera glare b2037965Famous Navy UFO video is camera glare hiding something…Mar 18, 2022 — The UFO captured on video by the Pentagon is glare on the Navy j… [3YouTube 3Metabunk(#endnote-4 "Snippet: A Gimbal]youtube.comYou Tube Gimbal UFOGimbal UFO - A New AnalysisThe gimbal ufo video almost certainly shows a glare that hides the actual object and that the shape of… Glare ExplainerJan 17, 2022 — But the gimbal needs to rotate much further than the object.. Mick West said: 7. The video is call…”)

One of the central arguments involved timing. Analysts observed that the bright object rotated at moments consistent with changes in the camera system’s orientation rather than with aerodynamic motion by the target. Some recreations also showed that similar glare rotation could be reproduced using known properties of the ATFLIR targeting pod. [YouTube]youtube.comYou Tube Gimbal UFOGimbal UFO - A New AnalysisThe gimbal ufo video almost certainly shows a glare that hides the actual object and that the shape of…

Importantly, the debate remains narrower than many headlines imply. The strongest sceptical claim is generally not “the video is fake”. Instead, it is:

That still leaves open the possibility that the original target was unidentified in operational terms.

Why AI systems misread thermal video

AI image systems are trained to detect patterns, edges and movement. That becomes dangerous when the pattern itself is produced by the sensor.

A machine-learning model trained on infrared UFO footage may incorrectly learn that:

In thermal footage, AI systems can over-segment glare regions and interpret them as stable craft outlines. Tracking systems may then produce false measurements for size, rotation rate or acceleration.

This creates several recurring failure modes in AI-assisted UFO investigation:

False shape confidence

Computer vision systems often assume that sharp contrast boundaries correspond to real object edges. Infrared bloom breaks that assumption. A glowing artefact may be interpreted as wings, hull geometry or rotating appendages.

Incorrect motion extraction

If the glare rotates with the camera hardware, an AI tracker may incorrectly label the motion as target rotation. Without access to sensor metadata, the model may never realise the movement originated in the optics.

Misleading object classification

Training data is a major problem. If dramatic UFO clips dominate the training set, an AI model may associate thermal glare patterns with anomalous craft categories instead of with known optical artefacts.

Compression-enhanced anomalies

Most public UFO footage has already passed through multiple stages of compression and social-media processing. AI enhancement tools can accidentally strengthen artefacts during sharpening or denoising, making false structure appear even more convincing.

This is why NASA and other scientific reviews repeatedly emphasise metadata, calibration and multi-sensor confirmation. A single thermal video without complete sensor information is often insufficient for reliable interpretation. [NASA Science]science.nasa.govScience Independent Study Team ReportNASA ScienceIndependent Study Team ReportSeptember 13, 2023 — Indeed, several apparent UAP have been demonstrated to be sensor artifacts…Published: September 13, 2023 [NASA]nasa.govupdate nasa shares uap independent study report names directorUPDATE: NASA Shares UAP Independent Study Report14 Sept 2023 — We found that NASA can help the whole-of-government UAP effort through sys…

What investigators should check before treating rotation as real

In practical UFO case review, apparent rotation should be treated as a hypothesis rather than an observation until the imaging system is understood.

Several checks are especially important:

AI-assisted workflows can help here by synchronising telemetry, extracting camera orientation data and comparing footage against known optical artefact libraries. Some modern UAP research proposals emphasise multi-sensor systems specifically to reduce the risk of false anomalies caused by individual instruments. [arXiv]arxiv.orgarXivThe Scientific Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Using Multimodal Ground-Based ObservatoriesMay 29, 2023…Published: May 29, 2023

The broader lesson is not that all UFO footage is meaningless. It is that thermal imaging systems can produce highly persuasive illusions. A rotating shape on screen may reflect the behaviour of lenses, mirrors and stabilisation hardware more than the behaviour of the object itself.

In UFO investigation, understanding the sensor is often as important as understanding the sky.

Endnotes

1. Source: science.nasa.gov
   Title: Science Independent Study Team Report
   Link: https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/uap-independent-study-team-final-report.pdf
   Source snippet

   NASA ScienceIndependent Study Team ReportSeptember 13, 2023 — Indeed, several apparent UAP have been demonstrated to be sensor artifacts...

   Published: September 13, 2023

2. Source: nasa.gov
   Title: update nasa shares uap independent study report names director
   Link: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/update-nasa-shares-uap-independent-study-report-names-director/
   Source snippet

   UPDATE: NASA Shares UAP Independent Study Report14 Sept 2023 — We found that NASA can help the whole-of-government UAP effort through sys...

3. Source: youtube.com
   Title: You Tube Gimbal UFO
   Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEjV8DdSbs
   Source snippet

   Gimbal UFO - A New AnalysisThe gimbal ufo video almost certainly shows a glare that hides the actual object and that the shape of...

4. Source: metabunk.org
   Title: a [gimbal glare]({{ ‘gimbal-glare/’ | relative_url }}) explainer.12230
   Link: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/a-gimbal-glare-explainer.12230/
   Source snippet

   A Gimbal Glare ExplainerJan 17, 2022 — But the gimbal needs to rotate much further than the object.. Mick West said: 7. The video is call...

5. Source: vice.com
   Title: The Skeptic’s Guide to the Pentagon’s UFO Videos
   Link: https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-skeptics-guide-to-the-pentagons-ufo-videos/
   Source snippet

   May 6, 2020 — He believes GIMBAL to be a plane as well, lit by the infrared flare of the engine and locked in place by a trick of the gim...

   Published: May 6, 2020

6. Source: Wikipedia
   Title: Pentagon UFO videos
   Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_UFO_videos

7. Source: space.com
   Title: sensor metadata, and the lack of baseline data,” the report states
   Link: https://www.space.com/nasa-ufo-uap-study-team-first-results-revealed
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   SpaceNASA UFO report finds no evidence of 'extraterrestrial...14 Sept 2023 — "At present, analysis of UAP data is hampered by poor senso...

8. Source: arxiv.org
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.18566
   Source snippet

   arXivThe Scientific Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Using Multimodal Ground-Based ObservatoriesMay 29, 2023...

   Published: May 29, 2023

9. Source: arxiv.org
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.07956

10. Source: science.nasa.gov
    Link: https://science.nasa.gov/uap/
    Source snippet

    nasa.govUAP9 Jun 2022 — The study will focus on identifying available data, how best to collect future data, and how NASA can use that da...

11. Source: youtube.com
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixTICcLXueg
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    and other [smartphone]({{ 'phone-cameras/' | relative_url }}) sensor metadata from multiple...

12. Source: youtube.com
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVrlG8RhIGU
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    UFO Files Apollo 11 & 12: Forensic Expert Analysis. Dr...

13. Source: youtube.com
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le7Fqbsrrm8
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    Breakdown of the Pentagon UFO videos with Mick WestThe Pentagon have officially released three videos of unidentified aerial phenomena wh...

14. Source: youtube.com
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X1PRDbtiF0
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    ust looks like the IR glare of a distant jet engine...

15. Source: youtube.com
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHDlfIaBEqw
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    VFX Artists DEBUNK Pentagon UFO VideosNewly leaked video allegedly shows one of the us navy's stealth ships tracking an unknown object in...

16. Source: youtube.com
    Title: Navy UFO Videos
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-4ZqTjKmhn5Qr0tCHkCVnqTx_c0P3O2t
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    Mick West · 2:54. Explained: New Navy UFO... Explained: GIMBAL UFO Video - The IR Glare Hypothesis. Mick West · 51:39 · Alex...Read more...

17. Source: youtube.com
    Title: Explained: GIMBAL UFO Video
    Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr1cfpos6vo
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    Explained: Gimbal UFO rotation caused by...a Gimbal...

18. Source: youtube.com
    Title: Explained: The Gimbal UFO’s Glow/Aura is Just Image Sharpening
    Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r119JWI04Ls
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    Gimbal UFO incident | Ryan Graves and Lex Fridman...

19. Source: youtube.com
    Title: Gimbal UFO incident | Ryan Graves and Lex Fridman
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    Infrared glare Gimbal UFO explanation Explained: GIMBAL UFO Video - The IR Glare Hypothesis...

20. Source: youtube.com
    Title: Lex Clips
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLDp-aYnR1Y

21. Source: independent.co.uk
    Title: navy ufo video camera glare b2037965
    Link: https://www.independent.co.uk/space/navy-ufo-video-camera-glare-b2037965.html
    Source snippet

    Famous Navy UFO video is camera glare hiding something...Mar 18, 2022 — The UFO captured on video by the Pentagon is glare on the Navy j...

22. Source: reddit.com
    Title: Gimbal UFO
    Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/tdud5t/gimbal_ufo_a_new_analysis_mick_west_lays_out_the/
    Source snippet

    A New Analysis: Mick West lays out the more...The gimbal ufo video almost certainly shows a glare that hides the actual object and that...

Additional References

1. Source: salon.com
   Link: https://www.salon.com/2020/08/16/sorry-believers-skeptics-say-there-are-rational-explanations-for-military-pilots-ufo-videos/
   Source snippet

   Sorry, believers: Skeptics say there are rational...16 Aug 2020 — “But the idea that these things are UFOs and alien sightings, and that...

2. Source: zhihu.com
   Link: https://www.zhihu.com/en/answer/3211845828

3. Source: primitiveproton.com
   Link: https://primitiveproton.com/unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-uap/

4. Source: petapixel.com
   Title: famous navy ufo video was actually camera glare evidence suggests
   Link: https://petapixel.com/2022/03/14/famous-navy-ufo-video-was-actually-camera-glare-evidence-suggests/
   Source snippet

   Famous Navy UFO Video Was Actually Camera Glare...Mar 14, 2022 — Analysis of the poster child for UFO footage indicate it is not anythin...

5. Source: theguardian.com
   Title: The Guardian I study UFOs – and I don’t believe the alien hype
   Link: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/11/i-study-ufos-and-i-dont-believe-the-alien-hype-heres-why
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   Here's whyJun 11, 2021 — I looked up the camera's patents; these revealed a de-rotation mechanism used to correct for “gimbal roll”, whic...

6. Source: meritalk.com
   Title: nasa urged to take more permanent role in uap research effort
   Link: https://www.meritalk.com/articles/nasa-urged-to-take-more-permanent-role-in-uap-research-effort/
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   NASA Urged to Take More Permanent Role in UAP...15 Sept 2023 — The study team found that most UAP data is “hampered by poor sensor calib...

7. Source: nevadacurrent.com
   Title: nasa report finds no evidence that ufos are extraterrestrial
   Link: https://nevadacurrent.com/2023/09/18/nasa-report-finds-no-evidence-that-ufos-are-extraterrestrial/
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   18 Sept 2023 — Analysis of this data is “hampered by poor sensor calibration, the lack of multiple measurements, the lack of sensor metad...

8. Source: thedebrief.org
   Title: nasas unidentified anomalous phenomena report key takeaways
   Link: https://thedebrief.org/nasas-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-report-key-takeaways/
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   NASA's Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Report14 Sept 2023 — “At present, analysis of UAP data is hampered by poor sensor calibration, th...

9. Source: leonarddavid.com
   Title: nasa report released unidentified anomalous phenomena uap
   Link: https://www.leonarddavid.com/nasa-report-released-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-uap/
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   Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) – UPDATED14 Sept 2023 — We found that NASA can help the whole-of-government UAP effort through sys...

10. Source: behavior-podcast.com
    Title: gimbal ufo video and others explained in new documentary
    Link: https://behavior-podcast.com/gimbal-ufo-video-and-others-explained-in-new-documentary/
    Source snippet

    “Gimbal” UFO video and other famous videos explained in...9 Jan 2025 — The documentary also delves into some of the more famous UFO myth...

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