Aguadilla Puerto Rico Trans Medium UAP Incident
The Aguadilla Puerto Rico Trans-Medium UAP Incident is a 2013 event in which a US Customs and Border Protection aircraft equipped with a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging system filmed an unidentified object entering and exiting the Atlantic Ocean near Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The footage was subsequently analyzed by the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), which concluded that no known aircraft, naval vessel, or human-made technology possesses the performance characteristics the object demonstrated. The event is among the most rigorously analyzed USO cases on record and is cited by Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet in his 2024 white paper as a key example of documented trans-medium UAP activity.
| Date | 2013-04 |
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The Footage and Object Behavior
In April 2013, a CBP aircraft operating over the Aguadilla area filmed the unidentified object over approximately three minutes. The documented behaviors included:
- Atmospheric flight speeds between approximately 40 and 120 mph
- Entry into the Atlantic Ocean without significant deceleration
- Continued travel underwater at a maximum recorded speed of approximately 95 mph
- Re-emergence from the ocean and resumption of aerial flight
- At one point, apparent splitting into two separate objects before re-entry into the water
SCU Analysis
The Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies conducted a detailed technical analysis of the footage using methodology described as comparable to peer-reviewed scientific standards. Their conclusion: "No known aircraft, naval vessel, projectile, or human-made technology possesses these characteristics or capabilities." The analysis specifically addressed and ruled out conventional explanations including military aircraft, drones, birds, and weather phenomena.
Significance
The Aguadilla footage holds a distinctive place in the USO evidentiary record for several reasons: it was captured by a US government sensor system operated by trained federal personnel; the footage is high-resolution and duration is sufficient for meaningful analysis; the behavior documented — specifically the transition from aerial flight to underwater travel and back without deceleration — is unambiguous trans-medium performance; and the SCU's methodology applied to the footage approximates the analytical rigor normally reserved for academic research.
Rear Admiral Gallaudet cited the Aguadilla incident in his 2024 white paper Beneath the Surface as documentary evidence supporting his argument that USO study should be elevated to national research priorities. The object's proximity to the Puerto Rico Trench — the Atlantic Ocean's deepest point at approximately 28,000 feet — has been noted as a potentially relevant geographic factor.