USO - Unidentified Submerged Objects

Overview

This video presents a comprehensive survey of Unidentified Submerged Objects (USOs) — unidentified craft observed operating in or transitioning through bodies of water — arguing that maritime UAP has been systematically overlooked compared to aerial UAP research. UAP Gerb opens by noting that the trans-medium capabilities of anomalous craft were largely forgotten by mainstream discourse until David Fravor's 2004 Tic Tac encounter suggested a submerged object below the ocean surface, and until Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet's sustained public advocacy beginning in 2022.

The video traces the institutional history of USO investigation from 1951 onward, establishing that US Navy and Air Force agencies quietly collected and classified maritime UAP reports even as public-facing programs like Project Blue Book avoided the subject entirely. Key regulatory milestones — JANAP 146c, USAF Regulation 200-2, and Navy directive OPNAV 3820 — are cited as part of the systematic suppression of sighting reports. The video also draws from primary sources including Oak Shannon's notes from the 1985 Advanced Theoretical Working Group and Rear Admiral Gallaudet's 2024 white paper Beneath the Surface.

The strongest institutional endorsement comes from Gallaudet himself, who in a NewsNation interview with Ross Coulthart stated flatly that non-human intelligence (NHI) is visiting Earth with technology and intentions that are not understood, and that it "is about time" this is disclosed. His 2024 white paper argues that the scientific implications of confirmed trans-medium vehicles would "make those of the Scientific Revolution in the 17th and 18th centuries look like baby steps." The video concludes that AARO's Historical Report Volume 1 makes zero references to USO cases or maritime whistleblowers — a gap that Gallaudet and UAP Gerb treat as a significant institutional failure.

Institutional History of USO Investigation

Project Interloper (1951)

The earliest documented US government effort to study underwater UAP is Project Interloper, launched in 1951 by USAF Major Dewey Fett, a serving member of Project Blue Book. Interloper was a joint USAF-Navy investigation into both aerial and undersea UAP. It operated as an extra-governmental investigation — exempt from FOIA — and in 1953 briefed the CIA without ever reporting its findings to Congress or the public. Today only three Interloper case files are known to survive (cases 26, 27, and 28).

Case 26 documents Lieutenant George P. Williams and his nine-man Navy Fleet Logistics Air Wing crew, who witnessed a trans-medium UFO emerge from the ocean and traverse the skies between Keflavik, Iceland, and Newfoundland. The object rose from beneath the cloud deck, approached the aircraft at a "terrifying closing rate," hovered near the port side, then accelerated away. It was described as elliptical or cigar-shaped, at least 200 feet long, with a red-orange glow along its periphery.

AFOIN-X-SG Submarine Contacts (1952)

On April 24, 1952, the Air Force Technical Intelligence Center received correspondence from AFOIN-X-SG — a special group within the Air Force Office of Intelligence — attaching nine reports of submarine contacts with flying discs, compiled with assistance from the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). These nine reports remain unavailable. Edward J. Ruppelt confirmed in his writings that AFOIN's technical capabilities branch was conducting UFO-related work parallel to Blue Book, leading UAP Gerb to identify this special group as a likely early classified USO investigative body. A 1979 FOIA campaign by CUFON (Computer UFO Network) seeking information on the special group was denied under executive order on national security grounds.

Regulatory Suppression (1953–1954)

In 1954, JANAP 146c — the Joint Army Navy Air Force Publication directive 146c — required both airborne and waterborne UFO sightings to be reported under service communications instructions, prohibiting civilians and military pilots from publicly discussing officially reported sightings. Violations were subject to the Communications Act of 1934 and Espionage laws, with penalties including a $10,000 fine and imprisonment. On January 23, 1954, the US Navy issued OPNAV 3820, requiring UAP sightings to be routed to the directors of ATIC, USAF Intelligence, and Naval Intelligence — effectively removing maritime UAP reports from any publicly accountable process.

Jacques Vallée and Norton Air Force Base (1985)

In his journal collection Forbidden Science: Pacific Heights, Jacques Vallée records that a source at NARCAT (the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena) informed him that a large collection of UFO and USO files was stored at Norton Air Force Base during the mid-1980s. Norton has appeared elsewhere in UAP research as a facility associated with anomalous materials storage.

Oak Shannon's Notes (1985, published 2022)

Oak Shannon, former manager of special projects at Los Alamos National Laboratories and a Department of Energy nuclear physicist, attended the Advanced Theoretical Working Group at BDM International's McLean secure facility in 1985. His personal notes from that meeting, published in 2022, record that the US Navy held intelligence on an underwater UFO hotspot near Gulfoss San Matias off the coast of Argentina. The notes also reference former CIA operative John Ramirez's 2022 claim of a relationship between the Office of Naval Research and the CIA's WINPAC (Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control Center) involving USO materials recovery and transfer.

Mark Dantonio and the Fast Mover Program (2017)

Astronomer Mark Dantonio, president of FX Models — a company holding US Navy contracts — was taken aboard a naval submarine as a courtesy for his contract work. The sonar team detected an object traveling at several hundred knots underwater — many times faster than any known submarine or torpedo. The commanding officer told the operator to "log it and dog it," burying the encounter. Years later, a senior naval official confirmed to Dantonio that the program existed, that USOs were common, and that a classification and logging system was in place for them, but declined to elaborate. UAP Gerb treats this as implicit confirmation of a classified Navy program tracking high-speed underwater objects.

Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet and the 2024 White Paper

Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet (USN, ret.) — former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — is the most senior US official to have made explicit public statements affirming the reality of NHI. In a NewsNation interview with Ross Coulthart, Gallaudet stated: "We're being visited by non-human intelligence with technology we really don't understand, and with intentions we don't understand it all either." He stated categorically that NHI are real and that disclosure is overdue.

In November 2023, Gallaudet participated in the Sol Foundation's panel, where he described having received the GIMBAL and GOFAST UAP videos before they were mysteriously removed from his inbox. He has also commented publicly on anomalous ocean activity in the Southern California region that was subsequently scrubbed from Google Earth.

Gallaudet's 2024 white paper, Beneath the Surface: We May Learn More About UAP by Looking in the Ocean, makes the formal case for elevating USO investigation to national research priorities. The paper highlights the DOD's "concerning non-reaction" to unidentified objects entering US water space, the congressional definition of UAP as trans-medium vehicles, and the following cases:

• The 2004 Nimitz Tic Tac encounter, in which the UAP hovered above churning ocean water suggesting a submerged counterpart.
• The 2013 Aguadilla, Puerto Rico incident, in which a UAP filmed by US Customs and Border Protection thermal imaging entered and exited the Atlantic without significant deceleration, reached 95 mph underwater, and split into two parts. Authorities concluded no known technology has these capabilities.
• The 1960 Shelburne Harbor USO Incident, in which Royal Canadian Navy divers during a joint US-Canadian minesweeping exercise reported observing two disc-shaped craft on the seabed along with occupants apparently repairing one craft, with footage allegedly recorded. Gallaudet initially found the account implausible but revised his assessment after subsequent US military whistleblower disclosures.

The paper also characterizes USOs as diverse in form, citing reports of luminous orbs, silver and grey discs, triangular and cigar-shaped objects, and large lighted craft observed beneath the sea surface without ever emerging. Gallaudet draws explicit attention to the AARO Historical Report Volume 1's total absence of USO cases or maritime whistleblower accounts.

Military USO Encounter Cases

Caribbean Cruise Missile Recovery Encounter

In a 2022 interview with astronaut Terry Virts, Luis Elizondo described a USO encounter relayed to him by an unnamed military source. During routine cruise missile tests near a Caribbean island, a Navy helicopter crew dispatched to recover an expended missile observed a large dark circular object — described as approximately the size of a small island — rising toward the ocean surface from below without breaking the water. On a subsequent recovery mission, the same or similar object appeared again as a Navy frogman descended on a rope to attach to the missile. The frogman conducted an emergency ascent; the crew initiated emergency departure. The object then pulled the missile back underwater and disappeared. The encounter occurred over the Puerto Rico Trench, approximately 22,000 feet deep — the second deepest body of water on Earth.

2010 USS Carl Vinson USO Sighting

Petty Officer John Bowman, serving aboard the USS Carl Vinson off the coast of Haiti in 2010, observed a white Tic Tac-shaped object approximately 20 feet in length from the vessel's flight deck. The object appeared suddenly in the water below, darted into the depths, and as it descended its forward end "rapidly collapsed in on itself" before disappearing. Bowman reported the sighting to his supervising officer but was told not to file a report and was not debriefed.

1991 USS Nimitz USO Encounter

In 1991, thirteen years before the famous 2004 Tic Tac encounter, the USS Nimitz was involved in a separate USO incident. Petty Officer Kevin Thomas was left on deck after the ship was ordered to darken and clear decks. Thomas claims to have witnessed a black triangular craft approximately one kilometer in length rise silently from the ocean and ascend vertically into the sky. No water dripped from the craft and no sound was produced. The following day, men in civilian clothing boarded the Nimitz and questioned Thomas about why he was on deck and what he had witnessed. Thomas disclosed nothing, citing fear of disciplinary consequences. UAP Gerb notes it was unable to independently verify Thomas's service record.

The USS Trepang Photographs (March 1971)

Photographs purportedly taken from the attack submarine USS Trepang in March 1971 show triangular, cigar-shaped, and possibly egg-shaped UAP entering and exiting the Arctic Ocean near Jan Mayen Island. The images first appeared in the French magazine Top Secret and were provided to UAP investigator Alex Mirea.

The USS Trepang's presence in the Arctic near the Blue Nose Arctic Circle in 1971 is confirmed, and it was the only vessel operating in the region at the time. The vessel was commanded by Admiral Dean Renal Sacket; John Clicka is alleged to have first spotted the objects through the submarine's periscope. Both Sacket and Clicka were subsequently contacted by investigators: Sacket denied seeing anything unusual and stated he "only saw ice," while Clicka confirmed his identity but said he did not know what the photographs represented. These statements undermine the theory that the photographs depict authorized balloon training exercises — a theory UAP Gerb also questions because no live-fire records from the Trepang have been found for this period.

Researcher Wim van Utri identified signs of photographic tampering in one of the most striking images. John Greenewald argues this single altered image — likely enhanced for print publication — does not invalidate the remaining photographs.

Key Claims

• The AARO Historical Report Volume 1 makes zero references to any USO cases or maritime whistleblowers.
• Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet stated on national television that NHI is visiting Earth and that this should be disclosed.
• Project Interloper (1951), a joint USAF-Navy USO investigation, operated outside FOIA and briefed only the CIA; its findings never reached Congress.
• JANAP 146c (1954) prohibited public discussion of officially reported waterborne UFO sightings under threat of criminal prosecution.
• A senior naval official confirmed to Mark Dantonio that a classified program exists to log and classify high-speed underwater objects.
• Oak Shannon's 1985 notes record US Navy intelligence on an underwater UFO hotspot off the coast of Argentina.
• Luis Elizondo described a Navy helicopter crew that witnessed a submerged object the size of a small island rise from the Puerto Rico Trench and pull a cruise missile into the depths.
• John Bowman observed a Tic Tac-shaped USO from the USS Carl Vinson in 2010 and was told not to file a report.
• Kevin Thomas witnessed a black triangle approximately one kilometer long rise silently from the ocean near the USS Nimitz in 1991; civilian-clothed personnel subsequently debriefed him.
• The 2013 Aguadilla UAP entered and exited the Atlantic Ocean without significant deceleration, reached 95 mph underwater, and split into two parts — capabilities no known human technology possesses.
• The 1960 Shelburne Harbor incident involved RCN divers who reportedly observed disc-shaped craft on the seabed with apparent occupants and recorded footage.
• USS Trepang photographs from 1971 remain disputed; one image shows signs of tampering but the remainder have not been debunked.

Sources

• YouTube — UAP Gerb

Related Pages

• People: Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, Luis Elizondo, Oak Shannon, David Fravor, John Bowman, Kevin Thomas, Dean Renal Sacket, John Clicka, Alex Mirea, Wim van Utri, Steve Mario, John Greenewald, Terry Virts, Jacques Vallée, Mark Dantonio, Dewey Fett, John Ramirez
• Organizations: Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), Sol Foundation, US Customs and Border Protection, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Top Secret Magazine
• Locations: Puerto Rico Trench, Shelburne Harbor, Nova Scotia, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Jan Mayen Island, Norton Air Force Base
• Concepts: Unidentified Submerged Object (USO), Trans-Medium Vehicle, JANAP 146c, OPNAV 3820
• Operations: Project Interloper, Project Blue Book
• Events: 2004 Nimitz UAP Encounter (Tic Tac), Aguadilla Puerto Rico Trans-Medium UAP Incident, Shelburne Harbor USO Incident, USS Carl Vinson USO Sighting, USS Nimitz USO Encounter, USS Trepang UAPUSO Photography, Caribbean Island Cruise Missile Recovery USO Encounter