UFOs Harassed US Warships In 2019, And New Eyewitnesses Contradict Pentagon's Unmanned Aerial Systems Label, Whilst Claiming One Object Shot Down Beam Of Light Which Turned Night Sky “Bright As Day”
Written by Christopher Sharp - 31 January 2023
UFOs which harassed U.S. Navy warships in July 2019 were inadequately labelled as unmanned aerial systems (UAS) according to eyewitnesses involved in the series of incidents.
One witness serving on board USS Omaha whose responsibility was to designate the objects told Liberation Times:
“The classification of UAS is now inappropriate because it was never confirmed.”
The pushback against the current Pentagon line and other extraordinary new revelations were detailed by active duty naval personnel on WEAPONIZED, a new podcast hosted by investigative journalists Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp.
George Knapp
John Gutierrez, an active duty Navy commander, spoke about the incidents, representing his own personal views (not speaking for or on behalf of the U.S. Navy), and elaborated on the UFOs’ general categorization as UAS or drones, telling Corbell and Knapp:
“Just because they are calling it that, doesn’t mean that’s what they were.”
Speaking about UFOs in general, which are witnessed by naval aviators on a daily basis, Gutierrez said, “it’s still a big mystery, we don’t know what this stuff is.”
Gutierrez with Corbell and Knapp on WEAPONIZED
An anonymous eyewitness, who served on board the USS Paul Hamilton during the events, testified on audio to Corbell for the show. The eyewitness disputed claims that a Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel named the Bass Strait was responsible, stating:
“They [the Bass Strait crew] did deny they were the source and they also never landed or launched them.”
He later added:
“We never saw them land or take off [the Bass Strait.]”
A second anonymous eyewitness from the USS Paul Hamilton testified to Corbell via audio, explaining how the objects would always come from the west despite there being no land mass or any other apparent flight platform. And unlike normal drones, the eyewitness explained “they would depart on different bearings that they would come in from.”
Corbell explained how the objects seemed to appear from nowhere according to witnesses and were seen diving into the water, as captured in one video released by Corbell in May 2021, which shows a hovering spherical object being observed by sailors from USS Omaha before suddenly submerging.
Slide showing spherical object that submerged, as observed from USS Omaha
Speaking about the unconventional behaviour and capabilities of the objects, Gutierrez described how sailors from the USS Russell were following one of the UFOs as it travelled around the ship before it dramatically “just shot straight up into the air” without making any sound.
Remarkably, the first eyewitness from the USS Paul Hamilton described how one UFO shot down a bright white beam of light, illuminating the ship for two seconds:
“It went from pitch-black to very illuminated very quickly.”
He described the event as “jarring [and] shocking.”
Gutierrez, who has spoken with sailors from USS Paul Hamilton explained how crewmembers told him “it was as bright as day,” due to the strength of the beam.
Alarmingly, Gutierrez described a separate event witnessed by crew members serving on board a landing helicopter dock, a large multipurpose amphibious assault ship, where an apparent UFO illuminated the whole ship with a light:
“Sailors that I’ve spoken to personally talk about being out on deployment in the middle of the night. They’re standing on bridge watch and all of a sudden on the horizon they see a light kind of flicker on and all of a sudden start tracking towards the ship.
“And then as soon as they lose sight of the object over the ship, or presumably directly overhead of the ship, all of a sudden it casts this light which is so bright and so blinding that they’re disorientated within the bridge of the ship.”
Liberation Times has since learned that the ship involved was USS Kearsarge. In testimony obtained by Corbell and heard by Liberation Times, one sailor on board the ship described the shocking incident in his own words:
"It was like somebody turned on a light but it was like an LED light that changes colours and it was light as day but just green.
“So that was for about five or seven seconds, and then it just went away. The sky, the horizon, everywhere around us was showered in a green light.”
Gutierrez recalls another witness telling him that it was so bright that she couldn’t see her hands in front of her face.
USS Kearsarge
Speaking about the threat posed by unknown objects with apparent extraordinary capabilities, Gutierrez, who is a U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and aviation safety officer, believes they can endanger lives, partly due to the sheer frequency of encounters which continue up to this day:
“There’s a real concern out there. We’ve got guys in the air coming across things, which we don’t know what they are, and the risk for a mid-air incident or god forbid an actual mid-air collision, it’s there.”
Out of 366 new UFO (otherwise known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena / UAP) reports, the 2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, released on 12 January 2023 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), revealed that 26 had been characterized as ‘Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or UAS-like entities’.
However, following the new revelations about the July 2019 incidents, such categorisations may now come under some doubt. Jeremy Corbell commented to Liberation Times:
“I have been speaking for years with crews and various actors involved in the July 2019 UFO swarms over our Navy warships. And many eyewitnesses who were actually there, and are highly trained to identify modern drones and technologies, testify to me with emphasis that - these were NOT traditional units from our or any other nation known to us - and were unidentified anomalous phenomena, due to the extraordinary capabilities they demonstrated.
“They were staying aloft for hours, undertaking unconventional maneuvers and were able to fly in a stable fashion despite the lack of tradition flight control surfaces while enduring high winds out at sea. Furthermore, they were observed diving into the ocean without making a splash - numerous Navy officers have confirmed to me that they seemed to “just appear”. There is much more that I can now report on this event series and others like it - such as the blinding bright lights observed during these events.
“The core of the issue about these 2019 UFO swarms that brazenly engaged our Military assets on our home turf - is that we STILL do not know origin, capability, operator or intent. This is a problem. Beyond safety of flight or near-misses. This is a National Security issue - and an intelligence failure due to the persistent stigma surrounding the UFOs reality - and investigations have not been as effective as they should be.
“No matter where UFOs are from - it is now openly admitted by our Department of Defense (in their own briefings) - that UFOs are appearing with an increased frequency worldwide. So it’s time to acknowledge the UFO problem, and I am hopeful that AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office) and its stakeholders will dedicate robust resources to this enduring mystery on behalf of the American and global public.”
Jeremy Corbell
Within new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) legislation recently signed into law by President Joe Biden, Dr Sean Kirkpatrick, Director of the U.S. Government’s new UFO Office, known as the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), must create a historic report for Congress, which details, ‘any efforts to obfuscate, manipulate public opinion, hide, or otherwise provide incorrect unclassified or classified information about unidentified anomalous phenomena or related activities.’
This new witness testimony seems to contradict the Pentagon’s current line on the events, recently heard in May 2022 at a congressional hearing on UFOs.
Referencing a video of what has been described in an intelligence briefing as UAS that appeared “triangular by angle of observation” buzzing USS Russell, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, Scott Bray told the House Intelligence Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee that the working hypothesis was the objects were, “some type of drone, some type of unmanned aerial system.”
Following Bray’s comments, Pentagon spokesperson, Susan Gough, provided a more definitive statement, referencing both initial categorizations and identification following a subsequent evaluation:
“The objects sighted were initially classified as ‘unidentified.’
“As noted in the May 17, 2022 testimony by Navy and DOD officials before the House of Representatives' Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee, subsequent evaluation by the Department of Defense’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force resulted in the objects being identified as UAS.”
Liberation Times has asked the Pentagon if the objects were positively confirmed to be UAS and we currently awaiting a response.