FLIR

Forward Looking Infrared — a class of thermal-imaging sensor mounted on military aircraft and other platforms, used to detect heat signatures of objects against background. Many of the most-cited modern UAP videos are FLIR captures.

FLIR — Forward Looking Infrared — is the generic name for a class of thermal infrared imaging sensors widely deployed on military and law-enforcement platforms. FLIR sensors detect emissions in the long-wave or mid-wave infrared spectrum (heat) and produce images based on temperature contrast rather than visible light.

Why it matters for UAP

Several of the most-cited modern UAP videos are FLIR captures from U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets:

FLIR1 — the FLIR clip from the 2004 USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” encounter (Case #00041), captured by Lt. Cmdr. Chad Underwood.
Gimbal — the 2015 USS Theodore Roosevelt clip (Case #00033) showing an apparently rotating object.
GoFast — the 2015 USS Theodore Roosevelt clip (Case #00034) showing a low-altitude fast-moving contact over the ocean.

The specific F/A-18 system that produced these clips is the AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared) — a Raytheon-built targeting and surveillance pod.

Why FLIR data is significant

FLIR captures are valuable as UAP evidence for several reasons:

Calibrated military sensors rather than consumer cameras, with documented chain of custody.
Telemetry overlay — many FLIR clips include slant range, target altitude, target velocity, and other parameters readable on-screen.
Independent of visible light — thermal imaging works in conditions where optical cameras fail.
Resistant to common visual artifacts — lens flare, headlight glare, and reflections behave differently in thermal imaging than in visual.

Limitations

Thermal ambiguity. A small hot object close to the sensor and a large hot object far away can look similar.
Apparent rotation artifacts can occur from the gimbal mechanism within the pod itself, as in the Gimbal case debate.
Calibration matters. FLIR readings require correct atmospheric and emissivity assumptions to convert to absolute temperatures.

Civilian equivalent

Civilian thermal imagers (such as the Pulsar Helion series) operate on the same principles as military FLIR but at lower resolution and without integrated targeting telemetry. They are sufficient for amateur sky-watching but should not be expected to produce ATFLIR-grade data.

Related entries

UAP

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (formerly Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) — the U.S. government's preferred term for what was historically called UFOs, deliberately broader to include maritime, space, and transmedium objects.

Tic Tac

Colloquial name for the oblong, white object reported by USS Nimitz F/A-18 aircrews during the November 2004 encounter off Baja California — and, by extension, the case itself (Council Case #00041).

Gimbal

The 2015 ATFLIR video captured by an F/A-18 from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, showing a smooth oblong object that appears to rotate. The Department of Defense confirmed the footage's authenticity in 2020.