The Chilean Navy Video
A Chilean Navy helicopter filmed an object trailing a strange plume over the sea, and the government's UFO committee couldn't identify it.
What was reported
On 11 November 2014, two officers in a Chilean Navy helicopter filmed a flying object over the sea with an infrared camera. Through the camera it looked like a flat object with two hot spots, and at one point it released a long, dark plume.
Chile's official committee for studying aerial phenomena, CEFAA, spent two years studying the video, consulting experts. Most members concluded they could not identify it, and the video was released in 2017 to international headlines.
Explanations offered
Soon after its release, researchers matched the object's position, throughout the video, to a passenger flight, Iberia IB6830, leaving Santiago. The 'hot spots' were its engines, and the plume was most likely a contrail. Most investigators now accept this explanation.
- When
- 11 November 2014
- Where
- Off the coast near San Antonio, Valparaíso, Chile
- Witnesses
- Two Chilean Navy officers in a helicopter
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.