The 2019 Navy "Pyramid" & Sphere Videos (USS Russell / USS Omaha) disputed-optical-artifact
In July 2019 Navy personnel off San Diego filmed green night-vision footage of
blinking 'pyramid'-shaped objects over USS Russell and FLIR footage from USS
Omaha of a spherical object that appeared to drop into the sea; the Pentagon
confirmed both authentic, and analysts (later AARO) identified the 'pyramid' as
triangular bokeh — out-of-focus point lights through a triangular lens aperture
— while the Omaha sphere remains less resolved.
This is a marquee modern-Navy, instrumented case from the 2021 disclosure surge
that is instructive precisely because the dramatic anomaly dissolves. The
'pyramid UFO' is a textbook bokeh/out-of-focus artifact — a clean demonstration
that genuine, Pentagon-confirmed military footage of a 'UFO' can have a fully
prosaic optical cause. It strengthens the corpus's modern-Navy/instrumented
dimension while anchoring its disputed-optical-artifact category; the Omaha
sphere supplies the still-open transmedium element, showing how one event can
pair a solved clip with an unresolved one.
Timeline
2019-07-15
Off San Diego, Navy personnel film the footage: a ~18-second green
night-vision clip from USS Russell showing three blinking pyramid-shaped
objects, and a FLIR clip from USS Omaha (in the Combat Information Center,
~11 pm) of a sphere darting above the water then vanishing beneath the surface.
witnesses: USS Russell personnel · USS Omaha personnel
primary source: Pentagon confirmation; Live Science; Mystery Wire
2021-04
The clips are leaked via filmmaker Jeremy Corbell; Pentagon spokesperson Sue
Gough confirms both were authentic Navy footage, with the Omaha video under
UAP Task Force review.
witnesses: Jeremy Corbell · Sue Gough (Pentagon)
primary source: Pentagon (2021); Globalnews
2021-after
Mick West (Metabunk) demonstrates the 'pyramid' shape is triangular bokeh:
point lights out of focus through a triangular lens aperture each blur into a
triangle, with the 1.5-second flash interval matching standard aircraft
anti-collision strobes and the stationary 'pyramids' being defocused stars.
witnesses: Mick West
primary source: Metabunk (thread 11695)
2024
AARO/officials endorse the prosaic reading, growing 'reasonably confident'
the triangles correlate to unmanned aerial systems (drones) in the area, and
adopting the bokeh/optical account. The Omaha sphere remains less resolved.
witnesses: AARO
primary source: AARO reporting (2024)
Named personnel
- Jeremy Corbell — Filmmaker who released/leaked both clips in 2021 rank at time: role: the disclosure of the footage
- Pentagon (Sue Gough) / UAP Task Force — Confirmed the footage was authentic Navy material and reviewed it rank at time: role: the authentication
- Mick West — Analyst who produced and demonstrated the triangular-bokeh explanation for the 'pyramid' rank at time: role: the prosaic resolution
- AARO — The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which later endorsed the optical/drone reading rank at time: role: the official endorsement
Object — reported
shape
USS Russell: three green, blinking, triangular/'pyramid'-shaped forms in night vision; USS Omaha: a spherical object (~6 ft on radar) above the water
size
the pyramids are defocus blurs of point lights (no real size); the Omaha sphere reportedly ~6 ft on radar
surface features
the 'pyramid' is the triangular bokeh of an out-of-focus point light through a triangular aperture; the sphere a featureless FLIR blob
observed behaviors
- the 'pyramids' blinking at ~1.5-second intervals (matching aircraft anti-collision strobes) and hovering (defocused stars)
- the Omaha sphere darting above the water before appearing to descend beneath the surface (plausibly leaving the sensor's field of view)
- on the prosaic reading: out-of-focus aircraft/drone lights and stars for the pyramid; a distant balloon/drone/aircraft on FLIR for the sphere
Theories that invoke this case (3)
The face-value reading: structured 'pyramid' craft and a transmedium sphere on authentic Navy footage — the UAP claim, recorded to mark what the optical analysis defeats for the pyramid.
The instrumented-evidence reading: Pentagon-confirmed night-vision and FLIR footage analyzed frame-by-frame — here yielding a demonstrated lens artifact for the pyramid and unresolved data for the sphere.
The misperception reading: an out-of-focus optical artifact (triangular bokeh) read as a structured craft, and the disclosure-surge framing that amplified it.
Theories that do NOT invoke this case — and why
an aerial/sea footage case, not a creature record
the pyramid is a lens-bokeh artifact, not an atmospheric luminous phenomenon
best read as authentic footage with a prosaic cause, not an arc of managed disclosure
Conventional explanations advanced — and their status
Pyramid = triangular-aperture bokeh of out-of-focus lights
proponents: Mick West / Metabunk · AARO/officials
The strong, demonstrated explanation: point lights out of focus through a triangular aperture blur into triangles; the strobe interval matches aircraft, the stationary 'pyramids' are defocused stars, and AARO ties the triangles to drones/aircraft. The only residual is which exact aperture produced it.
Omaha sphere = distant balloon/drone/aircraft on FLIR
proponents: Mick West
Plausible but unconfirmed: no recovery, lower resolution, no fully released metadata; the 'descent into the ocean' is plausibly the object leaving the sensor's field of view.
A genuine craft / transmedium vehicle
proponents: Jeremy Corbell · some UAP advocates
Weak for the pyramid (bokeh demonstrated); open but unsupported for the sphere, with the 'transmedium' and submarine-search claims single-source to Corbell.
Where further investigation has leverage
- The bokeh demonstration — reproducible defocus tests showing triangular blur from point lights — the decisive lever for the pyramid.
- FLIR/radar metadata for the Omaha sphere (speed, size, track) to resolve aircraft-vs-anomaly — not fully released.
- The absence of any recovered splash/debris, which undercuts the transmedium claim.
Corpus status
disputed-optical-artifact
The pyramid is, on the evidence, a demonstrated lens artifact — triangular bokeh
of out-of-focus blinking aircraft/drone lights and stars — a conclusion reached
independently by Mick West and effectively adopted by AARO/officials; its
'anomaly' status survives only the unresolved detail of which aperture produced
it. The Omaha sphere is genuinely unresolved: authentic footage, plausibly a
mundane balloon/drone/aircraft on FLIR, but lacking released metadata or
recovery, with the 'transmedium'/descent framing resting largely on single-source
claims. A high-confidence prosaic verdict on the famous pyramid and an honest
'insufficient data' on the sphere. Filed as a disputed optical artifact.
status history (1)
2026-06-14 · new → disputed-optical-artifact
— seeded 2026-06-14 — corpus-growth pass (2021 disclosure-surge Navy footage; lens-artifact lesson)
Threads of evidence
This case is one node in the connections that run across the record. It appears in 1 thread: