Today in UFO History

July 15, 2019 – Pacific Ocean, Near San Diego, USA:

the USS Omaha (LCS-12) USO Incident

On the night of July 15, 2019, the USS Omaha (LCS-12), an Independence-class littoral combat ship operating as part of the USS Russell strike group during naval exercises off Southern California, was involved in one of the most significant UAP encounters ever documented by the U.S. Navy. Unlike many earlier UFO reports that relied on eyewitness testimony alone, this incident involved multiple sensor systems, trained military personnel, and was later acknowledged by the Department of Defense.

The encounter began when Navy radar operators detected numerous unidentified contacts around the task force. According to intelligence reports later obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, as many as 14 unidentified objects were observed maneuvering near the ships. The objects appeared suddenly and displayed unusual movement patterns that did not match known commercial or military aircraft operating in the area.

One object in particular attracted the crew's attention. Infrared cameras aboard the USS Omaha recorded what appeared to be a small spherical object moving steadily through the night. Thermal imagery showed no visible wings, tail, rotors, or exhaust plume, making conventional identification difficult. During the encounter, the object maintained a relatively constant speed while remaining close to the naval formation for an extended period.

According to Navy briefing documents, the spherical object stayed in the vicinity of the ship for well over two hours. Witnesses reported that it appeared to maneuver intelligently, matching the movements of the strike group while remaining beyond any obvious means of interception.

The most remarkable portion of the encounter occurred near the end of the observation. The infrared video shows the object gradually descending toward the ocean before disappearing from the camera's view. Navy personnel reported that the object entered the water in what appeared to be a controlled descent, rather than crashing. No explosion, splash, debris field, or signs of destruction were observed. A submarine was reportedly directed to search the

area shortly afterward, but no wreckage or identifiable object was recovered.

This apparent movement from air directly into the ocean without any visible loss of performance is often described as transmedium travel—the ability to operate seamlessly in both the atmosphere and underwater. While this capability has been discussed in relation to several military UAP encounters, including those involving the USS Nimitz strike group, the Department of Defense has not concluded that the USS Omaha object actually possessed extraordinary technology. The available evidence simply records that an unidentified object appeared to descend into the sea without an observable impact.

The incident remained classified until May 2021, when investigative filmmaker Jeremy Corbell released thermal footage allegedly filmed inside the USS Omaha Combat Information Center. Shortly after its publication, Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough confirmed that the video was authentic and had indeed been recorded by Navy personnel. The Department of Defense emphasized, however, that authentic footage does not imply an explanation for what was observed.

Further credibility came from a series of intelligence documents released through FOIA requests. One Navy intelligence briefing described multiple unidentified contacts around the strike group and noted that several remained unidentified after analysis. The event was formally reviewed by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the Defense Department organization responsible at the time for investigating military UAP reports. Information from the case later contributed to broader government efforts that evolved into today's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

Investigators have proposed several conventional explanations, including airborne radar reflectors, drones, balloons, or sensor artifacts. However, none has been publicly confirmed as accounting for every aspect of the incident. The Pentagon has likewise not stated that the object represented extraterrestrial technology, only that it remained unidentified based on the available evidence.

The USS Omaha encounter is now considered one of the cornerstone modern UAP cases because it combined multiple forms of evidence: radar tracking, infrared imagery, trained military observers, official Navy documentation, and subsequent confirmation by the Department of Defense.

Along with the 2004 USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" incident and the 2019 USS Russell pyramid-object sightings, it helped shift the discussion of unidentified aerial phenomena from a fringe topic into a subject of formal military and congressional investigation.