Ex-Pentagon UFO Chief Says Alaska 'Jellyfish' Video May Show 16-mph Kite

Q: Did military radar at the nearby Alaskan base detect this bizarre jellyfish-like object, or did it completely bypass their advanced security systems?

There is no public evidence that military radar at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson detected the object. The base said only that it was aware of the viral video and had no additional information. No radar track, sensor data, interception report or security alert has been released. Reports also do not show that the object was confirmed to be over the base or even inside restricted military airspace. Witnesses believed it was near JBER, but that has not been verified. That means there is also no basis to say it “bypassed” the base’s security systems. From the available information, officials do not appear to have established what the object was, how far away it was, how high it was, or whether it was anywhere radar coverage should have treated as a threat. Sean Kirkpatrick, the former head of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, said the social media clip is not enough to make that determination. Compressed phone video cannot reliably show size, altitude, distance or actual motion. He said the movement looked consistent with a kite with streamers, especially given Anchorage’s documented winds of roughly 15 to 16 mph at the time. So the most accurate answer is that no public record shows a radar detection, but there is also no evidence of a security failure. The object remains unverified, and the simplest explanation offered so far is a wind-driven kite rather than a confirmed unidentified craft.

Q: Has anyone in Anchorage claimed ownership of a kite that perfectly matches the eerie, drifting silhouette captured in this viral video?

No publicly confirmed owner in Anchorage has come forward with a kite that definitively matches the object in the viral video. What has surfaced instead is circumstantial support for the kite theory. Sean Kirkpatrick, the former head of the Pentagon’s AARO office, said the object’s motion looks consistent with a kite with streamers, especially given Anchorage wind conditions that evening. Other commentators cited commercially available octopus-style kites that create a very similar jellyfish-like silhouette. Online discussion has gone a bit further, but not to the level of a verified claim. A Reddit user said they thought they owned a similar octopus kite, and another commenter later said a local kite-flying friend believed it was a kite being flown in Anchorage. A separate geolocation effort suggested Russian Jack Springs Park or nearby fields as a plausible launch area, noting that local kite flyers use that area. But none of that amounts to a documented owner stepping forward publicly and saying: this was my kite, here is the exact model, and I flew it at that time and place. Reports also note that the people who filmed the object searched afterward and did not find a kite operator. So the strongest answer is that the kite explanation is plausible and widely discussed, but as of the available reporting, no Anchorage resident has publicly and definitively claimed ownership of the exact kite seen in the video.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 14

Sean Kirkpatrick said the jellyfish-shaped object filmed June 15 near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson could simply be a kite with streamers, not evidence of a UFO.
The former AARO director said the social-media video is too compressed to judge size, altitude, distance or true motion, and warned it could not reliably support analysis if altered or generated.
Weather data showed west to west-southwest winds of 15 to 16 mph around the reported 10:15 p.m. sighting, a condition he said matches the object's wave-like movement.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson said it is aware of the footage but offered no further details, including whether the object entered restricted airspace or was detected by personnel or equipment.
Kirkpatrick said any real assessment would need local follow-up—such as checking for nearby events and finding corroborating video from another angle—before drawing conclusions.