The Aguadilla Puerto Rico UFO (2013).
On the night of April 25, 2013, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection surveillance plane was working the coast off northwestern Puerto Rico when its thermal camera locked onto something small and warm moving low over the ground near Aguadilla's airport. For nearly three minutes the operators tracked it: the object skimmed over rooftops and trees, shot out over the Caribbean, dropped down and apparently entered the ocean without slowing, and — at one point — seemed to divide into two. The footage leaked, analysts spent years on it, and it became one of the most argued-over UAP videos of the modern era: genuinely anomalous to some, a pair of party balloons to others.
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What the Aguadilla UFO case is, in a paragraph.
The Aguadilla incident is a UAP case based on a thermal (infrared) video recorded on April 25, 2013 by the crew of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection DHC-8 aircraft equipped with a WESCAM MX-15 electro-optical/infrared turret, operating near Rafael Hernández Airport at Aguadilla in northwestern Puerto Rico. Over roughly three minutes of footage, the camera tracks a small, roughly circular object that moves low over the airport and surrounding terrain, crosses out over the water, appears at moments to skim or briefly enter the sea, and at one point seems to split into two separate objects. The video leaked publicly and was subjected to a lengthy, detailed study by the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), a volunteer group of scientists and engineers, who released a report (around 2015) concluding that the object's apparent speed, its transitions between air and water, and its splitting were difficult or impossible to reconcile with any conventional aircraft, bird, balloon, or known drone, and that the footage was authentic (its metadata correlating with radar/positional data). On this analysis, the Aguadilla object is a genuinely anomalous, possibly “trans-medium” (air-and-water-capable) UAP. The case is widely cited in UAP discourse as a high-quality, instrumented, government-sourced video. However, the SCU's conclusions are contested. Skeptical analysts — most prominently Mick West and contributors at Metabunk — argue that the footage is consistent with a much more mundane explanation: one or two illuminated balloons or paper lanterns (such as wedding/sky lanterns released nearby) drifting on the wind. On this view, the “high speed” is an illusion created by the fast-moving, panning aircraft and the parallax of a near object against a distant background; the apparent “entry into the water” is a line-of-sight effect as the lantern passes in front of the sea from the plane's perspective (it does not actually submerge); and the dramatic “splitting in two” is a camera-focus artifact, the single blurred blob resolving into two lanterns tied or drifting together as the optics adjust. The debate, then, is not about the video's authenticity — both sides accept it is real CBP footage — but about interpretation: whether the object's behavior genuinely exceeds known phenomena, or whether ordinary balloons plus the optics of a thermal camera on a maneuvering aircraft fully account for every striking moment. As of 2026 the case remains unresolved in the sense that no official body has issued a definitive identification, but the balloon/lantern explanation is widely regarded by skeptics as adequate, while UAP researchers continue to defend the anomaly. Aguadilla is significant as a test case for how hard it is to interpret even good instrumented footage — and for how the same video can be, in good faith, both “unexplained” and “a couple of lanterns.”
The documented record.
The footage is genuine
The video is authentic CBP material. Verified The thermal video was recorded on April 25, 2013, by a CBP DHC-8's WESCAM MX-15 system near Aguadilla; both proponents and skeptics accept it as real footage, with metadata corroborated against positional data [1][2].
What the video shows
The visible behavior is agreed. Verified The footage depicts a small object moving low over the area, out over the water, apparently interacting with the sea surface, and appearing to split into two — these on-screen events are not in dispute; their cause is [1][2].
The SCU anomaly conclusion
Researchers called it unexplained. Claimed The Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies' multi-year analysis concluded the object's speed and air/water behavior could not be matched to known aircraft, birds, balloons, or drones [1].
The balloon/lantern explanation
Skeptics offer a mundane account. Disputed Mick West and Metabunk argue the footage fits one or two illuminated balloons/lanterns, with the apparent speed from parallax, the “water entry” a line-of-sight effect, and the “split” a focus artifact [2][3].
The competing positions.
The UAP-anomaly position, advanced by the SCU, holds that the object's measured behavior — rapid motion, apparent submersion, and division — exceeds the capabilities of any known mundane object, making Aguadilla a genuine, instrumented unidentified phenomenon. Claimed It is treated as one of the stronger video cases on the modern record [1].
The skeptical position is that ordinary illuminated balloons/lanterns, combined with the optics and geometry of a thermal camera on a fast, panning aircraft, reproduce every dramatic feature without any anomaly. Disputed This archive treats Aguadilla as an authentic but interpretively contested video, regards the balloon/lantern explanation as a serious and arguably sufficient account of the key effects (parallax speed, apparent water entry, focus-driven split), and notes that no official identification has been issued. The honest verdict is that the video is real and the “impossible” behaviors are largely products of viewing geometry — though that has not ended the dispute [2][3].
The unanswered questions.
A definitive identification
No authority has ruled. Unverified No official body has conclusively identified the object, so the case lacks a formal resolution despite the strong skeptical explanation [1][2].
Whether it truly entered the water
The trans-medium claim is contested. Disputed Whether the object actually entered the sea or merely passed in front of it from the aircraft's line of sight is the crux of the disagreement and cannot be settled from the video alone [2][3].
The source object, if mundane
The specific balloons were never recovered. Unverified If the explanation is lanterns, the actual objects were never identified or retrieved, leaving the mundane account strong but not physically confirmed [3].
Primary material.
The accessible record on the Aguadilla case is held principally in these sources:
- The CBP thermal video itself (WESCAM MX-15 footage, April 25, 2013).
- The Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU) report and its frame-by-frame analysis.
- Skeptical analyses by Mick West and Metabunk proposing the balloon/lantern explanation.
- The video metadata and any correlated positional/radar data.
- Press and UAP-research coverage of the competing interpretations.
Critical individual sources include: the original footage; the SCU report; and the Metabunk rebuttals.
The sequence.
- April 25, 2013 A CBP DHC-8's thermal camera records the object near Aguadilla airport.
- 2013–2014 The footage leaks publicly and circulates in UAP-research circles.
- c. 2015 The SCU releases its multi-year analysis concluding the object is unexplained.
- 2015 onward Mick West and Metabunk publish the balloon/lantern explanation; the debate continues.
- Through 2026 No official identification; the case remains interpretively contested.
Cases on this archive that connect.
The GIMBAL and GOFAST Videos — other modern instrumented UAP videos with disputed interpretations.
The Nimitz Tic-Tac (2004) — the benchmark Navy sensor-and-witness case.
The Congressional UAP Hearings (File 254) — the official venue where such footage is now discussed.
The Marfa Lights (File 235) — another case where viewing geometry turns mundane sources strange.
More related files coming as the archive grows. Planned: thermal-camera artifacts and the interpretation of UAP video.
Full bibliography.
- The 2013 CBP Aguadilla thermal video (WESCAM MX-15 footage).
- Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), "2013 Aguadilla, Puerto Rico" analysis report.
- Mick West / Metabunk analyses proposing the balloon/lantern explanation.
- Press and UAP-research coverage of the competing interpretations.