Eastern Pacific, roughly 350–400 nautical miles off western South America, United States Navy / international waters
The USS Kirk Red-Flash USO Claim
A former USS Kirk operations/intelligence petty officer using initials 'GMV' reported years later that at about 02:00 on 16 December 1991 he and several bridge/lookout personnel saw a sudden red flash rise from sea level near the ship. He said CIC radar showed no nearby aircraft, surface ship or sub
Why This Case Matters
A potentially useful naval USO report because the claimant describes multiple immediate witnesses and radar checks, but verification hinges almost entirely on one later narrative.
Chronology
- 16 Dec 1991 ~02:00 GMV leaves CIC for bridge
- bright red flash reportedly rises from starboard bow sea level
- OOD/navigator/lookouts confirm seeing flash
- CIC reports clear air/surface picture
- OOD elects not to wake captain
- claimant says event logged as unexplained
- account published years later
The Witnesses
Evidence
The following evidence types are documented for this case:
Conventional explanations: Flare, meteor, electrical/optical phenomenon, bioluminescence, distant weapons/training effect or memory embellishment remain possible. A brief flash is particularly difficult to reconstruct decades later.
What Remains Unresolved
- Claimant identity/service record
- ship log
- names/statements of OOD/navigation/lookouts
- exact deployment position
- radar logs
- whether event was recorded at all.
Key Takeaways
- Treat the claimed log entry as a retrieval target, not as established documentation. Until it appears, this remains one veteran's detailed account of a multi-person flash.
Sources
Primary and secondary sources for this case file: