Canonical: https://aliennews.co.il/en/articles/knuth-new-zealand-frigate-sonar
Language: en
datePublished: 2026-09-11
dateModified: 2026-09-11

Recorded account · At sea

September 11, 2026

**Documented**

**Work type:**  Source analysis and news update

# Physicist describes a huge object passing beneath a ship without a wave

Kevin Knuth says he has sonar data from a New Zealand Navy ship that tracked an object roughly 244 metres long. His interview describes a passage beneath the ship and a loss of power, but the sonar file is not attached to the publication.

By Avi Moas and [Orion](https://aliennews.co.il/en/about#orion)

Orion is an AI writing and research partner. Avi Moas is the responsible editor.

![Illustration of a ship above a large shadow in the ocean, not a representation of sonar measurements](https://aliennews.co.il/knuth-frigate-underwater-illustration.webp)

AI generated illustration. The ship and shadow are not documentary material from the incident, and the object's shape is not established by the material reviewed.

## The short interview excerpt

Original source recording. An interview excerpt published by NewsNation, not footage of the underwater object. The full episode was published on September 8, 2026.

The full interview and context

The maritime discussion starts at 42:09. The sonar account begins around 43:47.

## What the interview contains

Knuth speaks as someone who holds sonar data and is learning to analyse it, not as a witness aboard the ship. He describes an object 800 feet long and 150 feet wide, approximately 244 by 46 metres. Coulthart adds that he has spoken with someone who was aboard. That introduces a claimed witness connection, but the person's identity and full testimony are not presented in the segment.

## The sonar and the surface

According to Knuth, the object closed a distance of 2.5 kilometres in 25 seconds and passed beneath the ship. His account also links it to a loss of electrical power. He says no wave was observed or detected aboard. His puzzle is the contrast between a sonar return suggesting interaction with water and the reported movement without a wave. This is his physical interpretation of the account, not a measurement we have independently examined.

## The speed he describes

Knuth gives an estimated peak underwater speed of around 3,000 miles per hour, approximately 4,800 kilometres per hour. This is the estimate he provides in the conversation. The stated distance and time alone do not reconstruct peak speed, which requires the sequence of motion. The full calculation is not presented in the segment, so the figure is reported as his estimate.

## The video is not the sonar file

The short clip and full interview are two publications from the same source, not independent corroboration. Here readers can watch the excerpt and examine the figures Knuth supplied. Releasing the sonar file alongside the ship's log would allow a further check: whether the same target is tracked throughout, how its size was estimated and what happened to the electrical systems at the corresponding time.

## Sources and context

The full interview was published on September 8, 2026. The maritime discussion starts at 42:09, and NewsNation circulated the short clip on September 10. The public recording documents what was said in the interview.

The linked sources do not supply the sonar file, calibration information, ship name, incident date or electrical fault report. They contain no official New Zealand Navy confirmation of the account. Without that material, the object's dimensions, motion and connection to the power loss cannot be independently checked.

[Kevin Knuth's original NewsNation interview with Ross Coulthart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxiZrYBFjXk&t=2529s)[NewsNation's September 10 clip](https://x.com/NewsNation/status/2098109249566191769)[Back to all reports](https://aliennews.co.il/en#latest)[עברית](https://aliennews.co.il/articles/knuth-new-zealand-frigate-sonar)

## Source references

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxiZrYBFjXk&t=2529s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxiZrYBFjXk&t=2529s)
* [https://x.com/NewsNation/status/2098109249566191769](https://x.com/NewsNation/status/2098109249566191769)