USS Nimitz / Tic Tac Encounter
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Evidence quality · 6 components
Behavioral anomalousness · 4 components
TL;DR
Pentagon-authenticated FLIR thermal video of a 40-foot wingless object tracked on AN/SPY-1B radar for two weeks, with four naval aviators providing corroborating visual testimony under oath before Congress.
Confirmed
- ✓DoD officially released and authenticated the FLIR1 video, characterizing the object as 'unidentified' (April 27, 2020)
- ✓USS Princeton AN/SPY-1B radar tracked anomalous contacts descending from 80,000 ft for two weeks prior to the intercept
- ✓CDR David Fravor testified under oath before the House Oversight Committee (July 26, 2023)
- ✓Four VFA-41 aviators observed a white, wingless, ~40-foot object with anomalous performance
Unresolved
- ?Object's origin and propulsion mechanism
- ?Whether the two-week radar contacts represent the same phenomenon as the November 14 visual encounter
- ?Whether complete FLIR footage beyond the released clip exists in classified holdings
- ?Whether post-incident data seizure by unidentified personnel occurred
Strongest mundane explanation
A 2023 Joint Force Quarterly article proposed Taurid meteor activity and SCORE test range deconfliction issues explain the multi-week radar contacts, but this hypothesis cannot account for the November 14 visual observation by four experienced aviators or the object's apparent mirroring of Fravor's intercept maneuver.
During a pre-deployment exercise, two F/A-18F Super Hornets from VFA-41 'Black Aces' were directed by USS Princeton radar to investigate an unidentified contact. CDR David Fravor observed a 40-foot white Tic Tac-shaped object with no wings, no exhaust, and no visible means of propulsion performing impossible maneuvers above a churning patch of water. When Fravor attempted to intercept, the object accelerated toward him, then vanished. A second crew captured it on FLIR video minutes later. The Pentagon authenticated the footage in 2020. Fravor testified under oath before Congress in 2023.
Key Facts
- ›Date: November 14, 2004, approximately 2:00 PM local time
- ›Location: Pacific Ocean, approximately 100 nautical miles southwest of San Diego
- ›USS Princeton (CG-59) had been tracking anomalous objects on radar for two weeks before this encounter
- ›The object was described as approximately 40 feet long, white, oblong, with no wings, rotors, or visible propulsion
- ›It was hovering at approximately 50 feet above a violently churning sea surface
- ›When Fravor descended to intercept, the object climbed aggressively toward him, then reversed course and accelerated out of sight in under a second
- ›A second F/A-18 crew captured the object on FLIR video (FLIR1 footage) minutes after Fravor's encounter
- ›The Pentagon officially authenticated the FLIR1 footage in April 2020
- ›CDR Fravor, Lt CDR Jim Slaight, CDR Alex Dietrich, and her WSO were all witnesses from the air
- ›USS Princeton senior radar operator Kevin Day tracked the objects descending from 80,000 ft to sea level with no transient