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Key Takeaways
- Radar tracked objects at hypersonic speeds
- Pilots engaged 40ft object with no wings
- Pentagon confirmed videos are authentic
Introduction to the 2004 Training Exercise
In November 2004, the Carrier Strike Group 11, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, conducted routine combat training exercises off the coast of Southern California. This region, specifically the warning areas southwest of San Diego, served as a standard training ground for naval aviators preparing for deployment. The strike group included the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton, which played a central role in the detection of anomalous targets.
The exercise involved the Black Aces of Strike Fighter Squadron 41 (VFA-41), a unit flying the F/A-18 Super Hornet. While the pilots anticipated standard air-to-air combat maneuvers and interception drills, the events that unfolded over several days challenged their understanding of aerial physics and aerospace capabilities. Personnel aboard the ships and in the cockpits witnessed phenomena that defied conventional explanation, leading to one of the most significant documented encounters with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) in military history.
The Prelude: Radar Anomalies and the USS Princeton
The incident did not begin with a visual sighting but with electronic data. In early November 2004, approximately one week prior to the primary visual encounter, radar operators aboard the USS Princeton began noticing irregular tracks on their displays. The USS Princeton utilized the AN/SPY-1B passive electronically scanned array radar, a component of the Aegis Combat System designed to track hundreds of targets simultaneously with high precision.
Fire Controlman Senior Chief Kevin Day, an experienced radar operator, observed groups of radar contacts appearing at roughly 80,000 feet. These tracks, designated as Anomalous Aerial Vehicles (AAVs) in later reports, exhibited behavior inconsistent with known biological or mechanical targets. The objects would drop from 80,000 feet to sea level in less than a second, a maneuver that would subject any physical craft to structural disintegration due to G-forces. They would then hover or cruise at low speeds before shooting back up or disappearing from the scope.
Operators initially suspected a system malfunction. The radar systems underwent a full diagnostic restart to rule out software glitches or “ghost tracks.” Even after recalibrating the systems, the contacts persisted. The clarity of the signal suggested solid objects rather than weather phenomena or birds. Over several days, the operators tracked these objects, noting they often clustered around Catalina Island and San Clemente Island.
The Intercept Mission: November 14, 2004
On the morning of November 14, 2004, the situation escalated from passive tracking to active interception. Two F/A-18F Super Hornets, call signs “Fast Eagle 01” and “Fast Eagle 02,” launched from the USS Nimitz for a training sortie. Commander David Fravor, the commanding officer of VFA-41, piloted the lead aircraft with a weapon systems officer (WSO) in the backseat. Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich piloted the wingman aircraft, also with a WSO.
Shortly after takeoff, an air intercept controller aboard the USS Princeton directed the flight to suspend their training mission and proceed to real-world coordinates. The controller asked the pilots if they were carrying live ordnance. They replied in the negative; the jets carried only captive-carry dummy missiles, rendering them incapable of firing. The controller instructed them to investigate a contact located at a specific vector, noting that the object was currently stationary or moving slowly at roughly 20,000 feet.
Visual Contact and the Disturbed Water
Upon arriving at the designated location, approximately 100 miles southwest of San Diego, the pilots initially saw nothing at their altitude. However, Fravor and Dietrich noticed a disturbance on the ocean surface below. The sea was calm that day, but a specific patch of water, roughly the size of a Boeing 737, churned with white water as if something large was submerged just beneath the surface or hovering immediately above it.
Hovering roughly 50 feet above this disturbance was an object. Both pilots later described it as a white, smooth, oblong craft resembling a “Tic Tac” mint. It possessed no visible wings, rotors, control surfaces, exhaust plumes, or windows. It appeared to be roughly 40 feet in length. The object moved erratically, darting left, right, forward, and back, similar to a ping-pong ball bouncing inside a jar. It maintained its position over the whitewater despite the lack of visible propulsion.
The Engagement
Commander David Fravor decided to investigate closer. He initiated a descent from 20,000 feet, spiraling down to get a better look. As Fravor descended, the object reacted. It began to ascend, mirroring Fravor’s flight path in a circular motion. Fravor described this interaction as if the object recognized his presence and engaged in a playful or defensive maneuver.
Fravor attempted to cut across the circle to meet the object nose-to-nose. As he closed the distance to within half a mile, the object accelerated instantaneously. It vanished from the pilots’ field of view in a fraction of a second, leaving the area at a velocity that far exceeded the capabilities of the Super Hornets.
Upon checking the water below, the pilots noted that the disturbance had ceased. The ocean surface returned to a calm state, and the submerged object (if there was one) was gone. The pilots, low on fuel and perplexed by the encounter, turned back toward the USS Nimitz.
The Cap Point Anomaly
While Fravor and Dietrich returned to the carrier, the air intercept controller on the USS Princeton radioed with startling information. The radar operator stated, “Sir, you’re not going to believe this, but that thing is at your cap point.”
The “cap point” referred to the Combat Air Patrol rendezvous point, a predetermined latitude and longitude used by the pilots for their training cycle. This location was approximately 60 miles away from the engagement zone. The object had traveled that distance in less than a minute, arriving at the exact coordinates the pilots were assigned to use. This detail suggested the object either possessed the ability to intercept encrypted military data links or predicted the pilots’ movements. By the time the jets arrived at the cap point, the object had vanished again.
The FLIR Footage: Documentation of the Object
Following the return of Fravor and Dietrich, a second sortie launched to hunt for the object. This flight included Lieutenant Commander Chad Underwood. Unlike the previous flight, Underwood’s aircraft carried an Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) pod, a sophisticated sensor suite used for targeting and reconnaissance.
Underwood successfully located a contact on his radar and locked the ATFLIR pod onto it. The resulting video, now famous as the “FLIR1” or “Tic Tac” video, shows an oblong shape hovering in place. The system struggled to maintain a lock as the object exhibited no exhaust plume, confounding the infrared sensors which typically track heat signatures.
The video displays the object in both “TV” (visual) and “IR” (infrared) modes. At the end of the clip, the object accelerates to the left of the frame with explosive speed, breaking the sensor lock. Underwood coined the term “Tic Tac” during the debriefing, solidifying the name used in subsequent reports.
| Flight Element | Personnel | Role | Key Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast Eagle 01 | Cmdr. David Fravor | Pilot/CO | Visual engagement, spiraling intercept attempt |
| Fast Eagle 02 | Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich | Wingman | High cover, visual corroboration |
| Princeton CIC | Kevin Day | Radar Operator | Tracked AAVs dropping from 80k ft |
| Sortie 2 | Lt. Cmdr. Chad Underwood | WSO/Pilot | Recorded FLIR infrared footage |
Characteristics and Capabilities
The performance characteristics observed during the Nimitz incident remain the primary reason the event is considered a matter of national security and scientific interest. The capabilities displayed by the object defied the known laws of aerodynamics and inertia.
Instantaneous Acceleration
The most notable feature was the object’s ability to accelerate from a stationary hover to hypersonic speeds almost instantly. Estimates derived from radar data suggest the object accelerated at rates that would produce g-forces in the hundreds or thousands. A human pilot can withstand approximately 9Gs for a short duration with a G-suit. The structural limit of a modern airframe like the F/A-18 is roughly 13.5Gs before catastrophic failure. The “Tic Tac” exhibited acceleration that would turn a human pilot into liquid and disintegrate any known material used in aerospace manufacturing.
Transmedium Travel
The radar data indicated the objects dropped from 80,000 feet (space/upper atmosphere) to sea level in seconds. Furthermore, the visual observation of the water disturbance suggested the possibility of interaction with the ocean. This capability, known as transmedium travel, involves moving seamlessly between space, atmosphere, and water without a change in aerodynamics or propulsion efficiency. Moving through water creates significantly more drag than air, yet the object (or its companion in the water) appeared unaffected by these transitions.
Lack of Visible Propulsion
Conventional aircraft rely on control surfaces (ailerons, rudders, flaps) for lift and maneuvering, and propulsion systems (jet engines, propellers, rockets) for thrust. The “Tic Tac” possessed none of these features. It was a smooth aerodynamic shell with no visible air intake or exhaust. The ability to hover motionless against the wind and then accelerate without a heat signature challenges standard propulsion physics.
The Timeline of Disclosure
For over a decade, the Nimitz incident remained largely unknown to the public, discussed only within naval aviation circles and classified intelligence briefings.
The 2017 Revelation
In December 2017, the The New York Times published a front-page story revealing the existence of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), a secretive United States Department of Defense program tasked with investigating UAP. The article included the release of the “Tic Tac” video along with two other videos (“Gimbal” and “Go Fast”) from later incidents.
The release of the video and the corroborating accounts from pilots like Fravor brought the incident into the mainstream. Luis Elizondo, the former director of AATIP, resigned from the Pentagon in protest of what he described as excessive secrecy and lack of resources for the UAP issue, subsequently working to facilitate the release of these videos.
Official Confirmation
In April 2020, the United States Department of Defense officially released the three videos, confirming that the footage was authentic Navy imagery. The statement noted that the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remained characterized as “unidentified.” This marked a historic pivot from the government’s previous stance of dismissing UFO reports.
Congressional Interest and 2023 Hearings
The credibility of the witnesses involved in the Nimitz incident spurred legislative action. In July 2023, the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs held a hearing titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency.”
Commander David Fravor testified under oath alongside former intelligence officer David Grusch and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves. Fravor recounted the 2004 encounter in detail. He stated that the technology he witnessed was far superior to anything in the US inventory at the time and, in his opinion, superior to anything currently in existence. He emphasized that the object’s performance rendered it impossible to defend against.
| Date | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2004 | Nimitz Encounter | Multi-sensor tracking and visual confirmation of UAP. |
| Dec 2017 | NYT Article Published | Public revelation of AATIP and leak of FLIR videos. |
| Apr 2020 | DoD Confirmation | Pentagon confirms videos are real and objects are unidentified. |
| Jun 2021 | ODNI Preliminary Report | Intelligence community acknowledges 144 UAP reports. |
| Jul 2023 | Congressional Hearing | Fravor testifies under oath about the “Tic Tac” capabilities. |
Skeptical Explanations and Counterarguments
While the pilots and radar operators remain convinced they witnessed advanced technology, skeptics and debunkers have offered alternative explanations.
Radar Glitches
Skeptics argue that the initial radar tracks dropping from 80,000 feet were the result of a system malfunction or a “range gate” error in the SPY-1 radar. However, this does not account for the fact that the system was rebooted and checked, or that the visual sightings by four pilots (Fravor, Dietrich, and their WSOs) correlated with the radar locations.
Electronic Warfare
Another theory suggests the incident was a test of a secret US electronic warfare platform capable of creating false radar targets and potentially projecting holograms. Proponents of this theory argue the exercise near San Diego was the perfect testing ground. However, this does not explain the physical disturbance in the water or the fact that the object was recorded on infrared sensors which track heat, not just radar returns.
Parallax Effect
Regarding the FLIR video, some analysts argue that the sudden movement of the object is a result of the camera losing lock and the jet turning, creating a parallax effect that simulates high speed. While this might explain aspects of the video in isolation, it fails to address the pilot testimonies regarding the “mirroring” engagement and the object’s arrival at the cap point.
Summary
The USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” incident remains one of the most compelling UAP cases on record due to the convergence of multiple data points: advanced radar tracking, visual confirmation by four highly trained observers, and corroboration via infrared video sensors. The testimony of Commander David Fravor and his colleagues presents a challenge to current aerospace understanding. The object demonstrated capabilities – hypersonic velocity without sonic booms, instant acceleration, and transmedium travel – that no known nation possesses. As of today, the object officially remains unidentified, serving as the catalyst for modern legislative efforts to increase transparency regarding anomalous aerial phenomena.
Appendix: Top 10 Questions Answered in This Article
What was the “Tic Tac” object?
The “Tic Tac” was an unidentified anomalous aerial vehicle (UAP) observed by US Navy pilots in 2004. It was described as a white, oblong object roughly 40 feet long, resembling a Tic Tac mint, with no visible wings, rotors, or propulsion.
When and where did the incident occur?
The incident took place in November 2004 off the coast of Southern California. It involved the Carrier Strike Group 11 during training exercises in the warning areas southwest of San Diego.
Who were the primary witnesses?
The primary witnesses were Commander David Fravor and Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich, along with their Weapon Systems Officers. Radar operator Kevin Day aboard the USS Princeton also witnessed the objects on radar.
How fast did the object move?
Radar data indicated the object could drop from 80,000 feet to sea level in less than a second. Pilots observed it accelerating from a stationary position to beyond visual range almost instantly, implying hypersonic velocities.
What is the “Cap Point” significance?
After the object disappeared, it reappeared seconds later at the pilots’ “Cap Point,” a predetermined rendezvous coordinate 60 miles away. This suggested the object anticipated the pilots’ movements or intercepted military data links.
Is there video evidence?
Yes, Lieutenant Commander Chad Underwood recorded infrared footage of the object using an ATFLIR pod. This video, known as “FLIR1,” was released by the Pentagon and shows the object accelerating rapidly at the end.
Did the government confirm the video is real?
Yes, the United States Department of Defense officially released the video in April 2020. They confirmed the footage is authentic Navy imagery and classified the object as “unidentified.”
What were the “whitewater” and water disturbance?
Pilots observed a disturbance on the ocean surface the size of a Boeing 737, with churning whitewater, despite the calm seas. The Tic Tac object was hovering directly above this disturbance.
Did the pilots engage the object?
Commander Fravor attempted to intercept the object by spiraling down toward it. The object mirrored his movements, ascending as he descended, before accelerating away rapidly when Fravor tried to cut across its path.
What was the outcome of the 2023 Congressional hearing?
Commander Fravor testified under oath regarding the encounter, stating the technology was superior to anything in the US inventory. The hearing spurred bipartisan efforts to legislate greater transparency regarding UAP records.
Appendix: Top 10 Frequently Searched Questions Answered in This Article
What did the Tic Tac UFO look like?
The object was described as a smooth, white, oblong cylinder with rounded ends, approximately 40 feet long. It lacked any visible windows, exhaust pipes, wings, or tail sections typical of conventional aircraft.
Why is it called the Tic Tac UFO?
The name was coined by pilot Chad Underwood because the white, oblong shape of the craft on the infrared display and visual observation closely resembled the popular breath mint.
How does the Tic Tac UFO fly without wings?
The method of propulsion remains unknown. The object exhibited no visible means of lift or thrust, leading to speculation about advanced propulsion technologies that may manipulate gravity or spacetime, though this is theoretical.
Did the Tic Tac UFO make a sonic boom?
No, despite accelerating to hypersonic speeds (Mach 5+), the object did not produce a sonic boom. This silence defies standard aerodynamic physics, where displacing air at such speeds creates a shockwave.
Who is Commander David Fravor?
Commander David Fravor was the Commanding Officer of the VFA-41 “Black Aces” squadron. He is a retired Navy pilot who engaged the object visually and later became a primary whistleblower and witness to the event.
What radar detected the Tic Tac UFO?
The USS Princeton utilized the AN/SPY-1B radar, part of the Aegis Combat System. This advanced passive electronically scanned array radar tracked the objects dropping from extreme altitudes.
Is the Tic Tac UFO alien technology?
The origin of the object remains undetermined. While the United States Department of Defense states the object is “unidentified,” they have not officially classified it as extraterrestrial, though pilots have stated the tech is beyond human capabilities.
What is the difference between the Tic Tac and Gimbal videos?
The “Tic Tac” video was filmed in 2004 off the California coast and shows an oblong object. The “Gimbal” video was filmed in 2015 off the East Coast and shows a rotating saucer-like shape; they are separate incidents.
Did the Tic Tac UFO go underwater?
While the pilots saw a disturbance in the water suggesting a larger object or interaction with the ocean, the Tic Tac itself was only observed hovering above the water. However, the capability for transmedium travel is suspected based on the data.
How many Tic Tac UFOs were there?
Radar operators tracked multiple Anomalous Aerial Vehicles (AAVs) over the course of several days. During the specific intercept by Fravor, only one Tic Tac object was visually engaged, though the radar showed others in the vicinity.
