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2004 · Pacific, off Baja California

The Nimitz 'Tic Tac'

On the record
Strength A · 10/10 · 6 independent
Evidence 4/4 · Witnesses 3/3 · Backing 3/3

Named Navy pilots under oath, radar tracks and officially released FLIR1 footage make this one of the best backed cases.

Plausibility Very high
Score 20 · 10 factors for, 0 against

Named Navy pilots under oath, radar tracks and released FLIR1 footage.

See the factors ↓

Unresolved
Part ofThe undersea program

In 2004 two Navy pilots saw a 40-foot white object that radar had tracked dropping from 80,000 feet to sea level, a third pilot filmed it as the FLIR1 video, and it has never been identified.

WhenNovember 14, 2004
WherePacific, off Baja California
Backing6 independent
Witnesses2 named
Evidencesensor data, documents

The cruiser USS Princeton had been tracking objects that dropped from 80,000 feet to sea level in seconds. Commander David Fravor and Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich were sent to look. They saw a smooth white 40-foot object shaped like a Tic Tac above a churning patch of ocean. It mirrored Fravor's moves, then shot away and appeared on radar 60 miles away at their secret rendezvous point. Lt. Chad Underwood later filmed it with his targeting pod: the FLIR1 video.

Evidence, in date order (6)

  1. Nov 2004USS Princeton radarsensor data
    tracked objects dropping from 80,000 ft to sea level Wikipedia: USS Nimitz UFO incident
  2. Nov 2004Gary Voorhiswitness
    Princeton sailor, firsthand on the radar data and tapes being collected Wikipedia: USS Nimitz UFO incident
  3. 14 Nov 2004Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrichwitness
    second pilot who saw the object herself 60 Minutes: Navy pilots recall the 'unsettling' 2004 sighting
  4. 14 Nov 2004Lt. Chad Underwood / Department of Defensesensor data
    FLIR1 targeting-pod video, officially released 2020 Videos released
  5. May 2018DIA program (AAWSAP)document
    13-page 'Executive Summary' on the Anomalous Aerial Vehicles: no known US or foreign vehicle, low observability across radar bands, possible cloaking and undersea operation Released by George Knapp (KLAS), May 2018
  6. AAWSAP / DIA scientistsdocument
    the longer capability analysis (143 pages per Knapp), located by DIA but unreleased Mystery Wire (Knapp and Futrell, with Kelleher clips), October 2026

How plausible · Very high

Named Navy pilots under oath, radar tracks and released FLIR1 footage.

  • ●●
    Access Direct observation or instruments.
  • ●●
    Cost of speaking Named on record.
  • ●●
    No gain sought Nothing to gain.
  • ●●
    Consistent over time Stable over time.
  • ●●
    Restraint Reported plainly.
  • ●●
    Character record Trained professionals.

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.

On the record

  • Fravor testified under oath in 2023; Dietrich has spoken publicly.Hearing, 2023
  • The FLIR1 video, officially released by the Pentagon in 2020.
  • The 13-page "Executive Summary" on the Anomalous Aerial Vehicles (Nimitz carrier group, 10-16 November 2004), released by George Knapp in May 2018: descents "very rapidly" from about 60,000 ft to 50 ft in seconds, an object about 46 ft long that the F/A-18F radar could not lock but the FLIR could track, and a frothy patch of water 50-100 m across "as if the water was boiling" that stopped when it left. A longer version, 143 pages per Knapp, has never been released.
  • DIA's own Key Assessments of the Nimitz encounter are now in an official release (DOW-UAP-D175, BAASS capabilities summary, 23 November 2010, PURSUE Release 07).

Claims

The radar data and original tapes were collected by unidentified men soon after.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedGary Voorhis
AAWSAP investigated the Tic Tac as its very first case and DIA scientists wrote a full capability analysis of the craft (speed, travel, possible propulsion). It is in the set of reports DIA has now found, and not one page of it has been released.secondhandSourced, unconfirmedGeorge Knapp
The AAV is "no known aircraft or air vehicle currently in the inventory of the United States or any foreign nation", with "advanced low observable characteristics at multiple radar bands", and "possibly demonstrated the ability to 'cloak'" and to "operate undersea completely undetectable". (record; the 13-page AAV Executive Summary)analysisOn the record
Jay Stratton wrote the 13-page report as the first case of the DIA program. (secondhand; George Knapp)secondhandSourced, unconfirmed
He got jamming cues on his radar and FLIR tapes, and a second, unreleased FLIR recording exists. (firsthand; Chad Underwood, KLAS 2024; the 2004-era report records the aircrew saying "no jamming cues")firsthandSourced, unconfirmed
A CIA balloon or a secret test. (analysis; Sean Kirkpatrick on leaving AARO; the report's authors ruled out US technology. Proposed, not demonstrated)analysisSourced, unconfirmed

Where

Pacific, off Baja California
31.5°N 117.5°W

In The picture

The pictureIt lives in the oceans too. The Tic Tac, the Gulf of Oman, the USO reports and the Ocean thread suggest bases under the sea, which would fit something that has been here a long time.
They use the waterThe Tic Tac hovered over churning water before it shot away. A Navy chief told Congress he saw glowing objects rise out of the ocean near the USS Jackson, and the ship's thermal sensor then caught four tic-tac shapes that left together 'two steps behind instantaneous'. Four years earlier the USS Omaha tracked a spher…
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Grusch on Rogan 2026Hearing, 2023 2023Manises: TAE flight JK-297 diverted and the Mirage chase 1979NYT bombshell 2017Puerto Rico 1964 1964A Soviet Tic Tac with four bodies 1989A Coast Guard C-144 records "tic tac", IR-hot objects near Tyndall AFB (24 April 2024) 2024USS Jackson tic tacs 2023Videos released 2020Yellow Sea UAP 2024

People and organizations

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works orgThe MITRE Corporation orgNational Reconnaissance Office (NRO) orgRaytheon (RTX) orgAlex Dietrich personDavid Fravor personJay Stratton personKevin Knuth personSteven Greer personBAASS Summary Report on UAP Analysis Capabilities (23 November 2010) documentNRO 'Recent Sentient Highlights' (2021) documentEstimating Flight Characteristics of Anomalous Unidentified Aerial Vehicles documentThe new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP) documentThe Reported Shape, Size, Kinematics, Electromagnetic Effects, and Presence of Sound of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena from Select Reports, 1947-2016 documentThe Reported Shape, Size, Kinematics, Electromagnetic Effects, and Presence of Sound of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena From Select Reports, 1947-2016 documentInitial results from the first field expedition of UAPx to study unidentified anomalous phenomena documentA Civilian Astronomer's Guide to UAP Research document

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