Nimitz "Tic Tac" encounter
Also: USS Nimitz UFO incident
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The visual record
Illustrations, recordings and archival references — each with its own provenance. A documented source is a starting point for investigation, not a verdict on its explanation.
FLIR / Nimitz
Original agency release. The recording's provenance is established; that alone does not determine the object's identity, speed or origin.
US military / DVIDS ↗Public domain — US government work; DVIDS usage terms applyLicence terms ↗Resized and WebP-converted for display; content unchanged.Jesse Michels · 0:24:03
Open the source at the cited time. The episode thumbnail is video packaging, not a photograph of the reported subject.
American Alchemy / Jesse Michels ↗YouTube-hosted preview and player; not relicensedJesse Michels · 0:19:48
Open the source at the cited time. The episode thumbnail is video packaging, not a photograph of the reported subject.
American Alchemy / Jesse Michels ↗YouTube-hosted preview and player; not relicensedJesse Michels · 0:47:33
Open the source at the cited time. The episode thumbnail is video packaging, not a photograph of the reported subject.
American Alchemy / Jesse Michels ↗YouTube-hosted preview and player; not relicensedFrom 10 November 2004, USS Princeton radar tracked objects off Baja California descending from high altitude to the surface in seconds. On 14 November Cdr David Fravor and three other aviators were vectored to one and reported a white oblong object that moved off at great speed; a second flight recorded the FLIR1 video. The Navy calls it unidentified.
Read the full account
What was reported. Radar operators on USS Princeton tracked groups of objects at 80,000 feet that dropped to the sea in seconds. On 14 November Fravor and Dietrich, flying two F/A-18Fs, were sent to a track and saw a disturbance on the water and a white oblong object 40 feet long moving erratically above it. Fravor descended toward it; it climbed toward him, then vanished, and was re-acquired seconds later at the flight's pre-arranged rendezvous point sixty miles away. Underwood's flight later recorded it on ATFLIR. (FACT about the testimony and the recording.)
What followed. An unsigned 2009 summary circulated; the FLIR1 video was published in December 2017 and formally released in 2020. Fravor testified to the House on 26 July 2023. Crew members said data tapes were collected from the ship by unknown personnel. (FACT.)
What the corpus adds. The Mick West debate reviews the chain: Princeton radar, the Fravor engagement, the Underwood video, and the pilots' testimony. Ryan Graves describes Fravor as a friend who testified with him and notes the craft seemed to react to Fravor. The 2026 skeptic debate lists the witness set and asks what the whole chain implies. (FACT about testimony.)
Explanations offered. West argues the FLIR1 video is consistent with a distant aircraft and camera motion and that the visual account may involve misjudged distance. Supporters cite four trained observers, radar and video from separate sensors, and the Navy's refusal to identify it. (INFERENCE.)
The event
| Date | |
|---|---|
| Place | Nimitz Carrier Group 2004 (sea area) · United States |
| Official response | The Department of Defense released the FLIR1 video on 27 April 2020 and said the phenomena observed remain characterized as unidentified; the Navy had confirmed in 2019 that the videos depicted UAP. No official explanation has been offered. |
Reported by
- David Fravor military Commander, VFA-41 commanding officer
- Alex Dietrich military Lieutenant, VFA-41 wingman
- Kevin Day military Senior Chief, USS Princeton radar operator
- Chad Underwood military Lt Cdr, recorded FLIR1
Investigated by
- aatip government
- uap task force government
- Mick West researcher
Who spoke about it later
- Jesse Michels 0:24:03 UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate ▶ 2025
- Mick West 0:06:56 UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate ▶ 2025
- Ryan Graves 0:19:48 US Fighter Pilots Witness UFO (ft. Ryan Graves) ▶ 2024
- Jesse Michels 0:47:33 I Debated UFOs With America’s Top Skeptic (It Got Ugly...) ▶ 2026
Mentioned in the corpus
Passages this record cites, with the stamp of the block each quote sits in.
UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate 26 January 2025
- 0:06:56 ▶ Mick West
that kind of almost coincided with the uh 2017 December 2017 release of a New York Times article which came with these other videos, gimbal uh and the Fleer 1 video and Go Fast was released a little later. And yeah, when I when I
- 0:06:56 ▶ interview
- 0:24:03 ▶ Jesse Michels
amazing fleer video, thermal video caught in November of 2004. uh you have eyewitnesses uh David Fraver who you mentioned who is really I think a source of uh belief for a lot of people
- 0:24:03 ▶ interview
- 0:25:37 ▶ Jesse Michels
the USS Princeton is a guided missile cruiser. Um and it is part of this Nimmits um strike group and it is over the course of I think a week uh according to one of the witnesses the key witness Kevin Day um maybe 10 days I think 10 days sure okay um
- 0:06:56 ▶ Mick West
US Fighter Pilots Witness UFO (ft. Ryan Graves) 6 December 2024
- 0:19:48 ▶ Jesse Michels
He had an experience at Nimttz in 2004 with their carrier strike group and he mentions that the craft that he saw was
- 0:19:48 ▶ interview
- 0:19:48 ▶ Jesse Michels
I Debated UFOs With America’s Top Skeptic (It Got Ugly...) 9 July 2026
- 0:47:33 ▶ Jesse Michels
You have Kevin Day who's catching the thing with with radar on the USS Princeton. You have a whole chain of custody and you have all these different kind of you know multiensory corroborating things. You have
- 0:47:33 ▶ interview
- 0:47:33 ▶ Jesse Michels
“Tesla's Technology is Still Classified!" (Ft. Senate Staffer Kirk McConnell) 2 April 2025
Named in 1 upload (automatic name matching, 1 mention)
On the map
Nimitz "Tic Tac" encounter, New York Times reveals AATIP and releases Navy videos, Pentagon formally releases FLIR1, GIMBAL and GOFAST, House Oversight UAP hearing (26 July 2023), Roosevelt carrier group encounters (2014–2015), FLIR1 (Nimitz ATFLIR video)… Open the full map filtered to this record.
Sources on this record
- 0:24:03 UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate · Jesse Michels ▶
amazing fleer video, thermal video caught in November of 2004. uh you have eyewitnesses uh David Fraver who you mentioned who is really I think a source of uh belief for a lot of people
- 0:25:37 UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate · Jesse Michels ▶
the USS Princeton is a guided missile cruiser. Um and it is part of this Nimmits um strike group and it is over the course of I think a week uh according to one of the witnesses the key witness Kevin Day um maybe 10 days I think 10 days sure okay um
- 0:06:56 UFO Skeptic Mick West Challenged To A Debate · Mick West ▶
that kind of almost coincided with the uh 2017 December 2017 release of a New York Times article which came with these other videos, gimbal uh and the Fleer 1 video and Go Fast was released a little later. And yeah, when I when I
- 0:19:48 US Fighter Pilots Witness UFO (ft. Ryan Graves) · Jesse Michels ▶
He had an experience at Nimttz in 2004 with their carrier strike group and he mentions that the craft that he saw was
- 0:47:33 I Debated UFOs With America’s Top Skeptic (It Got Ugly...) · Jesse Michels ▶
You have Kevin Day who's catching the thing with with radar on the USS Princeton. You have a whole chain of custody and you have all these different kind of you know multiensory corroborating things. You have
- 0:02:36 “Tesla's Technology is Still Classified!" (Ft. Senate Staffer Kirk McConnell) ▶
Some like the Nimttz case from
- Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos
- Glowing Auras and "Black Money": The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program
- USS Nimitz UFO incident
Built from graph nodes N-SWEEP_B-0014, N-CRAFT-0049, N-CRAFT-0062.