Several days of unexplained radar detections before the interception
The incident of November 14, 2004 did not begin on that day. Since at least five days, the operators of USS Princeton — Ticonderoga-class cruiser equipped with the SPY-1B radar, one of the most capable detection systems in the United States Navy — tracks objects that suddenly appear at 80,000 feet (24,000 meters), well above the operational ceiling of any known aircraft, before descending in seconds to the ocean surface.
Radar operators report anomalies to their superiors. First suspecting a hardware failure, they have the entire system recalibrated. The detections persist, identical. The Princeton's combat officer, Second Lieutenant Kevin Day, responsible for monitoring the airspace, documents the observations over several days:
On November 14, the objects reappear. The Princeton contacted the USS Nimitz to request that an air patrol be sent for visual identification. Commander David Fravor receives the mission.
November 14 — Fravor and Dietrich go on interception
The commander David Fravor, 41, commander of VFA-41 “Black Aces” squadron, takes off from USS Nimitz with Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich to his wing. Each pilots a two-seater F/A-18F Super Hornet: Fravor with his Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) in the back, Dietrich with his. Four eyes in total in the two rear cockpits.
Guided by the Princeton, they headed to an area about 100 km off the California coast. Arriving in the area, they notice below them a body of water which presents a unusual surface agitation — as if something significant was just beneath the surface, creating a bubbling with no visible wind waves or swells.
Above this area, they see the object:
The object is moving slowly, with no obvious straight path, at a low altitude above the water. It emits no condensation trails, no smoke, no reactor flames.
What Commander David Fravor Described — His Full Testimony
Fravor decides to engage the object and begins a downward spiral in an attempt to approach it. What happens then is the crux of the incident:
As Fravor spirals down, the object rises in mirror — as if he was anticipating her movements. The two objects — the plane and the Tic-Tac — face each other, one rising while the other descends, in a sort of symmetrical rotation. Fravor then estimates he is about 0.8 km from the object.
Then, without progressive acceleration, without prior sign, the object suddenly projects towards Fravor — stops a few hundred meters in front of its nose — and, in a fraction of a second, disappears towards the CAP point (agreed meeting point), located approximately 100 km away. The distance was covered in two seconds according to estimates at the time, an initial speed greater than Mach 40.
“It was speeding up like nothing I've ever seen. I have been flying for sixteen years. I had no idea what I was observing. No wings, no rotor, no exhaust plume. Whatever it was, it was far beyond anything we have. »
— Commander David Fravor, New York Times, December 16, 2017
Fravor has repeated this testimony consistently for years: before the US Congress (2023), in several mainstream shows, in specialized podcasts. He never varied on a single detail. He also clarified: “It was not an atmospheric phenomenon. It wasn't a bird. It wasn't a ball. It was a controlled device, and it acted with intent. »
⚠ Fravor’s profile
David Fravor is a US Navy Commander, Squadron Commander, graduate of the US Naval Academy. He has flown more than 3,500 hours, including combat missions. He has no interest in fabricating testimony — his career continued as normal after the incident. His testimony is considered even by skeptics to be one of the most credible in the history of military pilot observations.
Alex Dietrich — the winger's perspective
Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich was flying the second F/A-18F, a few hundred meters from Fravor throughout the interception. She remained silent for a long time — her first public statement dates back to 2020, in interviews with CBS News and the show Good Morning America.
His testimony confirms and clarifies that of Fravor:
- She viewed the object from a different position — eliminating any personal optical illusions.
- It confirms the capsule shape, the total absence of fins and visible propulsion system.
- It confirms the mirrored movement when Fravor began his spiral.
- She confirms the sudden disappearance of the object.
“It was…disturbing.” Not because I was afraid — but because I'm someone who needs answers, and there were none. It behaved in a way that nothing I know can do. »
— Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich, CBS News, May 2020
Dietrich insists on one point: her and Fravor did not have an armed mission that day. They were conducting a training exercise. The F/A-18Fs carried no operational weapons. She also emphasizes that she did not seek to capitalize on this incident: “I'm not someone who seeks fame. I spoke out because people deserve to know what happened. »
✓ Two independent witnesses, two separate devices
The fact that Fravor and Dietrich observed the object from two separate aircraft, from different angles, and described exactly the same thing — independently, for sixteen years — greatly strengthens the credibility of their accounts. Not to mention the two weapon systems officers (WSO) installed in the rear seats of each aircraft, who have not made public statements but whose internal reports corroborate the observations.
Chad Underwood films the object — FLIR1 video
After the interception of Fravor and Dietrich, the Princeton vectored a second crew towards the CAP point — the place where the object disappeared. The lieutenant Chad Underwood, F/A-18F pilot, arrives in the area and detects the object with the infrared sensor FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) of his device.
Underwood will film the object for several minutes. It is this recording — known as FLIR1 ou Nimitz UFO video — which will become the most watched video in the history of ufology.
What the FLIR1 video shows:
- An oblong shaped object, glowing in infrared without a localized heat source, which moves in front of the devices.
- Of rapid rotations around its longitudinal axis — movement physically impossible for a conventional aircraft at this speed.
- A sudden off-camera acceleration at the end of the sequence, without prior deceleration.
- The complete absence of a reactor heat signature — no hot trails, no infrared plumes.
“The object did not behave according to the laws of physics that I know. There was no trail, no coherent infrared signature. When he moved to leave the frame — he took a moment, and it was over. »
— Lt. Chad Underwood, podcast Fighter Pilot, 2019
Underwood said in the same interview that he had never, in his entire career as a combat pilot, seen an object behave in this manner — and that he reported the sighting to his chain of command immediately after landing.
Pentagon declassifies — April 27, 2020
Le April 27, 2020, the US Department of Defense issues an official statement and declassifies three videos: FLIR1 (Nimitz 2004), GIMBAL (USS Theodore Roosevelt, 2015) and GOFAST (2015). This is the first time in history that the Pentagon has officially recognized the existence and authenticity of recordings of unidentified aerial objects.
Excerpt from the Pentagon press release:
“The Department of Defense is authorizing the release of these videos to dispel any misconceptions about their authenticity or whether they reveal more information than is already in the public domain. »
— Official statement from the US Department of Defense, April 27, 2020
L'AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office), created in 2022 to centralize the U.S. government's UAP investigations, classified the Nimitz incident as a case unresolved to date. In its 2023 annual report to Congress, AARO cites the Nimitz incident as one of the historical cases that lacks a satisfactory explanation.
Physics of the impossible — what the data proves
Independent physicists, aeronautical engineers, and defense analysts examined the combined data from the Nimitz incident: Princeton's SPY-1 radar, FLIR1 video, and pilot testimonies. Their conclusions converge on several points:
- Absence of thermal signature : the FLIR does not capture any localized heat source corresponding to a reactor. Any thermally powered aircraft produces significant heat, immediately visible in infrared at this resolution.
- No condensation trail : at this altitude and speed, any flying object produces visible drag. The complete absence of drag is inexplicable by conventional aerodynamic models.
- Acceleration without transient : According to Fravor, the object goes from quasi-stationary to disappearing in a few seconds. Such acceleration would generate G-forces of several hundred g—incompatible with any known structure and any biological occupant without radically unknown anti-inertia technology.
- Assumed transmediant capacity : The Princeton had reported that the objects seemed to transit between altitude and the water surface. If confirmed, this would imply an ability to operate in two radically different physical environments (air and water) with no visible transition.
✗ No satisfactory conventional explanation
- Advanced drone : No known drone in 2004 could reach 80,000 feet, descend instantly, remain stationary without a visible signature, and then accelerate to those speeds.
- Classified US military prototype : no known program (even classified and subsequently declassified) corresponds to the observed capabilities.
- Atmospheric phenomenon : incompatible with the controlled movements and stable form observed visually and in infrared.
- Radar error : eliminated — the radars had been recalibrated and the contacts visually confirmed by four pilots.
The AATIP program — the American government knew
In December 2017, the New York Times reveals the existence of the program AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program), a $22 million classified Pentagon program active from 2007 to 2012, led by Luis Elizondo. The Nimitz/Tic-Tac incident was one of his priority files.
Luis Elizondo, who resigned from the Pentagon to protest the lack of serious handling of the UAP files, publicly stated:
“We have evidence that we may not be alone. These observations represent technology that exceeds what we have, and in some cases exceeds the laws of physics as we understand them. »
— Luis Elizondo, former AATIP program director, CNN, October 2017
Since the revelation of the AATIP, the institutional recognition of UAPs has continued to progress:
- June 2020 : the US Senate asks intelligence for a report on UAPs.
- June 2021 : Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) releases its first public UAP report — 144 unsolved cases.
- July 2022 : creation of the AARO by Congress.
- July 2023 : David Grusch, intelligence analyst, testifies before Congress under oath about a program to recover materials of non-human origin — direct citation of the Nimitz incident as a starting point.
✓ The legacy of the Nimitz incident
The USS Nimitz incident of November 14, 2004 is, in 2026, the reference point for any institutional discussion on UAPs. He is cited in every Congressional report, every public hearing. The credibility of its witnesses – active or retired military personnel, under oath – and the authenticity of the FLIR1 video confirmed by the Pentagon itself make it the strongest case ever officially documented by a government.
Sources and further reading
- Pentagon — FLIR1 declassification press release, GIMBAL, GOFAST, April 27, 2020 — https://www.defense.gov/
- Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, Leslie Kean — “Glowing Auras and Black Money,” New York Times, December 16, 2017
- Commander David Fravor — testimonies: NYT Dec. 2017, Congress 2023, Lex Fridman Podcast #315 (2022)
- Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich — CBS News and Good Morning America, May 2020
- Lieutenant Chad Underwood — podcast Fighter Pilot with Vincent Aiello, 2019
- Kevin Day (USS Princeton radar operator) — public statements, documentary The Nimitz Encounters, 2019
- AARO — annual report to Congress, 2023 (cites Nimitz incident among unresolved cases) — https://www.aaro.mil/
- ODNI — Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, June 2021
- Luis Elizondo — AATIP revelations, To The Stars Academy, October 2017
- David Grusch — testimony before the Congressional Subcommittee, July 26, 2023
