USS Nimitz Tic Tac — Navy Intercept, Pacific

The USS Nimitz encounter began approximately two weeks before the November 14, 2004 intercept, when USS Princeton radar operators first detected unknown objects descending from above 80,000 feet to near sea-surface altitude before disappearing from radar. On November 14, Commander David Fravor and Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich were vectored to investigate. Fravor observed a white, oblong object approximately 40 feet long with no wings, no propulsion surfaces, and no exhaust or heat signature hovering approximately 50 feet above a circular ocean disturbance. When Fravor descended to engage, the object mirrored his movements before accelerating away faster than his aircraft could track — disappearing from visual range in under one second. A second intercept team then captured the now-famous FLIR1 'Tic Tac' infrared footage. The DoD officially declassified and released this footage in April 2020. The 2026 NARA archive release includes the full USS Princeton sensor log, previously redacted portions of the CIC operator debriefs, and a DIA assessment note concluding: 'The observed performance characteristics have no correspondence to any known U.S. or adversary aerospace system.' Commander Fravor has testified about this encounter before the U.S. Congress.