MilitaryNov 2004Pacific Ocean off southern California

USS Nimitz 'Tic Tac'

Name: USS Nimitz 'Tic Tac'
Start: 2004-11
Location: Pacific Ocean off southern California

A frame from FLIR1, recorded by a Nimitz strike group crew in November 2004 United States Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Navy F/A-18F crews from the USS Nimitz strike group, cued by the cruiser USS Princeton's radar, reported intercepting a smooth white object they could not identify. Another crew recorded the infrared video the Pentagon later released as FLIR1.

Evidence

Significance

Sources

OfficialStatement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos (opens in a new tab)U.S. Department of Defense (now hosted at war.gov) / 2020-04-27
OfficialNAVAIR FOIA Document Library (official video files) (opens in a new tab)Naval Air Systems Command
FirsthandStatement of Commander David Fravor (Ret.) for the House Oversight Committee (opens in a new tab)U.S. House Committee on Oversight / 2023-07-26

How sources are chosen and tiered

5 Mar 2004Military

Campeche infrared video

A Mexican Air Force surveillance plane on a drug patrol recorded up to 11 lights visible only in infrared over Campeche. The Defense Ministry gave the video to a UFO researcher, and it aired in May 2004; a later analysis argued the lights were distant oil-platform flares.

Evidence

Significance

1999Military

COMETA report published

A French working group of about a dozen specialists led by retired Air Force General Denis Letty issued a report on UFOs and defense and took it to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. It cautiously raised an extraterrestrial explanation; it was a private effort, not a government study.

Evidence

Significance

Jan 2015Military

Gimbal and GoFast encounters

Navy F/A-18 crews training off the U.S. East Coast recorded the infrared videos later known as Gimbal and GoFast. Pilots in the squadron, including Ryan Graves, have said they saw unidentified objects repeatedly in 2014 and 2015.

Evidence

Significance

30 Mar 1990Military

Belgian Air Force F-16 radar intercept

On March 30-31, 1990, two Belgian F-16s were scrambled after ground radar contacts that matched visual reports; pilots saw nothing but recorded brief radar locks. The Air Force said it could not identify the phenomena; skeptics trace the locks to the other F-16 and false echoes.

Evidence

Significance