Pacific Ocean off Baja California, southwest of San Diego, United States operational area
The USS Nimitz Tic Tac
On 14 November 2004, two US Navy F/A-18F crews were directed from USS Princeton to investigate an anomalous contact off Baja California. Four aviators reported a smooth white object manoeuvring above disturbed water before rapidly departing. A later crew recorded the separate FLIR1 infrared clip. Th
Why This Case Matters
A rare modern case combining named professional witnesses, an authenticated military video, official acknowledgement and reported multi-sensor context.
Chronology
- Princeton radar contacts reportedly observed over several days
- 14 Nov visual intercept by Fravor/Dietrich crews
- later flight records FLIR1
- public reporting in 2017
- DoD formally releases video in 2020
- Fravor gives sworn House testimony in 2023
The Witnesses
Evidence
The following evidence types are documented for this case:
Conventional explanations: Distant conventional aircraft and ATFLIR tracking/zoom effects explain much of the clip’s apparent motion, but do not by themselves resolve the separately reported close visual encounter or radar narrative; radar/system anomalies and misperception remain possible because raw radar data are unavailable.
What Remains Unresolved
- Identity of visual object
- relationship between visual encounter and FLIR1 target
- reported radar performance
- water disturbance
- precise event coordinates and timings.
Key Takeaways
- Video authenticity is documented
- video alone does not establish extraordinary performance
- four aviators reported the close visual phase
- raw radar data are not public
- public accounts contain chronology and role variations that require claim-level sourcing.
Sources
Primary and secondary sources for this case file: