Tic Tac UAP (USS Nimitz Encounter)

The Tic Tac UAP encounter is the most thoroughly documented military UAP case in modern U.S. history. Over several days in November 2004, the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group tracked anomalous objects on advanced radar off the coast of Southern California, culminating in a daylight visual encounter by two F/A-18F Super Hornet crews.

What happened during the Tic Tac encounter?

On November 14, 2004, the USS Princeton, an Aegis-equipped cruiser, had been tracking dozens of unidentified objects descending from above 80,000 feet to near sea level. Commander David Fravor and Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich were vectored to intercept. Fravor described a white, smooth, wingless object roughly 40 feet long, shaped like a Tic Tac breath mint, hovering over a disturbance in the ocean before accelerating away at extraordinary speed with no visible propulsion or control surfaces.

Was the Tic Tac UAP confirmed on radar?

Yes. The object was tracked by the AN/SPY-1 radar aboard USS Princeton and later by the radar of an inbound F/A-18 equipped with an advanced ATFLIR pod. After the visual encounter, the object reappeared roughly 60 miles away at a designated CAP point within seconds, behavior consistent across multiple independent sensors.

Why does the Tic Tac case matter?

The Nimitz encounter combined trained military observers, multiple radar systems, and infrared video, a rare convergence of evidence. The FLIR1 video was declassified and released by the Department of Defense in 2020, and the case anchored congressional UAP hearings and the formation of the UAP Task Force and AARO.