The Nimitz Case, the "Tic Tac"
The account
A white oval object with no wings performed maneuvers no known aircraft can match, in front of Navy pilots.
What investigators found
The video is authentic, confirmed by the Pentagon in 2020. Skeptics attribute part of the effect to sensor limitations. There is no definitive official explanation.
The story
In November 2004, the USS Nimitz carrier group was conducting exercises in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. For days, the radars of the USS Princeton detected objects that dropped from high altitude to near the surface in seconds.
Commander David Fravor was sent in his fighter jet to check. He and other pilots saw a white, oval object resembling a "Tic Tac" mint, with no wings and no exhaust, which accelerated and vanished in a way no known aircraft could. Shortly afterward, another crew recorded the object with the jet's infrared camera.
The video became public in 2017 and was confirmed as authentic by the Pentagon in 2020. In 2023, Fravor told the story under oath before the U.S. Congress. Skeptics attribute part of the effect to sensor limitations, but the case still has no official explanation.