The Tic-Tac · USS Nimitz encounters
Between 10 and 16 November 2004, during a routine Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) off Baja California, the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group tracked, intercepted, and visually identified an unknown object at sea — described by the pilots as "a forty-foot Tic-Tac with no wings, no exhaust, and no visible means of propulsion". The encounter produced an Air Intercept Officer's targeting-pod recording known publicly as FLIR1, declassified by the Department of Defense on 16 April 2020.
What the official record says
The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) released a formal Executive Summary of the 2004 USS Nimitz encounters in 2019. The Department of Defense followed with a 16 April 2020 press statement officially authenticating the FLIR1 footage and acknowledging that it had been previously circulated without DoD authorisation. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office currently lists the case in its 2024 Historical Record Report Vol. I case appendix as unresolved.
The AAW radar aboard USS Princeton (CG-59) tracked multiple unknown objects from 8 to 14 November 2004 — appearing at 80,000 ft and dropping to sea level in less than one second. Senior Chief Kevin Day, who operated the SPY-1 radar console, has stated on the record that Princeton tracked between eight and twelve distinct objects exhibiting the same flight characteristics over the course of the week.
Timeline
USS Princeton's SPY-1 radar begins tracking unidentified objects appearing at 80,000 ft and dropping to the surface in seconds. Tracks initially treated as system fault.
Princeton diverts two F/A-18Fs (Fravor + Dietrich) from a training intercept to investigate a real-world contact at 24,000 ft over the Pacific.
Cmdr Fravor visually acquires an oblong white object hovering above a "frothing" patch of sea. Pursues; object accelerates and disappears. Reported "left CAP" — 60 nmi in under one minute.
A second F/A-18F flight (Underwood + AIO) captures the FLIR1 footage at ~20,000 ft. Object held lock for 16 seconds before departure.
Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) initiates classified review.
FLIR1 publicly surfaces via the To The Stars Academy; NYT publishes the first-person account.
DoD officially declassifies FLIR1, Gimbal, and GoFast. AARO subsequently inherits the case.
AARO Historical Record Vol. I lists USS Nimitz November 2004 events as unresolved.
Linked evidence in this archive
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FLIR1 — Targeting pod footage, 14 November 2004
F/A-18F AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR pod recording. Officially declassified by the DoD on 16 April 2020. One of three releases (with Gimbal and GoFast).
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USS Nimitz November 2004 Encounters — Executive Summary
The ONI's unclassified executive summary of the November 2004 events; the foundation document for the modern public account.
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Historical Record Report Vol. I — Case Index
AARO's 2024 historical record. November 2004 Nimitz cluster is referenced; full case-resolution pending Vol. II.
Related AARO declassified footage
Why this case still matters
The 2004 USS Nimitz events combine multi-sensor data (Princeton SPY-1 radar, F/A-18F APG-73 air-intercept radar, FLIR1 targeting pod), multiple corroborating witnesses (Fravor, Dietrich, Slaight, Underwood, the entire Princeton CIC watch), and sustained military attention across more than a week of carrier-group operations. The 2020 declassification was the first official acknowledgement by the Department of Defense that these encounters happened as documented.
For AARO's mandate under 10 U.S.C. § 1683 (NDAA FY 2022 § 1683), the Nimitz cluster is the canonical reference case for what unresolved means in a modern multi-sensor environment.
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