{"id":16759983,"date":"2026-08-26T14:44:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/?p=16759983"},"modified":"2026-08-26T14:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:46:25","slug":"nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Navy Aircrew Actually Reported"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n<p>On 14 November 2004, a US Navy F\/A-18F on a routine training intercept off southern California was vectored onto something the cruiser USS Princeton had been tracking for days. The squadron commander who flew that intercept has described what he saw ever since. The Pentagon released the video in 2020 and confirmed it was real.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What follows is only what can actually be sourced &mdash; official documents, sworn testimony and named participants. It is a shorter story than most versions, and rather more interesting for it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 24px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Date:<\/strong> 14 November 2004<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Ships:<\/strong> USS Nimitz (CVN-68) strike group; USS Princeton (CG-59)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Squadron:<\/strong> VFA-41 &ldquo;Black Aces&rdquo;, flying F\/A-18F Super Hornets<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Visual sighting:<\/strong> Cdr David Fravor, commanding officer of VFA-41, and then-Lt Alex Dietrich<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Video:<\/strong> Shot by Lt Chad Underwood, VFA-41, the same day &mdash; not by Fravor<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Video length:<\/strong> 76.3 seconds &mdash; an excerpt, passive infrared, not a radar lock<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Official status:<\/strong> Released by DoD 27 April 2020; still listed by AARO as an unresolved case<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Resolution report:<\/strong> None published for this case<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the participants actually say<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Fravor was the commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 41, embarked in Nimitz during pre-deployment workups. He and his wingman were on a two-versus-two training sortie when they were redirected.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>His sworn testimony to the House Oversight Committee in July 2023 describes a small white object shaped like a Tic Tac, with no rotors, no rotor wash and no visible flight control surfaces, above a disturbance in the water.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Under questioning he was notably careful about that disturbance: he said they did not see an object in the water, that something was there to cause the white water, and that when they turned back it was gone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1369851002  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5mQu.cfa2\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/fa-18f-super-hornet-vfa-41-black-aces.jpg\" alt=\"An F\/A-18F Super Hornet of VFA-41, the Black Aces\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An F\/A-18F Super Hornet of VFA-41, the Black Aces &mdash; Fravor&rsquo;s squadron. Photo: US Navy \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Three details commonly reported are not supported by the sworn record. Fravor gave no size estimate under oath &mdash; the widely quoted forty-foot and forty-six-foot figures come from elsewhere, including a document of unverified provenance. He also confirmed, when asked directly, that he was not aware of any other reconnaissance platform that had tracked or recorded the object&rsquo;s manoeuvres.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>And the video was not his. It was shot roughly ninety minutes later by another VFA-41 pilot, Lieutenant Chad Underwood, whose aircraft carried the targeting pod. This is misattributed almost everywhere.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The most deflationary quote comes from the man who filmed it<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The famous moment in the video is the final left-hand acceleration out of frame. Underwood, asked about it, declined to claim it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;At that point, I did not actually see the object aggressively accelerate to the left, as the video shows, to actually prove that&hellip; And that part kind of sucks, because I can&rsquo;t confirm that the object aggressively accelerated that way.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt Chad Underwood<\/strong> &mdash; VFA-41 pilot who recorded the FLIR video, interviewed by <em>New York<\/em> magazine, December 2019<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>That is the single most useful sentence in the entire case, and it comes from a participant rather than a critic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1960745632  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:T5qf.cfa3\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/uss-princeton-cg-59-aegis-cruiser.jpg\" alt=\"The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59)\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">USS Princeton, whose SPY-1 radar generated the tracks that prompted the intercept. Photo: US Navy \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the government has and has not said<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The video leaked in 2007 and was republished by the New York Times in December 2017. On 27 April 2020 the Department of Defense released it officially, stating that the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterised as unidentified, and that it was releasing them to clear up misconceptions about whether the footage was real.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Office of the Director of National Intelligence published a preliminary assessment in June 2021 covering 144 reports from US government sources. It identified exactly one with high confidence &mdash; a large deflating balloon. The others remained unexplained. The document does not mention Nimitz, Tic Tac or FLIR anywhere.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office was established in 2022. Its March 2024 historical review concluded it had found no empirical evidence that any UAP sighting represented off-world technology &mdash; but that report examines government <em>programmes<\/em>, not individual cases, and does not mention this one.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The most precise statement available is administrative rather than rhetorical: AARO&rsquo;s own imagery page still files the video under unresolved cases, and unlike one of the other 2020 videos, no case resolution report has been published for it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZBtMbBPzqHY\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin:-14px 0 24px;font-style:italic\">Fravor and Dietrich describing the encounter on <em>60 Minutes<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The technical counter-argument<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The most substantial sceptical work is Mick West&rsquo;s frame-by-frame analysis, which identifies a lens field-of-view change late in the video and then a zoom from one times to two times magnification. His argument is that the apparent final acceleration is largely an artefact of the zoom doubling an existing steady leftward drift, and he is explicit that he is offering likely explanations rather than precise identifications.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>A version of the same argument has been made by AARO&rsquo;s own first director in a non-peer-reviewed preprint: that without range data, the calculated velocity of a distant object carries enormous error.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Fravor&rsquo;s response to sensor-artefact arguments is that people who have never operated the system are extrapolating. It is a fair point about the radar and eyewitness elements. It is a weaker one about the video, because the man who shot the video has already declined to vouch for the part in dispute.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Just because I&rsquo;m saying that we saw this unusual thing in 2004 I am in no way implying that it was extraterrestrial or alien technology or anything like that.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt Cdr Alex Dietrich, USN (Ret.)<\/strong> &mdash; Then a lieutenant, airborne with Fravor during the visual sighting, speaking in 2021<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/U1di0XIa9RQ\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin:-14px 0 24px;font-style:italic\">The frame-by-frame sceptical analysis of the video, including the lens and zoom changes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Where this actually leaves things<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Fravor&rsquo;s sharpest complaint under oath was not about what the object was. It was about process: that the incident was never investigated, none of his crew were questioned, and the tapes were never collected.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That is the durable point. An American strike group generated multi-day radar tracks, an aircrew reported a visual encounter, a targeting pod recorded something &mdash; and the institutional response was to do nothing with any of it for thirteen years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Both the Pentagon in 2020 and AARO today use the same word: unidentified. That is a statement about the quality of the available data, not about the origin of the object. Anyone using this case to prove something in either direction is going further than the evidence goes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/usPustgTcDU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin:-14px 0 24px;font-style:italic\">Fravor&rsquo;s opening statement to the House Oversight Committee, July 2023.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin:24px 0 0\">Sources: House Oversight Committee hearing transcript (26 July 2023), US Department of Defense statement (27 April 2020), ODNI Preliminary Assessment on UAP (June 2021), AARO, <em>New York<\/em> magazine, <em>60 Minutes<\/em>, Metabunk<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-35b-cross-deck-hms-queen-elizabeth-uss-america-2021\/\">Cross-Decking F-35Bs: When a British Carrier Armed an American Jet<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/battle-of-mogadishu-1993-black-hawk-helicopter-tactics\/\">Black Hawk Down: The Air Battle Over Mogadishu, 1993<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stripped of embellishment: what is in the sworn testimony, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote in the whole case comes from the pilot who shot the video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":16759066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16759983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Aircrew Reported | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What the Nimitz Tic Tac sworn testimony actually says, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote comes from the pilot who filmed it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Aircrew Reported | MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What the Nimitz Tic Tac sworn testimony actually says, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote comes from the pilot who filmed it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-26T12:44:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-26T12:46:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5mQu.cfa2\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"834\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\"},\"headline\":\"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Navy Aircrew Actually Reported\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-26T12:44:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-26T12:46:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1140,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Military Aviation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Aircrew Reported | MiGFlug\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-26T12:44:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-26T12:46:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"What the Nimitz Tic Tac sworn testimony actually says, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote comes from the pilot who filmed it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":834,\"caption\":\"041116-N-6536T-188 Pacific Ocean (November 16, 2004) -- USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) steams alongside USS Nimitz (CVN 68) for a photo exercise. Nimitz is currently conducting Tailored Ships Training Availability I\\\/II\\\/III (TSTA I\\\/II\\\/III) and Final Exercise Period (FEP) off the coast of southern California. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer\u00eds Mate 3rd Class Elizabeth Thompson\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Navy Aircrew Actually Reported\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\",\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joseph Duncan\"},\"description\":\"Joseph Duncan covers breaking defence news \u2014 fast, sharp dispatches on the Pentagon, procurement and the world\u2019s air forces.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/author\\\/josephduncan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Aircrew Reported | MiGFlug","description":"What the Nimitz Tic Tac sworn testimony actually says, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote comes from the pilot who filmed it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Aircrew Reported | MiGFlug","og_description":"What the Nimitz Tic Tac sworn testimony actually says, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote comes from the pilot who filmed it.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-08-26T12:44:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-26T12:46:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":834,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5mQu.cfa2\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joseph Duncan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joseph Duncan","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/"},"author":{"name":"Joseph Duncan","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85"},"headline":"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Navy Aircrew Actually Reported","datePublished":"2026-08-26T12:44:22+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-26T12:46:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/"},"wordCount":1140,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5mQu.cfa2\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg","articleSection":["Military Aviation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/","name":"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Aircrew Reported | MiGFlug","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5mQu.cfa2\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-26T12:44:22+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-26T12:46:25+00:00","description":"What the Nimitz Tic Tac sworn testimony actually says, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote comes from the pilot who filmed it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5mQu.cfa2\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5mQu.cfa2\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/uss-nimitz-cvn-68-november-2004.jpg","width":1280,"height":834,"caption":"041116-N-6536T-188 Pacific Ocean (November 16, 2004) -- USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) steams alongside USS Nimitz (CVN 68) for a photo exercise. Nimitz is currently conducting Tailored Ships Training Availability I\/II\/III (TSTA I\/II\/III) and Final Exercise Period (FEP) off the coast of southern California. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer\u00eds Mate 3rd Class Elizabeth Thompson"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimitz-tic-tac-2004-uap-evidence-fravor-underwood\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Navy Aircrew Actually Reported"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85","name":"Joseph Duncan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joseph Duncan"},"description":"Joseph Duncan covers breaking defence news \u2014 fast, sharp dispatches on the Pentagon, procurement and the world\u2019s air forces.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/author\/josephduncan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16759983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16759983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16759983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16760027,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16759983\/revisions\/16760027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16759066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16759983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16759983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16759983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}