Overview
On November 14, 2004, pilots from the USS Nimitz carrier strike group encountered an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) off the coast of Southern California. The object was described as a 40-foot-long, white, oval craft—resembling a "Tic Tac" candy—with no visible wings, rotors, or exhaust.
The Encounter
Commander David Fravor and Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich witnessed the object hovering above a disturbance in the ocean before it mimicked Fravor's flight path and accelerated at "instantaneous" speeds. Radar data from the USS Princeton showed these objects dropping from 80,000 feet to sea level in seconds, a feat that would require technology far beyond human capability.
Skeptical Explanations
While the footage was officially released by the Pentagon in 2020, skeptics suggest the "Tic Tac" could be a secret U.S. drone project, electronic warfare spoofing by a foreign power, or a software artifact. However, the pilots maintain that the craft's flight characteristics were not consistent with any known aerodynamic principles.