Landmark case · 2004Pacific Ocean off Southern California, USA
USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” Encounter
November 14, 2004
Navy pilots and radar operators from the USS Nimitz carrier group reported an unidentified fast-moving object, captured in an infrared video the Department of Defense later released.
Primary source · U.S. Department of DefenseOfficial statement releasing the Navy videos (2020)Open ↗What is on the record
- In November 2004, personnel with the USS Nimitz carrier strike group off Southern California reported radar tracks and a visual sighting of an object informally described as resembling a “Tic Tac”.
- An F/A-18 targeting-pod infrared video associated with the encounter later circulated publicly.
- In April 2020 the U.S. Department of Defense officially authorized release of three Navy videos, including the 2004 footage, confirming they were genuine.
The ordinary explanation / open question
The Department of Defense stated the phenomena in the videos remain officially “unidentified”; it did not characterize the object as extraterrestrial, and some analysts propose sensor or parallax effects for parts of the imagery.
Videos officially released by the U.S. DoD; object characterized as “unidentified”View the location on the atlas map →
Sources
On the disclosure timeline
Navy videos officially released (2020) · A secret Pentagon program surfaces (2017) open the record →
A documented event, presented with sources — not a claim about its cause. Where a mundane explanation exists it is noted above; where the record is genuinely open, that is said plainly.