USS Nimitz

The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. It was the lead vessel of the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group that was involved in the 2004 Tic Tac, one of the most well-documented and significant UAP encounters in modern history.¹

The 2004 Tic Tac Incident

In November 2004, while conducting pre-deployment training exercises off the coast of San Diego, the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, which included the Aegis-class cruiser USS Princeton, detected a series of anomalous aerial vehicles. These objects were tracked on radar for nearly two weeks, performing maneuvers that defied the capabilities of any known aircraft.¹

On November 14, 2004, several F/A-18 Super Hornets from the Nimitz were dispatched to intercept one of these objects. The pilots, including Commander Dave Fravor and Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich, witnessed a white, oblong craft, nicknamed the "Tic Tac," performing impossible maneuvers over a disturbance in the ocean. The incident was captured on video by an ATFLIR pod, and the object was tracked on radar by the USS Princeton.¹

The encounter with the Tic Tac became a cornerstone case for the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and was instrumental in bringing the UAP issue to the attention of the public and Congress. The credibility of the witnesses, all highly trained naval aviators, and the high-fidelity data from multiple sensor platforms, made the incident impossible to dismiss.¹

Key Vessels and Personnel

The key vessels involved in the incident were the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the lead aircraft carrier of the strike group, and the USS Princeton (CG-59), the Aegis-class guided missile cruiser that initially tracked the UAP. The key personnel involved were Commander Dave Fravor, the commanding officer of the Black Aces squadron and the lead pilot who engaged the Tic Tac; Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich, the pilot of the second F/A-18 involved in the initial encounter; and Lieutenant Chad Underwood, the pilot who captured the ATFLIR video of the Tic Tac.¹