USS Princeton data recordings claim
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 6
| Date | 14 November 2004 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Military encounters (topic) |
| People | David Fravor, Alex Dietrich, Chad Underwood, Gary Voorhis, Kevin Day |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 159 |
| Year | 2004 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2004 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
Former sailors from the guided-missile cruiser *USS Princeton** have said that soon after the November 2004 "Tic Tac" UAP encounters off southern California, unidentified men collected the ship's radar data recordings. The claims became public in a Popular Mechanics* investigation in November 2019.[1][2]
The encounters
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In November 2004 the Princeton, part of the USS Nimitz carrier strike group, tracked unidentified objects on its SPY-1 radar for several days. Operations specialist senior chief Kevin Day said that from around 10 November he saw groups of five to ten tracks about 100 miles off San Diego, flying at around 28,000 feet at about 100 knots. On 14 November Cmdr. David Fravor and other F/A-18F aircrew were sent to investigate and saw a white, oblong object, later nicknamed the "Tic Tac", that moved in ways they could not explain; another pilot, Lt. Chad Underwood, recorded the "FLIR1" infrared video.[1][2][3]
The recordings
_and_USS_PRINCETON_(CG-59).jpg)
Popular Mechanics interviewed five Navy veterans who were present. Petty Officer Gary Voorhis, who maintained the Princeton's systems, said that after an incident two men arrived by helicopter and that, about 20 minutes later, his chain of command told him to hand over all data recordings from the ship's Aegis system. Patrick "PJ" Hughes, an aviation technician, said he was ordered to hand over hard drives from an E-2 Hawkeye early-warning aircraft to his commanding officer and two men he had not seen before. Fravor suggested the recordings might simply have been erased or recorded over by mistake.[1][2]
Aftermath
The encounter became public in December 2017, when The New York Times reported on the Pentagon's AATIP program and published the video. The Navy later confirmed that the videos were authentic, but it has not confirmed that any data were removed. Fravor testified to Congress about the encounter in July 2023.[2][3][4]
People and topics
- Nimitz Tic Tac encounter — The November 2004 encounter between Navy pilots and a white Tic Tac-shaped object off California.
- U.S. Navy — The U.S. naval service, whose pilots reported the UAP encounters revealed in 2017.
- David Fravor — Navy pilot who saw the 2004 Tic Tac object.
- Alex Dietrich — Navy pilot who saw the 2004 Tic Tac object.
- Chad Underwood — Navy pilot who filmed the FLIR1 video in 2004.
- Gimbal and GoFast videos — The Navy infrared videos of UAP released in 2017–2020.
- The New York Times — The newspaper that revealed AATIP in December 2017.
- AATIP — The Pentagon UAP effort associated with Luis Elizondo, revealed in December 2017.
- Gary Voorhis — Technician aboard the USS Princeton in 2004.
- Kevin Day — Radar operator aboard the USS Princeton in 2004.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
On the Timeline
- Wesley Clark on faster-than-light travel (3 November 2004) — Gen. Wesley Clark says faster-than-light travel is possible.
- Raechel's Eyes (2005) — A woman claims her daughter communicated with a hybrid being about secret projects.
See every 2004 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "Five USS Princeton officers add to details on 2004 Tic Tac UFO event", 8 News Now · digital-release.8newsnow.com · archived copy
- Chris Ciaccia, "Navy UFO mystery deepens", Fox News (Nov 2019) · foxnews.com · archived copy
- USS Nimitz UFO incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Glowing auras and 'black money': the Pentagon's mysterious U.F.O. program", New York Times (Dec 2017) · nytimes.com · archived copy
- USS Princeton (CG-59) — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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