---
title: "Review examines witness accounts and data from David Fravor’s 2004 Tic Tac encounter"
url: "https://usubjects.com/article/review-examines-witness-accounts-and-data-from-david-fravors-2004-tic-tac-encounter-4766"
updated: "2026-11-14T16:05:06.333Z"
description: "The post marks the 22nd anniversary of Cmdr. David Fravor’s 2004 encounter with the object later called the “Tic Tac.” It examines witness accounts and considers what happened to the radar, video, and other data associated with the incident."
sources: ["https://wherearethey.info/person/david-fravor"]
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Review examines witness accounts and data from David Fravor’s 2004 Tic Tac encounter

Published: 2026-11-14  
Source: [r/UFOs](https://wherearethey.info/person/david-fravor)

### Overview

Twenty-two years after the encounter, retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Fravor’s account of the 2004 “Tic Tac” incident remains one of the most closely examined cases in modern UAP reporting. The episode occurred on **Nov. 14, 2004**, during training operations involving the aircraft carrier USS *Nimitz* off the coast of Baja California. A review of available testimony and public records shows that the case rests on several streams of evidence—pilot observations, shipboard radar contacts and targeting-pod video—although much of the underlying data has not been publicly released.

Fravor was then the commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 41, known as the “Black Aces.” According to his account, the cruiser USS *Princeton* redirected his training flight after tracking unusual radar contacts for approximately two weeks. Fravor and three other aircrew members reported seeing a **white, wingless object roughly 40 feet long** over the Pacific. He said the object appeared to mirror the movement of his F/A-18F before rapidly departing and later reappearing on radar approximately 60 miles away.

### Witness Accounts and Video

The encounter involved more than one flight crew. After Fravor’s observation, a second crew led by Navy pilot Chad Underwood recorded the object using an aircraft targeting pod. The resulting infrared footage—later commonly referred to as the “FLIR” video—was released publicly in 2017 as part of reporting by *The New York Times*. The Department of Defense formally acknowledged the video in 2020, confirming that it depicted an unidentified object while not endorsing a particular explanation for it.

The two pilots whose accounts are most frequently associated with the incident, Fravor and Alex Dietrich, have consistently described the object as lacking visible wings, exhaust or other conventional means of propulsion. Their testimony has been presented publicly in interviews and during a **July 26, 2023, House Oversight hearing**, where Fravor testified under oath alongside former Navy pilot Ryan Graves and former intelligence official David Grusch. Fravor has also responded to skeptical analyses, including interpretations that attribute the apparent movement in the video to sensor geometry or other technical effects.

### What Happened to the Data?

The status of the broader evidence remains less clear. Fravor has said the incident was not formally investigated at the time, despite the radar contacts and multiple witnesses. Public discussions have also raised questions about radar recordings, communications, mission data and other sensor information associated with the event. However, the source material does not document the release of a complete underlying data set or establish conclusively what happened to every record.

Fravor has rejected claims that tapes or other materials were seized, characterizing such stories as unpersuasive. That position contrasts with more expansive versions of the incident that circulate in popular UAP discussions. The available public record therefore includes testimony and a released video, but not an independently verifiable package containing all radar data, raw sensor files and operational records.

### Continuing Debate

The U.S. government has not publicly determined what the Tic Tac object was. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office has suggested that the incident could involve American technology, a possibility Fravor and Dietrich have rejected. Fravor has said he doubts the object represented a known secret human aircraft and has called for congressional oversight of any government program that might possess or study unusual craft.

Fravor first became publicly identified with the case through *The New York Times*’ December 2017 reporting. Since then, he has discussed the encounter in interviews, documentaries and congressional testimony. The evidence remains significant because it combines **multiple eyewitness accounts with radar and electro-optical observations**, but the unresolved chain of custody and limited public access to the original data continue to prevent a definitive explanation.

## Provenance

This USUBJECTS page is a summary or digest of the linked original source. Any accompanying generated visual is an illustrative reconstruction, not evidence.