Document · 26 July 2023
David Fravor — written statement, House Oversight hearing (July 26, 2023)
Cmdr. David Fravor's written statement for the House Oversight hearing of 26 July 2023 gives his first-hand account of the November 2004 Nimitz encounter. Commanding Strike Fighter Squadron 41, he was leading a training sortie when the cruiser USS Princeton, which had tracked objects descending from above 80,000 feet to about 20,000 feet for two weeks, redirected his flight. Over a patch of white water, the four aircrew saw "a small white Tic Tac shaped object" with "no Rotors, No Rotor wash, or any visible flight control surfaces like wings." As he descended towards it, it climbed, aligned with his aircraft, then "rapidly accelerated and disappeared right in front of our aircraft"; the Princeton then picked it up at their combat air patrol point, about 60 miles away.
He writes that the incident "was never investigated, none of my crew were ever questioned, tapes were never taken", until Jay Stratton contacted him in 2009, and credits To The Stars and the December 2017 New York Times articles with removing the stigma.
His main argument is oversight: if programmes possess such technology, they must be overseen by Congress, as even unacknowledged waived programmes are. He concludes that the object "was far superior to anything that we had at the time, have today, or are looking to develop in the next 10+ years."
Sources: Fravor's written statement (2023)
Facts and claims
- documented Fravor's account of November 2004 as Commanding Officer of VFA-41: “we saw a small white Tic Tac shaped object with the longitudinal axis pointing N/S and moving very abruptly over the white water. There were no Rotors, No Rotor wash, or any visible flight control surfaces like wings.” Source: doc-fravor-statement-2023-07-26.pdf
Key moments: House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video
- 34:29 David Fravor: Fravor describes looking down from his F/A-18 at the small white “Tic Tac” object in 2004.
- 35:52 David Fravor: Fravor: the radar tape of the object jamming the APG-73 radar was never released, and “the incident was never investigated”; none of his crew was questioned.
- 36:06 David Fravor: Fravor: no one contacted him until 2009, when Jay Stratton of the Pentagon's AATIP program, led by Lue Elizondo, asked to investigate.
- 54:34 David Fravor: Fravor says the crew launched after his flight saw significant jamming of its APG-73 radar, which split the lock, so the video was taken on the passive targeting pod.
- 1:54:59 David Fravor: Fravor: “probably the most credible UFO sighting in history,” with “four sets of human eyeballs” plus the sensors: “It is not a joke.”
Connected files
Claims
- The 2004 Nimitz “Tic Tac” flew in ways no known aircraft can (evidence for claim) — Fravor's sworn statement: the object “was far superior to anything that we had at the time”
People
- David Fravor (authored by)
Hearings & briefings
Incidents
- USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” encounter (about)
Mentioned in this file
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Organization)
- Jay Stratton (Person)
- To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (Organization)
- Unacknowledged: An Exposé of the World's Greatest Secret (Book)
More documents
- Ryan Graves — written testimony, House Oversight hearing (July 26, 2023)
- Hearing transcript: UAP — Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (House Oversight, July 26, 2023)
- Michael Shellenberger written testimony + appendices
- David Grusch — written opening statement, House Oversight hearing (July 26, 2023)
- House Oversight Task Force letter requesting UAP videos from the Department of War (31 March 2026)
- George Knapp, written testimony to the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, 9 September 2025