David Fravor
PersonMilitaryDavid Fravor
PersonMilitaryDavid Fravor is a retired U.S. Navy commander and F/A-18 pilot whose direct 2004 encounter with the “Tic Tac” made him a central military UAP witness.
David Fravor is a retired U.S. Navy commander and F/A-18 pilot whose direct 2004 encounter with the “Tic Tac” made him a central military UAP witness.

Interactive experience
The Nimitz encounter
Explore Fravor’s account from the passage into the scene.
Enter experienceDavid Fravor is a retired U.S. Navy aviator who commanded Strike Fighter Squadron 41, the “Black Aces,” aboard the USS Nimitz. On 14 November 2004, he led a training flight that was redirected by the USS Princeton to investigate radar contacts operating near the carrier group off Southern California. Fravor and pilot Alex Dietrich then visually observed a white, oblong object over disturbed water.
Fravor’s authority in the case rests on a much longer naval career. He trained for demanding carrier operations, flew combat aircraft, and eventually commanded a frontline squadron, responsibilities that required judgment about speed, distance, risk, and aircraft performance. After retirement he entered private aviation work and initially discussed the encounter within a limited circle. Public reporting in 2017 transformed him from a veteran with an unusual story into a nationally recognized witness repeatedly asked to reconstruct a few extraordinary minutes.
Fravor has described descending toward the object as it appeared to react to his aircraft, climb, and then accelerate out of sight. Controllers later reported a contact at the flight’s prearranged rendezvous point. A subsequent flight flown by Chad Underwood captured the infrared video now called FLIR1. Fravor says the object’s performance was unlike aircraft he knew, but he does not claim to know who or what made it.
His detailed public testimony—before journalists, on major podcasts, and under oath at the July 2023 House hearing—made him one of the best-known firsthand witnesses in modern UAP history. Fravor anchors the human-observation portion of a multi-witness military case. His credibility as a pilot informs the account; the ultimate explanation still depends on recovering and evaluating the full sensor record.
Months before David Fravor’s encounter with a UAP, Tic Tac shaped objects were filmed over Southern California. This video from the summer 2004 is one of those accounts. https://t.co/Llpx4xSbVb
What CDR David Fravor's fellow aviators told him
The pilots who knew the job understood what he reported. CDR David Fravor describes how fellow aviators responded to his public account of the Tic Tac UFO encounter and why their reaction mattered to him. Watch the exchange from WEAPONIZED, Episode 61. https://t.co/xs2Rdw2AwW https://t.co/zyo9RsDrDv
Why CDR David Fravor spoke publicly about the Tic Tac UFO
CDR David Fravor wanted the encounters taken seriously. CDR David Fravor explains why he spoke publicly about the Tic Tac UFO and why the four aviators' experience deserves serious attention. Watch the exchange from WEAPONIZED, Episode 29. https://t.co/FqlSPbzWNU https://t.co/6kIfR4uZf4
[Retweeted] Fravor descended to get a closer look at the object. It started climbing toward him. That was the 2004 Nimitz intercept - a white, wingless Tic Tac over churned water, then gone. We used Fravor’s public testimony to build a scene you can move through. The video is a slice of it. https://t.co/YP0ugVMTT2
[Retweeted] Fravor descended to get a closer look at the object. It started climbing toward him. That was the 2004 Nimitz intercept - a white, wingless Tic Tac over churned water, then gone. We used Fravor’s public testimony to build a scene you can move through. The video is a slice of it. https://t.co/YP0ugVMTT2
[Retweeted] Fravor descended to get a closer look at the object. It started climbing toward him. That was the 2004 Nimitz intercept - a white, wingless Tic Tac over churned water, then gone. We used Fravor’s public testimony to build a scene you can move through. The video is a slice of it. https://t.co/YP0ugVMTT2
[Retweeted] Fravor descended to get a closer look at the object. It started climbing toward him. That was the 2004 Nimitz intercept - a white, wingless Tic Tac over churned water, then gone. We used Fravor’s public testimony to build a scene you can move through. The video is a slice of it. https://t.co/YP0ugVMTT2







