Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and 2004 USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" Encounter
Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP)
organization
2004 USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" Encounter
event
Connection Details
AATIP investigated the 2004 USS Nimitz encounter as one of its primary cases.
About the Entities
Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP)
organization
Name widely used for a DIA-managed Pentagon UAP study (officially AAWSAP, 2009-2012), revealed in Dec. 2017; its funding, dates and leadership are disputed.
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2004 USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" Encounter
event
In November 2004, the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group encountered unknown aerial objects over a two-week period off the coast of San Diego. Commander David Fravor and Lt. Commander Alex Dietrich were vectored to intercept a target and observed a white, tic-tac-shaped object approximately 40 feet long hovering above a churning patch of ocean. The object demonstrated extraordinary maneuverability — accelerating from a near hover to disappearing from radar in seconds. The encounter was captured on the FLIR1 infrared video. The USS Princeton's advanced SPY-1 radar system had been tracking groups of anomalous objects for days.
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Related Connections
AATIP funds were used to support research at Skinwalker Ranch through Bigelow Aerospace.
Elizondo says he led AATIP. In 2019 a Pentagon spokesperson said he had no AATIP responsibilities, and his role remains disputed.
Blue Book was an early government UAP investigation program, preceding AATIP by decades. The gap between Blue Book's closure (1969) and AATIP's creation (2007) remains a period of disputed government UAP activity.
AARO is the institutional successor to AATIP and the UAP Task Force, with broader mandate across all domains.
Reid secured the initial $22 million in black budget funding for AATIP with support from Stevens and Inouye.
The FLIR1 video from the Nimitz encounter was one of three videos officially released by the Pentagon.
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