Brief
F/A-18 Hornet
The claims the writer was given for F/A-18 Hornet, in the order they were given.
1
The A-6 Intruder could travel considerably further on its fuel than the F/A-18 Hornet.
“the A-6 could go quite a bit further distance-wise by fuel”
David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122 2020-09-08 00:21:07.3-00:21:10.6 opinion first hand
2
David Fravor then flew single-seat F/A-18 Hornets until the end of 2001.
“Then I went to single-seat F-18s, and I flew those all the way up until 2000 and, let me think, 2001, to the end of 2001.”
David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122 2020-09-08 00:21:55.8-00:22:06.2 testimony first hand
3
Legacy F/A-18 Hornet aircraft carry less fuel than F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft.
“the little hornets the legacy hornets f-18s don't have as much gas as the super hornets”
David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122 2020-09-08 01:27:25.5-01:27:29.9 testimony first hand
4
David Fravor judged the size of the object in the 2004 USS Nimitz UFO incident (the Tic Tac) to be about 12 metres long, based on 16 years of experience flying against other airplanes and comparing it to the size of an F/A-18 Hornet.
“How did you know it was about 40 feet long? I go, okay, so 16 years flying against other airplanes, know what stuff looks like... so that's that's why i said 40 feet because it's about hornet size”
David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122 2020-09-08 02:31:43.9-02:31:55.9 observation first hand
5
Everyone who observed the object in the 2004 USS Nimitz UFO incident came back with a consistent estimate that it was about the size of an F/A-18 Hornet.
“no, it was, and everyone came back with the same thing. They're like, yeah, it was about the size of a hornet.”
David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122 2020-09-08 02:32:35.5-02:32:39.2 testimony first hand
6
David Fravor came from flying the A-6 Intruder, a bomber, and did not have significant air-to-air combat experience before transitioning to the F/A-18 Hornet, where he needed to learn dogfighting as part of the fighter-attack mission.
“So Tom, when I learned, because I come out of A6 and we really don't fight because it was a bomber. So I get in F-18s and I want to learn how to fight because it's a whole other side of the mission.”
David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122 2020-09-08 02:38:32.4-02:38:40.8 testimony first hand
7
The F/A-18 Hornet's designation "F/A" stands for fighter attack.
“The F-A-18 is fighter attack.”
David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122 2020-09-08 02:38:42.7-02:38:44.1 administrative first hand
8
During the 2004 USS Nimitz UAP encounter, the object took evasive manoeuvres to maintain distance from David Fravor's closing F/A-18 Super Hornet, showing no difficulty keeping pace with the aircraft.
“and it began to take evasive maneuvers to counter and maintain distance between his aircraft that was closing in, by the way, an F-18 at the time, Super Hornet, one of the most premier aircraft on the planet at the time, and this thing had no problem keeping pace.”
The UFO Phenomenon | Full Documentary 2021 | 7NEWS Spotlight 2021-09-06 00:16:02.8-00:16:16.3 observation
9
David Fravor's own F/A-18 Hornet fire control radar never picked up the Tic Tac object during the 2004 encounter.
“We never saw it on our radars. Our fire control radars never picked it up.”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency 2023-07-26 char:124317-124388 observation first hand
10
During the 2004 USS Nimitz UAP encounter, the wingman's aircraft radar briefly locked onto the Tic Tac object before it jammed the radar and spat the lock, prompting the pilot to switch to the targeting pod.
“The other airplane that took the video did get it on a radar. As soon as it tried to lock it, it jammed the radar, spit the lock and he rapidly switched over to the targeting pod, which you can do in the F–18.”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency 2023-07-26 char:124393-124599 observation first hand
11
David Fravor's F/A-18 Hornet was not armed during the 2004 Tic Tac encounter, and he never felt threatened.
“was it armed? ... No, and never felt threatened at all.”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency 2023-07-26 char:125843-125909 observation first hand
12
Ryan Graves is a former United States Navy F/A-18 Hornet pilot with a decade of service including two deployments in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve.
“My name is Ryan ''FOBS'' Graves and I am a former F–18 pilot with a decade of service in the U.S. Navy including two deployments in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve.”
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency 2023-07-26 char:31727-31909 administrative first hand
13
An ATFLIR camera (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared Radar) on an F/A-18 Hornet detects the heat signatures of a combatant aircraft.
“an ATFLIR camera on an F/A-18 Hornet detects the heat signatures of a combatant aircraft”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs 2024-08-19 ch17:3008-3088 observation