Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG-11) AAV Incident Report

“During the period of approximately 10-16 November 2004, the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG) was operating off the western coast of the United States in preparation for their deployment to the Arabian Sea.”

“The USS Princeton on several occasions detected multiple Anomalous Aerial Vehicles (AAVs) operating in and around the vicinity of the CSG.”

“The AAVs would descend "very rapidly" from approximately 60,000 feet down to approximately 50 feet in a matter of seconds.”

“They would then hover or stay stationary on the radar for a short time and depart at high velocities and turn rates.”

“On 14 November after again detecting the AAV, the USS Princeton took the opportunity of having a flight of two F/A-18Fs returning from a training mission to further investigate the AAV.”

“The USS Princeton took over control of the F/A-18s from the E-2C Airborne Early Warning aircraft and vectored in the F/A-18s for intercept leading to visual contact approximately one mile away from the AAV”

“which was reported to be "an elongated egg or a 'Tic Tac' shape with a discernable midline horizontal axis"”

“It was "solid white, smooth, with no edges.”

“It was approximately 46 feet in length.”

“The F/A-18Fs radar could not obtain a 'lock' on the AAV; however it could be tracked while stationary and at slower speeds with the Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR).”

“The AAV did take evasive actions upon intercept by the F/A-18 demonstrating an advanced acceleration (G), aerodynamic, and propulsion capability.”

“The Anomalous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) was no known aircraft or air vehicle currently in the inventory of the United States or any foreign nation.”

“The following events took place during deployment preparation of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG) during the months of November and December 2004 in the SOCAL Operating Area off the coast of California and Mexico.”

“The CSG was comprised of the following ships and submarine: USS Nimitz (CVN-68), USS Princeton (CG-59), USS Chafee (DDG-90), USS Higgins (DDG-76), and the USS Louisville (SSN-724).”

“The Nimitz was home to Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11)”

“comprised of VMFA-232 (USMC F/A-18C), VFA-14 (F/A-18E), VFA-41 (F/A-18F), VFA-94 (F/A-18C), VAQ-135 (EA-6B), VAW-117 (E-2C), HS-6 (H-60), and VRC-30 Det 3 (C-2A).”

“The only participants in the events surrounding the detection and intercept of the AAV are the USS Princeton, VAW-117, VMFA-232, and VFA-41.”

“USS Princeton (CG-59) is a Ticonderoga-class cruiser guided-missile cruiser serving in the United States Navy.”

“The Princeton was the first Ticonderoga-class cruiser to carry the upgraded AN/SPY-1B radar system.”

“The USS Princeton was part of the Nimitz Carrier Battle Group, during the period of approximately 10-16 November 2004 while completing Tailored Ships Training Availability (TSTA) in preparation for their deployment to the Arabian Sea.”

“According to Senior Chief {{redacted: ~1 word}} the AAVs would descend from a very high altitude into the scan volume of the AN/SPY-1 at a high velocity.”

“The top of the scan volume would put the AAVs at higher than 60,000 feet.”

“Since the radar was in the mode to handle Air Intercept of conventional aircraft it never obtained an accurate track of the AAVs and was quickly "dropped" by the radar meaning it was eliminated by the computer to reduce the amount of clutter on the radar, as any other false target is handled.”

“They were detected three separate times during the week operating off the western coast of the United States and Mexico.”

“The Tactical Air Officer onboard the Princeton could not identify the radar contact and given the high speed and altitude was perplexed.”

“On 14 November 2004, after again detecting an AAV took the opportunity of two F/A-18s airborne in the vicinity to task them for airborne reconnaissance of the AAV.”

“Unfortunately in the E-2C, it is not routine to have any kind of recording engaged unless it is pre coordinated which is typically only used during airborne testing of new capabilities, etc... There was no recording of this event.”

“He did not see the object on his radar (raw video) until the USS Princeton directed the contact and gave the E-2 the general direction to steer its radar.”

“This was even more interesting because the USS Princeton initially reported the target to be at 15,000 - 20,000 feet MSL.”

“Although initially requested by the USS Princeton to attempt a track of the object, the USS Princeton took control of the F/A-18s and the E-2C remained Airborne but was no longer involved in the contact or control.”

“This section provides the debrief of the F/A-18 pilots and weapon system operators (WSOs) from VFA-41 that were able to get both a visual and sensor contact with the AAV on 14 November 2004 at approximately N31 20' W117 10' about 70nm south of the U.S./Mexico Border 30 nm off the Baja Mexico Coast (Figure 1).”

“Additionally the statement provided by the Commanding Officer (CO) of VMFA-232.”

“Lt. Col {{redacted: ~1 word}} Commanding Officer VMFA-232, was flying a single-seat F/A-18C that launched from the USS Nimitz at approximately 1030L to conduct a Functional Check Flight of an aircraft that had recently completed significant maintenance.”

“He noted the weather that day was blue skies, no clouds, and unlimited visibility.”

“After 30 minutes into his flight he received a radio call from his air controller asking him to investigate an unidentified airborne contact. This was not a standard request.”

“Additionally the controller asked if he had ordnance onboard, which was odd since no controller had ever asked that question during a situation of identifying an unknown contact over U.S. or International territory.”

“He responded that he had no ordnance onboard.”

“While enroute at approximately 250 knots indicated/400 knots groundspeed at medium altitude (15-25,000 feet), he gained radar contact of what he believed to be two F/A-18Fs that were approaching the AAV from the west at low altitude (500-5,000 feet).”

“As he approached approximately 15nm from the AAV descending through approximately 15,000 feet, he could see a water disturbance in the ocean surface.”

“The disturbance appeared to be 50 to 100 meters in diameter and close to round.”

“He did not see any object or vessel associated with the disturbance either above the surface, on the surface, or below the surface.”

“He also never made visual contact with the other fighter aircraft that were vectored to the location or the AAV.”

“Lt Col {{redacted: ~1 word}} recovered aboard the Nimitz at approximately 1200L.”

“He reported to the Carrier Intelligence Center (CVIC) and was asked by his Intelligence Officer, 1stLt {{redacted: ~2 words}} if he saw the "supersonic Tic Tac"?”

“FASTEAGLE 01 Pilot: CDR David 'Sex' Fravor, USN/WSO: LT {{redacted: ~3 words}}, USN”

“FASTEAGLE 02 Pilot: LT Alex 'Cardiac' Dietrich, USN/WSO: LCDR {{redacted: ~2 words}}, USN”

“CDR Fravor, Commanding Officer VFA-41, was the pilot of FastEagle 01.”

“After they completed their training the E-2C controller handed them off to the USS Princeton callsign 'Poison' where they received vectors via Bearing Range Altitude Aspect (BRAA) to an unknown contact flying into the working area from the south.”

“Poison asked what ordnance they had on board. LT {{redacted: ~1 word}} told Poison control that they had two captive training AIM-9Ms (CATM-9) and no other ordnance.”

“Their aircraft was not carrying a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) pod onboard.”

“Situational awareness to the object was initially received via sporadic Link-16 tracks (Link-16 is a time division multiple access data-link) via an off-board sensor.”

“According to CDR Fravor the first indication he had of the unknown contact was a visual of a disturbance on the water below the AAV. As he scanned the area he gained a visual on the object.”

“when asked to describe the disturbance on the water he stated that it was localized underneath the object, did not appear as a trail or wake, and looked like frothy waves and foam almost as if the water was boiling.”

“At this point CDR Fravor detached FASTEAGLE02, which held at approximately 20,000 feet, and FASTEAGLE01 descended to between 12-16,000 feet.”

“CDR Fravor attempted a "helmet lock" that was unsuccessful.”

“It is important to note that CDR Fravor was using the Joint Helmet Mounted Cuing System which will cue the aircraft sensors such as the radar to 'lock on' to what the pilot is looking at and it also has a recording capability.”

“CDR Fravor stated that the helmet's recording capability was rarely used therefore he did not think to use it that day.”

“However, the object was uniformly white across the entire body.”

“CDR Fravor stated that the object was "holding like a Harrier." (Referring to the AV-8B jet aircraft, which is capable of hovering and Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) via thrust vectoring.)”

“They began the decent as they rolled in from about 10,000ft and approximately 350 knots to take the object close aboard.”

“the object appeared, according to CDR Fravor: "to recognize us." He assessed this from the fact the object "pointed" (realigned it's axis) in the direction of their aircraft.”

“As they completed this maneuver, the object ascended quickly and pulled lift vector on and aft of them at a supersonic speed.”

“Poison initially reported that the "picture was clean" (no contact) but then stated "you're not going to believe this, its at your CAP" meaning that the AAV had flown to their training CAP, which was located in the southern end of the training area and had climbed to approximately 24,000 feet.”

“CDR Fravor stated that nothing was seen on the surface or subsurface and that there were no indications of the previous disturbance.”

“LT {{redacted: ~1 word}} when asked, said that all aircraft systems were functional. That there were no mission computer issues or avionics issues and that there was no radio or communication interference and that they had entry into the Link-16 network.”

“The flight met up with LT {{redacted: ~2 words}} and LT Chad Underwood's flight in the paraloft and passed what they had seen.”

“LT {{redacted: ~1 word}} noted that the sailors in CIVC had donned tin-foil caps and wanted to know about the "UFO flight."”

“Lt Underwood was a member of VFA-41 and was the Weapons and Sensors Officer (WSO) flying with LT {{redacted: ~2 words}}.”

“They were a part of the second F/A-18F section airborne that day from VFA-41.”

“FASTEAGLE flight told LT Underwood's flight what they saw and to try to see and record what they could.”

“According to LT Underwood it was a clear day. There were no clouds and there was a discernable blue horizon.”

“According to CDR Fravor, the object's shape was like an elongated egg or a 'Tic Tac' and had a discernable midline horizontal axis.”

“The time was approximately 1500L.”

“Initial awareness of an object came via the radar. According to the radar display, the initial tracks were at approximately 30-40 nm to the south of the aircraft.”

“LT Underwood was controlling the radar and FLIR and attempted multiple times to transition the radar to Single Target Track (STT) mode on the object. The radar could not take a lock, the b-sweep would raster around the hit, build an initial aspect vector (which never stabilized) and then would drop and continue normal RWS b-sweep.”

“When asked, LT Underwood stated that there were no jamming cues (strobe, champagne bubbles, "any normal EA indications"). It "just appeared as if the radar couldn't hack it."”

“According to LT Underwood, "the target was best guess co-altitude or a few thousand feet below," estimating the object to be between 15-20 thousand feet.”

“The object, according to the FLIR, appeared stationary (Figure 3). There was no discernable movement from the object with the only closure being a result of the aircraft's movement.”

“As LT Underwood watched the object it began to move out of FLIR field of view to the left. LT Underwood made no attempt to slew the FLIR and subsequently lost situational awareness to the object.”

“solid white, smooth, with no edges. It was uniformly colored with no nacelles, pylons, or wings.”

“LT Underwood was clear in that he couldn't confirm that it was the same object as described by FASTEAGLE flight. He never had visual, only seeing the object via the FLIR.”

“LT Underwood said that the CIVC section attempted to collect his tapes but he refused.”

“Copies of the tapes were made with a set being turned into the intelligence section.”

“LT Underwood was not asked to sign any non-disclosure agreement and he is uncertain how far up the chain the reporting went past his commanding officer.”

“The USS Louisville USS Louisville (SSN-724) is a Los Angeles-class nuclear fast attack submarine.”

“According to former LT {{redacted: ~3 words}} now a civilian working for the US Navy, who was a qualified Submarine Officer onboard the Louisville in November 2004 during the AAV activity there were no unidentified sonar contacts in the vicinity of the aerial sightings or at anytime during the operations off the coast of California.”

“Based on the lack of detection of any unidentified sonar contacts it is highly unlikely that an AAV operated below the surface of the ocean; it is possible that the AAV demonstrated the ability to be cloaked or invisible to the human eye based on pilot reporting of the water disturbance with no visible craft.”

“He also stated that they "didn't take it seriously" at first; however, they had absolutely no reason to question the report from a very experienced and well-respected F/A-18 squadron commanding officer.”

“He reported it to the Commander of the Air Wing, CAPT {{redacted: ~2 words}} also a highly experienced aviator but he did not take it very serious.”

“The email-based report including the FLIR video was sent via a secure system to CAPT {{redacted: ~2 words}} at 3rd Fleet Intelligence, their higher echelon command.”

“Since this MISREP was completed during training and preparation for deployment it was read and acknowledged by 3rd Fleet N2 but was not forwarded to anyone up the chain of command.”

“The commander of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group during the intercept was Rear Admiral D.C. Curtis now a Vice Admiral (VADM) and is commander of Naval Surface Forces and the Pacific Fleet's Naval Surface Force.”

“Capt {{redacted}} was the Director of Operations (N3) for CSG-11 at the time of the intercept. Capt {{redacted}} confirmed that other than the MISREP there was no other official report or statement from the CSG.”