The Radar Picture

Senior Chief Kevin Day was the air warfare coordinator aboard the USS Princeton — the guided-missile cruiser attached to the Nimitz carrier strike group — during the November 2004 UAP encounters. Day tracked the objects on the Princeton's upgraded SPY-1 radar for approximately two weeks before the aerial intercept. He observed the objects dropping from 80,000 feet to sea level in seconds, a trajectory inconsistent with any known aircraft.

Day has spoken publicly about the encounters and the institutional response, which he described as dismissive. He reported feeling that the Navy did not want a formal record of what the radar was showing.

Ongoing Impact

Day has described lasting psychological effects from the encounters and the subsequent silence he was expected to maintain. He has participated in congressional briefings and documentary projects, contributing his radar expertise to the broader effort to establish what the Nimitz strike group was tracking in 2004.