Statement of David Fravor

// Commanding Officer - Strike Fighter Squadron 41 - The Black Aces

Full opening statement video here

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Congressmen, and Congresswomen. I want to first thank you for the invitation to speak to the Committee on the UAP topic. This has been in the news for the past six years and seems to be continuing to gain momentum.

As you know, my name is David Fravor. I am a retired Commander in the United States Navy. In 2004, I was the commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 41, the world-famous Black Aces. We were tasked to Carrier Airwing 11 stationed on board the USS Nimitz and had begun a two-month workup cycle off the coast of California. On this day, we were scheduled for a 2 V 2 air-to-air training with the USS Princeton as our control. When we launched off the Nimitz, my wingman was joining up. We were told that the training was going to be suspended and we were going to proceed with real-world tasking.

As we proceeded to the west, the air controller was counting down the range to an object that we were approaching, and we were unaware of what we were going to see. The controller told us that these objects had been observed for over two weeks, coming down from over 80,000 feet, rapidly descending to 20,000 feet, hanging out for hours, and then going straight back up. For those that do not realize, above 80,000 feet is space.

The controller told us that these objects had been observed for over two weeks, coming down from over 80,000 feet, rapidly descending to 20,000 feet, hanging out for hours, and then going straight back up. For those that do not realize, above 80,000 feet is space.

We arrived at the location at approximately 20,000 feet, and the controller called merge plot, meaning that our radar blip was now in the same resolution cell as the contact. As we looked around, we noticed some whitewater off our right side. It is important to note that the weather on this day was as close to perfect as you could ask for off the coast of San Diego—clear skies, light winds, calm seas, no whitecaps. So, the whitewater stood out in the large blue ocean. All four of us—because we were an F-18F with pilots and WSOs in the backseat—looked down and saw a white Tic Tac object with a longitudinal axis pointing north-south and moving very abruptly over the water like a ping-pong ball. There were no rotors, no rotor wash, or any visible control surfaces like wings.

As we started a clockwise turn toward the object, my WSO and I decided to go down and take a closer look, with the other aircraft staying in high cover to observe both us and the Tic Tac. We proceeded around the circle about 90 degrees from the start of our descent when the object suddenly shifted its longitudinal axis, aligned it with my aircraft, and began to climb. We continued another 270 degrees nose-low, where the Tic Tac would have been. Our altitude at this point was about 15,000 feet, and the Tic Tac was about 12,000. As we pulled our nose onto the object, within about half a mile, it rapidly accelerated in front of us and disappeared. Our wingman, roughly 8,000 feet above us, lost contact as well.

We immediately turned back to see where the whitewater had been, and it was gone. As we started to turn back toward the east, the controller came up and said, "Sir, you are not going to believe this, but that thing is at your CAP point roughly 60 miles away in less than a minute." You can calculate the speed.

We returned to the Nimitz and, while taking off our gear, spoke with one of my crews who was preparing to launch. We mentioned the incident to them, and they went out and luckily captured the video that you see, the 90-second clip. What you do not see is the radar tape that was never released, and we do not know where it is, of the act of jamming that the object put on an APG-73 radar. I can explain those modes later if you are interested.

What is shocking is that the incident was never investigated. None of my crew were ever questioned, the tapes were never taken, and after a couple of days, it turned into a great story among friends. It was not until 2009, when Jay Stratton contacted me to investigate. Unbeknownst to us, he was part of the ATIP program in the Pentagon, led by Lue Elizondo. There was an unofficial official report that came out, now available on the internet.

Years later, I was contacted by the other pilot, Alex Dietrich, who asked if I had been contacted, and I said no but expressed my willingness to talk. I was later contacted by Mr. Elizondo, and we spoke briefly. He mentioned we would follow up. Shortly thereafter, I learned that Lue had left the Pentagon in protest and joined forces with Tom DeLonge, Chris Mellon, Steve Justice, and others to form To the Stars Academy. Their work, alongside journalists like Leslie Keane, Ralph Blumenthal, and Helene Cooper, culminated in the 2017 New York Times articles that removed much of the stigma surrounding UFOs. These articles paved the way for today's discussions, leading to legislative interest and the Whistleblower Protection Act in the NDAA.

In closing, I would like to say that the Tic Tac object we engaged in 2004 was far superior to anything we had at the time, have today, or are developing for the next decade. If we possess technology of this caliber, it needs oversight from the elected officials representing the citizens of this country. Thank you for your time.