FLIR1 / Nimitz video (2004).
documentedevidenceScientific Instrumentation & Sensor Data
~90s mid-wave IR ATFLIR clip shot by WSO Chad Underwood off SoCal; bright featureless 'Tic Tac' heat source tracked against sky. DoD-authenticated; no slant range, so kinematics are geometry-dependent.
FLIR1 is the oldest of the three authenticated Navy clips, captured Nov 14, 2004 on a follow-up sortie after Cdr David Fravor's close-range visual intercept. It does NOT show Fravor's encounter over disturbed water; it shows a bright oblong IR object that translates laterally as the tracker breaks and reacquires. Because the clip has no laser/radar range to target, derived speed and size depend on assumptions about camera geometry and aircraft motion - the central reason independent analyses diverge. Leaked 2017, formally released/authenticated by DoD in 2020.