In early December 2019, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed that the US Navy has media in the form of top-secret presentation slides and video regarding the “Tic-Tac” UFO encountered by the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group off of the coast of California in 2004, confirming that the US government is in possession of more evidence regarding the two-week series of encounters. Although the Navy was unable to disclose the contents of the material due to their classification, they did indicate that disclosing the information they contained would cause “exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States.”
The initial FOIA request was made by private researcher Christian Lambright on October 28, 2019, to the US Navy’s (USN) Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) regarding any releasable material regarding any investigations into the “encounter(s) with Anomalous Aerial Vehicles (AAVs) by personnel involved with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG) operations off the western coast of the United States during the period of approximately 10-16 November, 2004,” according to Lambright’s request.
On December 09, 2019, ONI FOIA/PA Coordinator Camille V’Estres responded to Lambright’s request; unfortunately, she stated that “ONI has no releasable records related to your request” according to a search ONI conducted though their records.
However, V’Estres did inform Lambright that they were in possession of “certain briefing slides that are classified TOP SECRET,” with the reasoning for the classification being that “the release of these materials would cause exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States.” Also, she stated that “ONI possesses a video classified SECRET” that had originated from another agency, specifically Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), of whom provides material support for the US Navy’s aircraft and airborne weapon systems. Because these materials—and also their classifications—originated from other agencies, ONI does not have the authority to declassify them for release: this can only be authorized by whoever produced the slides and video.
Presumably, the slides referred to in the letter are regarding an investigation into the Tic-Tac incident, although this is not confirmed by V’Estres; additionally, she does not disclose what agency produced the slides, just that whoever it was had classified them as “TOP SECRET”. The contents of the “SECRET” video are also not disclosed, so although there is speculation that it is the sought-after full-length version of the Tic-Tac FLIR (forward-looking infrared) video—reportedly seen by Petty Officer Gary Voorhis while he was stationed on the USS Princeton—the nature of its contents are as open to speculation as the contents of the briefing slides is.
V’Estres went so far as to list the sections under Executive Order 13526 that were cited for the briefing slides’ TOP SECRET classification, specifically Section 1.4, subcategory c, that states that “the Sources and Methods that are being used to gather information in support of the National Security of the United States.” Basically, this means that releasing the information could compromise the security of the methods and technology that US agencies use to gather intelligence; additionally, V’Estres cited “subcategory e), Scientific and Technological Matters related to the National Security of the United States.”
The implication being made by the ONI here is that is that the material is classified either because of the classified nature of the equipment that was used to record the Tic-Tac UFO, or perhaps another aspect of the training exercise that was being conducted by the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group at the time; indeed, the radar systems used by the USS Princeton to track the Tic-Tac was the ship’s brand new AN/SPY-1B passive radar system—the capabilities of which the Navy would want to keep from the US’s adversaries; additionally, NAVAIR would have an interest in keeping the capabilities of their equipment, such as the FLIR cameras and other sensing equipment, under wraps.
One must bear in mind that the ONI’s admission that they had “no releasable records” regarding the case, this doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t more material available, but rather that there might be something in their possession that the office isn’t cleared to release. On the other hand, the wording also doesn’t rule out the possibility that ONI has no further material, although this would appear unlikely, due to the extent of the encounters.
Regardless, whether or not the briefing slides and video were classified because of what they contain or how they were recorded, this FOIA response confirms that the US Navy is in possession of classified material regarding the period of time that coincides with the Nimitz UAP encounters.
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By maintaining secrets for this long, the governments of the world have created big holes for themselves. That the secrets “are being withheld in order to protect the interests of the United States government” is a catch all, and that should be a concern. There are several categories of secrets, as far as I understand. Firstly, there are categories of secrets that may directly affect the security of our military. These would involve possible weaponization of secret information, technology, comprehension of Physics. If you can make a devastating bomb from a knowledge of Alien Tech, that is a good example. Obviously, the military should not allow people to know info that can lead them to make bombs. Secondly, there is knowledge that could impact the function of governments around the world, the Political structures and integrity of certain individuals. If aliens pointed out that they had a way to conduct Democracy that was vastly superior to our own, that could destabilize Political structures. This one is a little trickier. You have to ask the question, “do governments and the individuals within them have the right to protect their own power, when the protection of that power is inherently selfish and the public would benefit from a change? Whom are they protecting? Themselves only, at our cost? Do we have the right to progress, a revolution, a sea change in attitude and beliefs? Or is their power more important? Thirdly, there may be secrets that involve do not involve military defense, Politics in general, and may be mind blowing. However, somewhat more neutral. For example, what if aliens arrived and said they have proof that ghosts exist and are among us? It’s not a military secret, nor a Political one, at least superficially. It seems fairly innocuous, and is something people would want to know. Or we would want to know about other alien planets nearby, that’s another good example. So, I would expect that there are different levels of secrets, and these should not be contained under one umbrella marked “military secrets”. It’s entirely possible there are a plethora of secrets, of varying condition and importance. If governments are going to indeed disseminate secrets they should learn to distinguish between which secrets involve the military, which involve Politics, and which are generally neutral. If they continue to mark everything as a military secret, it is apparent they don’t have our greater good as a priority, and are simply interested in stalling progress in order to maintain their power. By categorizing secrets under one umbrella, the government can avoid sticky questions about specific matters that would cause consternation among themselves and the public alike. This is not in favor of the public’s interest.
Well stated.
I refer you the “The Key” and Whitley’s reporting of the MOK’s statements about the destructiveness of secrets.
When the secrets finally do come out, the power of the explosion is proportional to the amount of time the secret has been concealed, secrets tend to accumulate and amass energy with additional time. The disclosure of secrets can be weaponized in this manner. It may be that governments know this, and are withholding information in order to use that shock to make the public more malleable and docile (shock treatment). Also, to make them react a certain way at a particular juncture. Secrets of this magnitude are about the worst thing ever. They suppress progress while making one dread the future. Maybe the governments have good reason to maintain secrecy. However, on the other hand, maybe they are attempting to time disclosure with society on the brink of collapse in order to push society into the abyss. That way, they keep control.
It’s easy for those of us who have been studying and/or involved with this phenomenon for years to think that the general public, by now, should be more or less ready for disclosure. But whenever I try to discuss this subject with someone new, I’m disappointed to learn that there are still folk who are in the “undecided” category (if not denial) regarding the mere existence of UFO’s, much less the fact that their occupants have been interacting with human beings for decades, at the very least. So…I think this issue will be a Big Blow if disclosure of the classically imagined sort were to occur. I’m very curious about what events will have to happen to get us to that point. Wondering if I’ll see it, in my lifetime.