Lieutenant Commander Chad Underwood
Lieutenant Commander Chad Underwood is a United States Navy F/A-18F pilot who recorded the FLIR1 video during the November 14, 2004 USS Nimitz encounter. Underwood was part of the second flight of fighters launched from the Nimitz after Commander Fravor's initial visual contact with the unidentified object. Unlike Fravor, Underwood's Super Hornet was equipped with an AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pod capable of recording infrared video.
Underwood successfully tracked and recorded the object using the FLIR system, producing the 76-second video that would later become known as "FLIR1" or the "Tic Tac video." He is credited with coining the "Tic Tac" description for the object based on its appearance in the infrared imagery. Underwood has stated that the term was partially inspired by a joke in the 1980 comedy film Airplane!
Notably, Underwood has stated that he did not observe the object visually during his encounter, focusing instead on operating the FLIR system to capture footage for intelligence analysis. His role was primarily technical: ensuring the targeting pod was recording and maintaining a lock on the object so that evidence could be brought back to the carrier for analysis.
The FLIR1 Video
The FLIR1 video recorded by Lieutenant Commander Underwood on November 14, 2004. Officially released by the Department of Defense in April 2020. Shows an oblong object tracked by the AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pod.
On-Record Statements
"I was more concerned with tracking it, making sure that the videotape was on so that I could bring something back to the ship, so that the intel folks could dissect whatever it is that I captured."
New York Magazine, December 2019
"The thing that stood out to me the most was how erratic it was behaving. Its changes in altitude, airspeed, and aspect were just unlike things that I've ever encountered before flying against other aircraft."
New York Magazine, December 2019
"I didn't see it with my own eyes. I saw it through the targeting pod display."
Distinguishing his encounter from Fravor's visual sighting
Technical Context
The AN/ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) pod used by Underwood is a sophisticated sensor system capable of tracking targets using infrared radiation. The FLIR1 video displays various telemetry data including the pod's mode, zoom level, and tracking status. The video shows the targeting system losing lock on the object multiple times, which some analysts attribute to the object's unusual flight characteristics and others to normal sensor behavior.
Underwood's role as the FLIR operator means he is the primary witness to the video's creation and can speak to the sensor's behavior during the recording. His testimony about the object's erratic movement complements the visual observations made by Fravor and Dietrich earlier in the encounter sequence.