Meet the fighter pilot who saw a UFO

Reuters Videos

"I don't identify as a UFO person."

Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich - a retired fighter pilot who observed a UFO during a routine training exercise in 2004, captured in what is now popularly known as the Tic-Tac video - has found herself at the center of a media frenzy ahead of a highly anticipated government report on UFOs, a subject she said she has little interest in.

"Yeah, I hope I'm not the UFO, Tic-Tac, uh, person for the rest of my life. This is not what I envisioned for myself."

But for UFO believers, the forthcoming report and Dietrich's sighting is the subject of much speculation and skepticism - part of the reason why the former fighter pilot said she feels she has a duty and an obligation to inform the public about what she saw.

"We noticed something in the water that seemed to be disturbing the water or making it churn... We were able to then visually pick up what we describe as a Tic-Tac, because that's what it looks like, this white oblong-shaped object that was moving very fast and then Cmdr Fravor... pulled a maneuver to try to get some angles on it, and it appeared to respond in a way that we didn't recognize and it surprised us because it didn't appear to have any visible flight control surfaces or means of propulsion."

Dietrich, now a mother of three, served aboard the USS Nimitz. The video recording of what she and her then commanding officer David Fravor saw off the coast of Southern California in November 2004 will be part of the upcoming government report along with two other declassified videos shot aboard U.S. Navy fighter jets, including the so-called "GOFAST" video released a few years ago.

DIETRICH: "I recognize that. The first time I watched it, I said, 'Oh, yeah, that was just like us.'"

Dietrich said she has no opinion on the report, which is due to be released by the end of June, but she said UFO enthusiasts anticipating big revelations about unexplained sightings might be disappointed with the findings.

DIETRICH: "I have a feeling that folks who are anticipating the release will not find satisfaction... I don't know. I haven't seen it. I'm not looped in. I don't have any sort of insider information... I think that they enjoy the anticipation more than the actual - more than actually finding answers."

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