'This is no joke': Navy pilot who 'chased UFO' wants fresh investigation
A retired US Navy pilot who made headlines last month for claiming to have spotted a 12m UFO off the coast of California, is adamant the hard-to-explain encounter was the real deal.
In an interview with the New York Times, Commander David Fravor and Lieutenant Commander Jim Slaight explained the footage released by the US defence department was taken during a routine training mission on November 14, 2004 near San Diego.
The pair told how they spotted a 12m long UFO accelerating at great speed, and tried to intercept it to get a better look.
He said the aircraft began moving towards them, before it sped off.
“It accelerated like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Commander Fravor said.
He told the Boston Globe there was definitely an intelligence controlling the object, saying “It reacted to us”.
The Navy veteran said the unidentified object was bright white, cylindrical, with rounded ends - like a "giant Tic Tac". It had no wings, windows, or exhaust plume, he said.
Speaking to the Boston Globe this week, Commander Fravor said “I know what I saw.”
More fighters were launched to investigate the aircraft. While they didn’t see it with the naked eye, one crew saw it on their radar and video screens, he claimed.
The Defense Department released a copy of the video in December, followed by a second video showing a different encounter on the East Coast.
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The story and footage of his close encounter purported to expose the Pentagon’s secret program that investigated reports of UFOs.
The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was closed in 2012, after five years and $27.5 million spent, Commander Fravor said.
“I think the story needs to be told. We need to stop making jokes and start paying attention to it.
“This is not a US problem. This is a global issue,” he said. “Why aren’t we investigating these things?
“If it’s like E.T. then it’s all good. If it’s like War of the Worlds or Independence Day, then not so much.”
He added that the strange object showed that our aerospace technology is “way, way behind” and if we could understand the UFO’s technology it might help benefit the world.
He said understanding how it flew could even help us develop alternative energy sources.
The retired pilot said the funds invested into the defunct program was a small dent in the US Defense Department’s massive budget, and proper funding could lead to a aerospace breakthrough.
