Here is something reported on by the BBC recently(this week). Other outlets also carried the story...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52457805
So let's summarise...
- One of the pilots has spoken openly and in detail on numerous occasions in describing the event.
- Some crew aboard the carriers have done the same.
- The person running the program that researched this, and other events, has also spoken openly and is part of the team that caused this footage to surface.
- The Pentagon has now confirmed that the footage is real but that they have classed it as unknown.
And this is one of the encounters in the footage as detailed on its wiki page;
"Fravor began a circular descent to approach the object.[14] As Fravor further descended, he reported that the object began ascending along a curved path, maintaining some distance from the F-18, mirroring its trajectory in opposite circles.[14][15] Fravor then made a more aggressive maneuver, plunging his fighter to aim below the object, but at this point the UFO apparently accelerated and disappeared in less than two seconds, leaving the pilots "pretty weirded out".[14][18]
Subsequently, the two fighter jets began a new course to the combat air patrol (CAP) rendezvous point. "Within seconds" Princeton radioed the jets that a radar target had appeared 60 miles (97 km) away at the predetermined rendezvous point. According to Popular Mechanics, a physical object would have had to move greater than 2,400 miles per hour (3,900 km/h) to reach the CAP ahead of the Navy fighters. Their jets have a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 (1,190 miles per hour (1,920 km/h)). To actually get there "within seconds" would have required an air speed of at least 42,000 miles per hour (68,000 km/h). Two other jets went to investigate the new radar location, but "By the time the Super Hornets arrived [...] the object had already disappeared." Both F-18s then returned to Nimitz.[4] Commander Fravor reflected on his sighting: "I have no idea what I saw. It had no plumes, wings or rotors and outran our F-18s. But I want to fly one."[5] In a 2017 interview with the Washington Post he stated "It was a real object, it exists and I saw it" and when asked what he believes it was he speculated it was "Something not from the Earth."
One could apply Lord Hill-Norton's reasoning here and say;
Regardless of whom is flying these crafts, it's of great defence significance. And if the pilot is a madman that is hallucinating, how did he become a squadron commander in the world's premier air force flying the most potent aircraft known. Super Hornet = $70 000 000.
The defence significance could be estimated through the perceived gulf in ability. Something that can instantly appear, anywhere on your map and render you as vulnerable as you can be. That's like a godmode cheatcode in gaming. And there's a reason that terminology is used. You can't win against it. In real-world military terms, it equates to instant surrender.
All this begs the questions, what else is in their inventory and why is this not a much bigger story?
What's that famous Jack Nicholson quote again..?