Great Popular Mechanics article on the subject, best I've read to date. Best magazine on the shelves, it's a win-win.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a29771548/navy-ufo-witnesses-tell-truth/
Popular Mechanics spoke with the man who says he investigated UFOs while working for the Office of the Under Secretary for Defense for Intelligence: Luis Elizondo. When asked about the existence of a longer video than what’s been publicly released, Elizondo—who now serves as the Director for Global Security and Special Programs for To the Stars Academy—says, “Unfortunately, I’m unable to comment at this time as to what is in the possession of the U.S. government.”
Elizondo simarily parried additional questions about the missing electronic data, saying only, “A comprehensive investigation was conducted, including various data sources, in which conclusions remain in the providence of the U.S. government.” On whether or not other non-Navy sources were used during this investigation, Elizondo says he was “unable to confirm or deny any information as it relates to coordination with other U.S. Government elements.”
As for whether or not other data sources (which may or may not exist) helped influence the
Navy’s public stance that these objects are still “unidentified,” Elizondo is coy. “It is certainly plausible,” he says, “in addition to the other numerous reports by pilots in the U.S. Navy.”
And as far as why other data may be being withheld from public release, Elizondo says this could have more to do with what was used than what was actually recorded.
“Many of the systems and the manner in which data is collected remains classified in order to protect tactics, techniques, and procedures,” says Elizondo. “I am not at liberty to discuss any of those systems.”
Elizondo says he would “absolutely” encourage other military witnesses to come forward with their accounts. “Many of our service members are highly trained observers,” he says. “Data obtained by these types are always considered valid observations, although the nuances may not be immediately known.”
Nick Cook, the former aviation editor for
Jane’s Defense Weekly, says there are a number of reasons why personnel might have boarded ships and seized electronic data. “It could mean it was sensitive information,” he says. “It could mean this was an exercise.”
Regarding the latter possibility—that this was a secret military test of some sort—Cook, a career defense journalist, says in his opinion it was unlikely this was a classified test. “It’s not impossible, but I wouldn’t think it’s likely. It would be so against the norm of my experience with how the black world conducts testing.”
Having spent a decade investigating the potential for secret highly advanced aerospace technology, and publishing these efforts in
The Hunt for Zero Point, Cook was cautious in offering any definite conclusions as to what the
Nimitz carrier group had encountered. Cook says it’s possible, but not likely, that the “Tic Tac” was some type of classified drone.
“I searched for 10 years, and never found any compelling evidence that the type of technology exists,” Cook says. “[That] doesn’t mean it couldn’t still exist … I just never found any smoking gun for it.”
But when pushed, the career aviation journalist, soberly says, “In the balance of probabilities, I don’t think it’s ‘ours’.”