The US Navy reportedly has footage and documents related to a UFO video that caused a sensation when it was leaked in 2017. But it won’t reveal any of it because releasing the info and footage “would cause exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States,” the Navy said in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by UFO researcher Christian Lambright. 

Vice independently confirmed the Navy’s response to the request. 

Lambright sought more information about a 2004 sighting off the California coast that is often referred to as the “Tic Tac” due to the shape of the fast-moving object that was tracked by US military pilots in leaked footage: 

The object rapidly descended from 60,000 feet to 50 feet in seconds.

“The part that drew our attention was how it wasn’t behaving within the normal laws of physics,” pilot Chad Underwood, who filmed the encounter, told New York magazine last month. 

The Navy wrote to Lambright saying it had found “certain briefing slides that are classified TOP SECRET” related to the incident as well as “a video classified SECRET.” As a result, it could not release the info.

Copies of the letter were posted on the UFOs – Documenting The Evidence blog.  

Vice verified the news with the Navy. 

″[A]s the investigation of UAP sightings is ongoing, we will not publicly discuss individual sighting reports/observations,” Susan Gough, a Pentagon spokesperson, told the website. The military does not refer to these sightings as UFOs but rather unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).

Gough also said the military’s footage of the incident was of the same duration as the footage that was leaked, but she would not answer questions about the resolution or say if there was any additional accompany audio. 

Last year, the military confirmed that the footage was indeed legit and should not have been leaked. The clip was obtained by To The Stars Academy Of Arts And Science, the private research and media firm co-founded by rocker Tom DeLonge, formerly of Blink 182.