The Tic Tac Could Have Withstood 75 Gs, Model Suggests

One figure stands out in a 141-page report that Bigelow Aerospace prepared for the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2010: Mach 10.7. Mach 1 is the speed of sound, so that figure is more than ten times the speed of sound. According to the model, the object recorded by Navy fighter jets off the coast of Mexico in November 2004 could have traveled at that speed and endured an acceleration of 75 Gs for five seconds. That is far beyond what a pilot could withstand.

What Was Measured, and What Was Seen

The company did not measure the object itself. It derived its figures from radar data collected by the ship Princeton, which tracked the objects over several days, and from pilots’ accounts. The lead pilot described a smooth, white object with no edges, hovering above choppy water before suddenly accelerating. Its shape was compared to a Tic Tac mint, giving the case its name. According to the report, it covered about 100 kilometers in less than a minute, reaching the area where the fighter jets were flying.

What the Model Assumed

The company ran fluid-flow simulations using standard engineering software and compared the object’s shape to a straight cylinder. The simulations found no clear aerodynamic advantage for the cylinder. They showed shock waves at high speeds, but the report said the pilots were too far away to feel their effects in the cockpit.

What’s Missing

The report does not identify the object. The company did not see it up close or examine it in the field, and its results depend on the radar data and witness accounts entered into the model. The report says that of the 12,618 sightings examined by Project Blue Book between 1952 and 1970, most were explained as existing military aircraft, while 701 remained unexplained. The materials include no independent assessment of the findings. The results depend on the reliability of the radar data and witness accounts on which the model was based.