---
title: "Veterans Claim Military Immediately Seized Video of UFO Encounter"
description: "Several witnesses to the U.S. Navy's 2004 UFO encounter have detailed the immediate aftermath of the event, and that the video was seized by the military."
date: "2019-11-13"
modified: "2019-11-13"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/veterans-military-seized-video-ufo-encounter"
categories:
  - "Military"
  - "Off-World"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "Navy"
  - "the digest"
  - "UFO"
  - "uss nimitz"
---

# Veterans Claim Military Immediately Seized Video of UFO Encounter

![Several witnesses to the U.S. Navy's 2004 UFO encounter have detailed the immediate aftermath of the event, and that the video was seized by the military.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/sailors-describe-military-seizing-videos-ufo-encounter.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Department of Defense/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Immediate Aftermath

In September, the United States Navy [confirmed](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/navy-confirms-ufo-videos-real>) the authenticity of footage of its fighter pilots encountering an "unidentified aerial phenomenon" in 2004.

Now, several men who witnessed the strange event while serving in the Navy have [come forward to speak](<https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a29771548/navy-ufo-witnesses-tell-truth/>) to *Popular Mechanics* about the experience — including what happened just after the sighting.

## Men in Black

Gary Voorhis and Patrick "PJ" Hughes were stationed aboard the *USS Princeton* and the *USS* *Nimitz*, respectively, at the time of the 2004 UFO encounter. Both told *PopMech* they saw men they didn't recognized arrive on their ships and take away drives containing the footage soon after it was recorded.

"These two guys show up on a helicopter, which wasn’t uncommon," Voorhis told *PopMech*, "but shortly after they arrived, maybe 20 minutes, I was told by my chain of command to turn over all the data recordings for the AEGIS system."

"They were not on the ship earlier, and I didn’t see them come on," Hughes said of his encounter, adding, "We put \[the hard drives\] in the bags, \[my commanding officer\] took them, then he and the two anonymous officers left."

## More to Come

Perhaps even more intriguing than what happened with the hard drives is what could be on them — several witnesses told *PopMech* they believe there's footage that's even more impressive that what's already been released.

"I definitely saw video that was roughly 8 to 10 minutes long and a lot more clear," Voorhis said — so perhaps we'll get a better look at the Navy's strange UFO encounter in the future.

**READ MORE:** [The Witnesses](<https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a29771548/navy-ufo-witnesses-tell-truth/>) \[*Popular Mechanics*\]

**More on the UFO encounter:** *[Navy Confirms That Three UFO Encounter Videos Are Real](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/navy-confirms-ufo-videos-real>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)