Is the Tic Tac ours? UAP experts clash over Lockheed Martin claims and secret tech

UAP experts are clashing over bold claims that the 2004 Nimitz encounter wasn’t alien, but American-made. From psionic pilots to Chinese drones, the UAP debate is entering a wild new phase.

Try saying “neuromeditatively" three times. It’s hard, isn’t it?

That’s what host Bryce Zabel challenged viewers to do on his Need to Know podcast, a central voice in UAP communication.

Recent guest and journalist Ross Coulthart also rocked the show recently with an explosive claim about a Tic Tac sighting in 2004 by US Navy pilots near the USS Nimitz off the coast of California.

“I now know categorically that the Tic Tac is Lockheed Martin,” said the guest, leaving little room for doubt.

Shocking claim stuns community

Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company, and this bold assertion had a ripple effect on the UAP community.

The Tic Tac UAP sighting that Coulthart was referring to originally occurred in November 2004. It was witnessed by US Navy pilots during exercises near the USS Nimitz off the coast of California.

The object dropped from 80,000 feet to sea level in seconds, with no visible wings or exhaust, and was confirmed by radar, infrared footage, and pilot accounts.

It was described as smooth, white, oblong like a mint Tic Tac with no wings or exhaust. The object reportedly dropped from 80,000 feet to sea level in under a second, then shot off at blistering speeds.

Military radar, infrared sensors, and pilot testimony all confirmed the encounter. The footage was made public in 2017, sparking serious government interest in UAP.

For years, it was considered likely to be non-human in origin until journalist Ross Coulthart recently claimed it’s actually Lockheed Martin tech.

Truth or planted disinfo?

Ross Coulthart is, and has long been, a believer in UFOs (now more commonly known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs). He's generally pro-disclosure, meaning he believes governments are hiding information about UAP or non-human intelligence.

On previous occasions, he has said that the US government is in possession of extraterrestrial craft and non-human bodies.

His 2021 book In Plain Sight argues that UAPs are real and that evidence is being withheld.

The nuance here is that he claims some craft, like the Tic Tac, may be human-made, reverse-engineered from alien tech.

The UAP phenomenon is not purely extraterrestrial, but a mix of ETs, human experiments, and disinformation.

The claim he made was unscripted. Podcast guest Tyler Stevens noted the “spicy takes” post-release, highlighting widespread online uproar. Spaces on X (formerly Twitter) became battlegrounds for interpretation.

UAP camps now diverging

Ryan Robbins raised concerns about the new narrative emerging around UAPs, especially claims that they may be human-made after all.

“There is an issue within the community where people like Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp are not convinced that there's been any reverse engineering or retrieval,” Robbins pointed out.

As with cases such as Christopher Melon’s recent assertions, perhaps the world isn’t ready for a bold revelation, with once again controlled disclosure benefiting elite interests more than truth-seekers.

Ross Coulthart didn’t stop there, surprising the guests by offering that the Tic Tac could have been operated neuromeditatively, like remote control with your mind while in a meditative trance.

This time, however, he claimed he was “reasonably sure” about this instead of “categorically sure.”

Geopolitics enters the chat

Another assertion was that the Chinese are advancing in electrogravitic technology and that the US had been “caught asleep at the wheel.” This reframes UAP as a potential national security issue, shifting public focus from aliens to adversaries.

An X poll conducted by Tyler Stevens showed that 18 percent of people agree with Ross, 35 percent disagree, and 41 percent don't know, highlighting public uncertainty and lack of consensus even on grounded explanations.

Ryan Robbins also advised caution: “They are intentionally controlling how the evidence filters into society. And they want it to remain in a place of plausibility, not scientific acceptability.”

“They” here, of course, means the feds and conveniently shifts the conversation away from extra-terrestrials.

The host, Bryce Zabel, also points to the idea of disclosure itself and what it means: “Disclosure used to mean aliens. Disclosure now means disclosing that we had the tech all along. And that's disconcerting.”