In this case, Cmdr David Fravor, who witnessed the UAP, was the most senior F-18 Super Hornet pilot on the USS Nimitz which was part of a carrier group that included the USS Princeton, the first Ticonderoga-class cruiser to carry the upgraded AN/SPY-1B radar system.
The Princeton tells Fravor, providing confirmation of his sighting, and he reports this story.
Hardly "double hearsay."
You're better than that, Ben.