Micah Hanks October 30, 2021

Even with all of the attention UFOs are getting these days, really good UFO sighting reports remain hard to come by.

“Do these declines reveal that UFO interest is becoming a blip on the human cultural radar?” asked Philip Jaekl, writing for The Guardian in 2018.

While sighting reports on par with some of the high-profile incidents logged in years past appear to be less common today, that doesn’t mean that there are no longer any good UFO observations.

In fact, one of the more interesting sightings in recent days appears to have taken place just within the last few months during a daytime commercial flight over the East Coast.

In a report logged by the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) on September 6, 2021, a passenger on board a Jet Blue flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Jacksonville, Florida observed a trio of unusual objects, apparently flying in formation, as his flight was approaching Jacksonville Airport. For a period of several seconds, the witness said he observed three “cylindrical objects flying past our Jet Blue flight as we were approaching the airport.”

The flight was on time and approaching its scheduled landing shortly before 1 PM local time. The passenger witness—an experienced pilot himself—said weather conditions were clear as he looked out the window.

“I have been a licensed private pilot for 24 years, and a licensed drone pilot for 6 years,” the witness said in his report. “Typically when I fly commercially, I tend to book a window seat… on an exit row.” In addition to the exact row where his seat had been located, the witness also noted the jet’s approximate altitude and speed as it approached Jacksonville Airport.

“Flying over this part of the pattern is a thick, heavy forest,” the witness stated, noting that the leaves “are very dark green” in August when the incident occurred.

Then, something out of the ordinary caught the passenger’s eye.

“As I looked out the window, facing west, I saw three bright white objects flying in the opposite direction. I didn’t know what they were.”

The witness considered drones, as well as birds, but neither of these appeared to be a match for what he observed. However, as the objects moved closer it became apparent that he was looking at “three long cylindrical objects.” The observer judged that these white cylinders were somewhere between 75 and 150 feet above the trees, flying in a triangle pattern.

“I was completely stunned [by] what I saw,” the observer said. “It was crystal clear and their white fuselage stuck out against the dark tree line.”

As the objects flew over the trees below his aircraft, the witness said the objects appeared to be roughly 20 to 25 feet long, with a width roughly equal to that of an automobile.

“They clearly had a rounded front fuselage, and a rounded rear,” he added, noting that every surface on the objects appeared to be smooth, and that each appeared to be the same size and shape as they continued to hold their triangular formation as they flew.

UFO

The observer emphasized that the objects he saw had no wings, produced no exhaust, and had no rotors or any kind of visible propulsion system.

“I could not see any windows,” the pilot added.

The duration of the observation, while lasting only a few seconds, nonetheless offered a good look at the objects, which the observer watched as they passed below the left wing of the plane, blocking his view for a moment. As they became visible again, the observer watched the craft again until they were out of sight.

“I was completely stunned!” the observer said.

After landing, the observer approached the captain, whom he saw outside the cockpit. “I stopped and asked him if he noticed anything on radar right before he turned the base leg,” the observer noted, although the captain told him he had not seen anything on radar or otherwise.

Unsatisfied and concerned with what he saw, the observer stated that as he returned to his vehicle and left the airport, he felt compelled to report his encounter. Pulling his vehicle off the road, the witness then called Jacksonville Control Tower and filed a report.

“They took my information,” the witness said. “I told two people in the control tower what I saw. They probably thought I was nuts.” After returning home, the witness also contacted Naval Station Mayport, and left two messages with a Lieutenant of Air Operations.

Obviously impressed with the detailed account the witness provided, NUFORC Director Peter Davenport noted that after the report was filed a lengthy call with the witness also occurred.

“We spoke at length with the witness,” Davenport wrote, “and consider him to be exceptionally capable, and credible.”

Although no corroborating photo or video exists, this exceptional report bears similarity to other aviation-related incidents in recent months. In February, an American Airlines pilot reported seeing a similar cylindrical object while flying over New Mexico that he could not identify. The cylindrical shape and light coloration of the objects in such reports are also similar to an object likened to a bus-sized “tic tac” reported by Navy pilots Dave Fravor and Alex Dietrich during a widely-discussed incident in 2004 off the coast of California. Sightings of cylindrical, oval, or egg-shaped UFOs like these have been reported for decades, with some of the earliest sightings occurring in the late 1940s.

As for the pilot witness who saw the trio of objects over Florida in August, he was left confused and concerned by what he observed.

“To say that I am upset with what I saw is an understatement,” the witness emphasized. “Aeronautically speaking, what I observed is not possible. BUT I SAW IT!”

“I hope I’m not cracking up,” the obviously concerned witness said, concluding his report. To the contrary, this detailed account of unidentified objects provided by an experienced pilot appears to show, like the sighting by the American Airlines crew earlier this year, that good UFO reports do still happen, and fairly often.

MU*