A military pilot was left puzzled after he encountered a “dark grey cylindrical object” roughly the size of a football, with one expert ruling out the possibility that it was a drone
A US Air Force pilot’s unsettling encounter with a UFO has been revealed for the first time.
The pilot, identified as ‘Troy 21,’ reported a near-miss with an unidentified craft while conducting a secret mission over California. The object, travelling at supersonic speed, came within 10 feet of his aircraft’s wing.
In the recording, Troy 21 can be heard telling Los Angeles air traffic control (ATC): “This is going to sound strange, but I just had something pass right underneath my wing—maybe the size of a football.” The close call occurred on September 17, 2024. ATC inquired if the object might have been a drone, but the pilot couldn’t confirm. He mentioned that his sensor operator was trying to spot the object on the plane’s cameras and described it as a “dark grey cylindrical object” roughly the size of a football.
The pilot then informed ATC that the UFO had been spotted again, now about 60 miles from the initial sighting. Later in the conversation, another ATC voice dismisses the situation, saying, “There was a UFO reported here, but that’s all taken care of now. It’s gone, so don’t worry about it.”
Speaking to NewsNation, former FBI agent Ben Hansen speculated that the object was travelling at Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound), given how quickly it moved away from the plane. “They reported tracking the object 60 miles away, and based on their airborne radar, it could have been traveling at Mach 2. This eliminates any normal explanation, like a drone,” he explained.
Hansen managed to obtain a copy of the recording, which had not been made public. He revealed that the air traffic controller involved had reported the incident to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), a recognised channel for UFO reports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Hansen also speculated that the pilot and crew were likely on a drug interdiction mission for the US Department of Homeland Security. Their Beechcraft 350C, outfitted with advanced radar, is typically used to track drug traffickers and illegal activities. On that clear afternoon, the crew spotted the UFO at around 2:30 PM.
“It’s broad daylight, and they got a good look at it—a cylindrical, dark object passing just beneath their wing,” Hansen noted. He emphasised the significance of the sighting, stating that it posed serious concerns for aircraft safety in controlled airspace, especially when the pilot and crew had not been briefed about any nearby air traffic.
Given the classified nature of the flight, Hansen acknowledged that the pilot and crew couldn’t share many details.
Although military and some hobby drones can fly as high as 20,000 feet (the altitude of the encounter), Hansen doubted it was a drone. The UFO was observed near a “military operations area,” but not within its boundaries. As a result, any commercial drone activity in the area would have needed to be reported.
This encounter adds to the growing list of close UFO sightings that are fuelling public belief in alien visitors to Earth.
It comes as a Turkish airport was thrown into chaos after pilots reported an unidentified, illuminated object in the sky. Flights at Gaziantep Airport were suspended for about an hour as a precautionary measure after the mysterious sighting.
At around 10pm on February 18, pilots spotted the unidentified object at an altitude of approximately 10 thousand feet and reported the situation to the control tower, according to local news reports.
Despite the object not appearing on radar, it was speculated that it could have been an unauthorised drone. After thorough investigations by security units, it was concluded that the object seen by the pilots could have been a drone being flown without permission.
Normal service resumed at around 11pm, with aircraft once again permitted to take off and land.
UFO enthusiasts took to Reddit to discuss the reported sighting, with one person saying: “I swear I saw this at San Francisco Airport (SFO) a few weeks ago.
“I saw an oddly bright object pass over the hills (from the direction of the ocean) going east, towards to the north side of the airport and just hover there. I was on the highway, so I couldn’t get a good look at it, but I wondered what the hell that was. I also saw an object fly from Oakland to San Francisco in about five to 10 seconds (that’s about 5-10 miles in that period of time) with no red or green lights, just a blue-coloured sphere.”
Another weighed in, believing the UFO was a sign of aliens getting closer to Earth. “Open contact is definitely happening before 2027,” they said.