An egg shaped object passed in close proximity of my aircraft.
(The time listed above is approximate. An accurate time can be derived from the FAA ATC voice or radar tapes.)
I was flying an aircraft on an IFR flight plan at 8000 feet msl. Due to thunderstorms in the interior of MA, I was unable to fly northboud to my destination and I was tracking the RI/CT coastline to the west trying to get around the weather.
The Sun had already set below the horizon, but the western sky was still very bright orange and ground detail was still easily identifiable. At first I saw what I thought was a bird directly in my flight path, it appeared to be writhing in effort to avoid my plane (this is not an uncommon sight). Very quickly I determined that the bird (object) was not on a collision course, but it would pass very close to my position. As it drew closer I could see that it was not a bird, but rather an egg shaped object standing on end. The top and bottom of the "egg" was not rounded but spiked with three points each. Against the bright sky it was just a black silouette and possessed no lights. It appeared to be moving in an eastbound direction and passed very close to and above the right wing of my aircraft. The first officer was looking for a fix on a navigational chart and did not observe the object. However, I immediately contacted ATC and inquired about any radar targets on his equipment in my vicinity. The initial response was no, but shortly thereafter he reported a primary target (no transponder or verifiable altitude info) behind me in trail about a mile. ATC then informed me that object appeared to be stationary and then began to drift slowly to the east. I had no futher contact with the object. Shortly before I was handed off to another controller (on a separate frequency) I heard the object called as stationary traffic to an airliner.
((NUFORC Note: We have talked to the witness on several occasions, and we find him to be exceptionally credible. In addition, we have received from the FAA Boston Center both audio and radar tapes for the time period indicated. We have not processed the tapes as of the date of this writing, but will do so in the near future. The Quality Assurance Office at Boston Center, which processed NUFORC's FOIA request indicates that the audio tape confirms that a pilot reported an anomalous object to the Center handling his flight. We will post more information, once the tapes are processed.
In his original report, the witness reported a time of 2130 hrs. (EDT) on June 22, 2000. We have corrected the time here to 2130 hrs.. PD))
(The time listed above is approximate. An accurate time can be derived from the FAA ATC voice or radar tapes.)
I was flying an aircraft on an IFR flight plan at 8000 feet msl. Due to thunderstorms in the interior of MA, I was unable to fly northboud to my destination and I was tracking the RI/CT coastline to the west trying to get around the weather.
The Sun had already set below the horizon, but the western sky was still very bright orange and ground detail was still easily identifiable. At first I saw what I thought was a bird directly in my flight path, it appeared to be writhing in effort to avoid my plane (this is not an uncommon sight). Very quickly I determined that the bird (object) was not on a collision course, but it would pass very close to my position. As it drew closer I could see that it was not a bird, but rather an egg shaped object standing on end. The top and bottom of the "egg" was not rounded but spiked with three points each. Against the bright sky it was just a black silouette and possessed no lights. It appeared to be moving in an eastbound direction and passed very close to and above the right wing of my aircraft. The first officer was looking for a fix on a navigational chart and did not observe the object. However, I immediately contacted ATC and inquired about any radar targets on his equipment in my vicinity. The initial response was no, but shortly thereafter he reported a primary target (no transponder or verifiable altitude info) behind me in trail about a mile. ATC then informed me that object appeared to be stationary and then began to drift slowly to the east. I had no futher contact with the object. Shortly before I was handed off to another controller (on a separate frequency) I heard the object called as stationary traffic to an airliner.
((NUFORC Note: We have talked to the witness on several occasions, and we find him to be exceptionally credible. In addition, we have received from the FAA Boston Center both audio and radar tapes for the time period indicated. We have not processed the tapes as of the date of this writing, but will do so in the near future. The Quality Assurance Office at Boston Center, which processed NUFORC's FOIA request indicates that the audio tape confirms that a pilot reported an anomalous object to the Center handling his flight. We will post more information, once the tapes are processed.
In his original report, the witness reported a time of 2130 hrs. (EDT) on June 22, 2000. We have corrected the time here to 2130 hrs.. PD))
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Off
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Providence
USA
five seconds
five seconds
41.82
-71.42
egg
RI
Occurred : 6/22/2000 21:30 (Entered as : 06/22/00 2030) Reported: 8/6/2000 05:26 Posted: 8/19/2000 Location: Providence (On the coastline, SSW of), RI Shape: Egg Duration: five seconds Characteristics: There were aircraft in the vicinity or aircraft chasing the object
An egg shaped object passed in close proximity of my aircraft.