A well lit craft was viewed for 5 mins at a relatively low speed and with no apparent radar contact.
While flying a corporate jet at 20,000 ft from New Haven Conn to Buffalo, NY, I noticed a bright light ahead of us. At first I thought it was a planet but as it got closer, I realized that was not the case. It passed by us at a relatively slower speed than we are used to. It was between 2 and 4 thousand feet above us. It had a blinking light in front and between 3 and 4 other lights on it, all white except for an exstremely faint and small green light toward the rear.
When it reached our ten o'clock position, I asked air traffic control if they observed any traffic at that position? They said they had traffic at that position going westbound. This craft was eastbound and not in contact with any controllers.
The controller then asked other planes if they had seen this craft, receiving replies that no one else had. Both my co-pilot and myself watched it disappear behind us.
While it is common to see other traffic in the sky while flying, the fact that it was so lit up (planes are not usually that highly lit at those altitudes) with lights that were not consistent with aircraft lights and it relatively slow closing speed with us makes me believe that it wasn't a aircraft as we know an aircraft to be.
While flying a corporate jet at 20,000 ft from New Haven Conn to Buffalo, NY, I noticed a bright light ahead of us. At first I thought it was a planet but as it got closer, I realized that was not the case. It passed by us at a relatively slower speed than we are used to. It was between 2 and 4 thousand feet above us. It had a blinking light in front and between 3 and 4 other lights on it, all white except for an exstremely faint and small green light toward the rear.
When it reached our ten o'clock position, I asked air traffic control if they observed any traffic at that position? They said they had traffic at that position going westbound. This craft was eastbound and not in contact with any controllers.
The controller then asked other planes if they had seen this craft, receiving replies that no one else had. Both my co-pilot and myself watched it disappear behind us.
While it is common to see other traffic in the sky while flying, the fact that it was so lit up (planes are not usually that highly lit at those altitudes) with lights that were not consistent with aircraft lights and it relatively slow closing speed with us makes me believe that it wasn't a aircraft as we know an aircraft to be.
No
Yes
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Off
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No
Yes
No
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No
Buffalo area
USA
5 mins
5 mins
unknown
NY
Occurred : 1/11/2011 18:30 (Entered as : 01/11/11 18:30) Reported: 1/13/2011 9:15:46 AM 09:15 Posted: 1/31/2011 Location: Buffalo area (In-flight observation), NY Shape: Unknown Duration: 5 mins Characteristics: There were lights on the object, There were aircraft in the vicinity or aircraft chasing the object
A well lit craft was viewed for 5 mins at a relatively low speed and with no apparent radar contact.