Commercial airliner pilots sighted two white lights at altitude
We were flying north at 39,000 feet over central North Carolina. From the cockpit of our commercial airliner the Captain and First Officer witnessed two white lights way out in the distance above us at the 11 o'clock position. The two white lights appeared in loose formation coming from the northwest over Richmond, Virginia. When the two white lights were equidistant between Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, they turned south coming directly towards us at the 12 o'clock position. Again, they were way, way out in the distance and moving fast. Shortly thereafter, the two lights then turned left towards the northeast. The lights faded from view as their turn commenced. They disappeared from our view and nothing else was seen. Duration of our sighting was probably 2-3 minutes.
The two lights did not exhibit navigation lights, strobes or rotating beacons like a normal aircraft. As it was 00:35 hours on a Sunday night/Monday morning, we surmised the lights were probably not part of a military mission or in-flight refueling. Additionally, as the lights would have been above 39,000 which is extremely high, in-flight refueling would not have been a normal occurrence at that high of a flight level.
We asked the air traffic controller if he had the two targets on his radar. He said no and we explained to him what we saw. The remainder of flight to destination airport was uneventful with no further sightings of the two white lights.
We were flying north at 39,000 feet over central North Carolina. From the cockpit of our commercial airliner the Captain and First Officer witnessed two white lights way out in the distance above us at the 11 o'clock position. The two white lights appeared in loose formation coming from the northwest over Richmond, Virginia. When the two white lights were equidistant between Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, they turned south coming directly towards us at the 12 o'clock position. Again, they were way, way out in the distance and moving fast. Shortly thereafter, the two lights then turned left towards the northeast. The lights faded from view as their turn commenced. They disappeared from our view and nothing else was seen. Duration of our sighting was probably 2-3 minutes.
The two lights did not exhibit navigation lights, strobes or rotating beacons like a normal aircraft. As it was 00:35 hours on a Sunday night/Monday morning, we surmised the lights were probably not part of a military mission or in-flight refueling. Additionally, as the lights would have been above 39,000 which is extremely high, in-flight refueling would not have been a normal occurrence at that high of a flight level.
We asked the air traffic controller if he had the two targets on his radar. He said no and we explained to him what we saw. The remainder of flight to destination airport was uneventful with no further sightings of the two white lights.
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Richmond to Norfolk
USA
2-3 minutes
2-3 minutes
light
VA
Occurred : 3/8/2021 00:35 (Entered as : 03/08/21 00:35) Reported: 3/13/2021 7:47:17 AM 07:47 Posted: 3/31/2021 Location: Richmond to Norfolk, VA Shape: Light Duration: 2-3 minutes Characteristics: There were lights on the object
Commercial airliner pilots sighted two white lights at altitude. ((NUFORC Note: Report from airline pilot. PD))