American Airlines has confirmed that during an inbound flight to Phoenix on Sunday, one of its pilots radioed air traffic controllers to report a “missile-like object” flew over the plane above New Mexico. The radio transmission was discovered by blogger Steve Douglass, who had been recording air traffic following the jet engine explosion that dropped parts over Colorado the day before. By “pure coincidence,” he randomly stumbled across the American Airlines pilot reporting the UFO, and Douglass couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I hate to say this — looked like a long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile type of thing moving really fast,” the pilot said in the transmission. “It went right over the top of us.”
According to USA Today, American Airlines confirmed the transmission was from Flight 2292 on February 21. However, neither the airline or air traffic control have an answer for what the pilot saw:
The Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers didn’t see any object in the area on their radarscopes, according to a statement from FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor.
Could it have been a missile? Scott Stearns, director of public affairs at White Sands Missile Range, located in southern New Mexico, said the range conducted no tests on Sunday and that “we never test in that area.”
Holloman Air Force Base in nearby southern New Mexico is reportedly looking into the issue after being contacted by the Arizona Republic, but they have yet to comment. The FBI also declined a request to comment.
(Via USA Today)