A US Air Force pilot apparently had a close encounter with a UFO, leaked air traffic control audio reveals.
An experienced Air Force pilot was flying a Beechcraft 350 C on a secret flight through a controlled airspace in California on September 17 last year when he claims to have breezed past a ‘football-sized’ UFO.
According to his call with air traffic control, which has been leaked and obtained by NewsNation, the jet that was flying at 20,000 feet almost came into contact with the unidentified object on what was a clear afternoon at 2.30pm that day.
The pilot, identified as Troy 21, can be heard saying to the controller: “This is going to sound weird, but I just had something pass underneath my wing.”
He added: “Maybe a football-sized object right under my wing.”
Animated video footage replicates the bizarre moment, which shows a cylindrical-looking object zooming past the plane.
The news outlet reported the jet was on an undisclosed military-related operation involving the Department of Homeland Security when the incident occurred.
The air traffic controller could be heard asking the pilot if he thought it was a drone, to which he replied: “Uh, I have no idea. I’ve got my sensor operator looking for it on the camera right now.”
The air force jet reportedly has a radar equipped to track drug traffickers (Getty Images)
“It was like a dark gray cylindrical object and it was probably the size of a football and it passed maybe 10 feet under our right wing,” he added.
Roughly two minutes later, the airman tracked the object and estimated it had flown about 60 miles away from his current position.
Later in the leaked audio, another air traffic controller discusses the reports of a ‘UFO’ before saying: “[T]hat’s all taken care of now.”
A former FBI agent and UFO investigator, Ben Hansen, who shared the audio exclusively on Banfield, explained the aircraft was equipped with a ‘very sensitive and complex radar array’ used to track drug traffickers.
