Pilot spots metallic sphere over Washington State

These are probably my favorite type of witness posts, from Pilots. In this case a Pilot was flying from Gig Harbor Washington to Vancouver Wa. when he saw a metallic object off to his left front.

I was flying from KTIW (Tacoma Narrows Airport – Gig Harbor, Washington) to KVUO (Pearson Field – Vancouver, Washington) at 3,500 feet MSL on a southbound heading when I observed a metallic object off the left front of my airplane approximately 500 feet below my altitude and 2 NM southeast of my position.

I looked on my TCAS (traffic alert collision avoidance system) to identify the aircraft type, altitude, speed, and heading to ensure adequate separation. However, there was no signature on my TCAS.

As I approached the object, I noted it was a silver-metallic ball-shaped object and there were no visible wings of obvious propulsion system.

He first though it a drone but realized drones are limited to 400 feet AGL. This object was about 2,500 feet AGL. Well above drone limitations.

I pointed out the object to my passenger (seated in the co-pilot position) to confirm my own observation. She also noted there were no wings and the object appeared stationary at the time.

My first instinct was to conclude it was a drone aircraft, but drones are typically limited to 400 feet AGL whereas this object was approximately 2,500 feet AGL, well above drone limitations.

At this point my closing speed was approximately 100 knots over ground when the object began accelerating northbound (opposite my direction of flight and off the left side of my aircraft).



The object came within about 1500 feet of his aircraft he estimated.

The closest the object came was approximately 1,500 feet as it passed off my left wing at a high rate of speed. It appeared to briefly turn toward my airplane before disappearing out of view behind and to the left of my airplane.

Determining it’s size is difficult given unknown precise distance and reference to other known objects, but my best guess is approximately six feet in diameter and spherical in shape.

I did not attempt a turn toward the object to surveil the craft. Total time from first observation to losing sight of the object was approximately 60 to 90 seconds.

I often record my flights with a wing-mounted 4K GoPro camera, but unfortunately I did not have the camera mounted on this flight.



In a follow up the Pilot said he did not report the sighting to the FAA as he said he didn't think they would receive a return on an object of this size:

Additional Information Provided by Pilot in Response to Questions: Thank you for the prompt reply. I did not report the sighting to the FAA. In any case it is very unlikely they would receive a primary radar return on an object of this size (and less radio-reflective shape).

My airplane is a Piper Cherokee (PA-28). I sent this report because in my 20 years of flying, this was a first. My initial primary concern was a drone flying well above authorized altitude, but it did not have drone-like characteristics. I was also hoping there might have been other sightings in the area. I may call the airport manager to see if there were other similar reports.

Note: The pilot makes a good argument that the object was not a drone. The object was not a regular aircraft because his TCAS did not pick it up. Regular aircraft are required to have transponders which emit a signal that would be picked by a TCAS. The craft was spherical, without wings and looked to be close to his aircraft. These encounters with UFO’s constitute a flight safety risk.

Source

a reply to: data5091

I have seen a dull metallic sphere(like matt/brushed aluminium) in the UK 20 odd years back.
Really weird,it was just hovering above a tree line,then flew straight up and out of sight.
Two other people saw it.

I agree with you about pilots making good reporters-all that observational training certainly helps.
I bet the governments of the world would have done far more investigating into the matter if pilots had not felt stigmatised if they reported a UFO-as has been the case for decades.

My dads mate was a pilot from the 1950s to the 80s(peak cold war)and he told me the majority of pilots he knew had seen at least one UFO,many had seen more than one.
But during that time it was a major no no to report such things as companies/bosses would label you as crazy and you would be at risk of losing your job.

How stupid is that?
You would have thought pilots would be encouraged to report anything they saw-especially during the cold war years.
Hopefully that is changing nowadays,although slowly.

a reply to: data5091

Thanks for finding this data5091 and sharing it with ATS

Looking at it logically after reading the reports, one comes to the conclusion that the pilot encountered a silver type ufo orb in flight mode

a reply to: data5091

I often record my flights with a wing-mounted 4K GoPro camera, but unfortunately I did not have the camera mounted on this flight.

Not saying he's lying, but this seems like an anomaly within an anomaly.


I suspect we'll be reading of such incidents much more frequently now that msm has announced that they're not laughing at the phenomenon anymore, uniformly.

a reply to: data5091

I often record my flights with a wing-mounted 4K GoPro camera, but unfortunately I did not have the camera mounted on this flight.

Arrhh photo opportunity of a lifetime missed... He will keep that camera mounted on there in the future I bet.

a reply to: Spacespider

My best friend would forget his wife's name before he forgets to take his gopro with.

originally posted by: data5091

These are probably my favorite type of witness posts, from Pilots. In this case a Pilot was flying from Gig Harbor Washington to Vancouver Wa. when he saw a metallic object off to his left front.

Good catch Data, don't know if you've seen it but there's a technical report below dealing with similar incidents:


Project Sphere

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse

But during that time it was a major no no to report such things as companies/bosses would label you as crazy and you would be at risk of losing your job.

There's also another technical report below dealing with that specific subject.


Technical Report - PDF File

a reply to: karl 12

thank you for that! I will check that out when I have more time.

a reply to: karl 12

Beat me to it, Karl. This is kind of thing is NARCAP's bread and butter.

Cheers

Perhaps...well I've heard it said these type of flying aircraft don't need fuel just Earths Magnetic field to travel; ships can hover silently and move quickly; and of course the electronic sensory detection devices which allow telescopic sight through sold walls; electromagnetic propulsion devices.

There is a system beyond ours called System 359 the wolf star. Perhaps they are from there.

a reply to: data5091

I saw something like this a few years ago. I was just sitting on my couch watching TV, and noticed it out of the window. A shiny, metallic ball just cruising by in the sky. It definitely was not a balloon or a drone or anything like that.

we don't get a whole lot of these types, (
metallic spheres) of ufo's I don't think. Seems so many now are spheres or tic tacs or triangles or something else.

Metallic, or metallic-looking? Plenty of shiny gray balloons floating around. I saw one myself a few months back. Some kind of large balloon for a car dealership, I believe.

(not the one I saw)

I’ve posted it on here a dozen times over the years

But me and my partner see a silver ball around 6ft identical description to the object on question

We both had iPhone 4s phones then and we both noticed the object traveling in front of us left to right at a pace, not breathtaking but enough to look at and decided this isn’t a bag balloon drone etc

I shouted quick get a picture

We both wiped out our phones

Looked at my screen and watched the battery go from 100% to zero then switched off

Same happened to her phone

We’d always fully change it phones over night before walking to work together

So no explanation at all just identical object doing something different to buzzing planes at 2,500ft

I’ve posted it on here a dozen times over the years

But me and my partner see a silver ball around 6ft identical description to the object on question

We both had iPhone 4s phones then and we both noticed the object traveling in front of us left to right at a pace, not breathtaking but enough to look at and decided this isn’t a bag balloon drone etc

I shouted quick get a picture

We both wiped out our phones

Looked at my screen and watched the battery go from 100% to zero then switched off

Same happened to her phone

We’d always fully change it phones over night before walking to work together

So no explanation at all just identical object doing something different to buzzing planes at 2,500ft

originally posted by: data5091
we don't get a whole lot of these types, (
metallic spheres) of ufo's

I saw one about fifteen years ago.

I've seen these silver spheres at least three times. I remember two times distinctly and I seem to recall seeing one at least once more. Every time I saw them, they were very high up in the sky but clearly weren't airplanes as the round shape was distinctly visible and they were very shiny metallic silver. All of my sightings of them took place sometime in the years between '99 and '04.

a reply to: Blue Shift

Agreed, aside from the pilot believing he observed the object accelerate there is nothing to suggest this wasn't a balloon.

a reply to: chunder

based on the Pilot's description of the event, I don't think the PIlot saw a balloon.

Very interesting.
a reply to: data5091