The Irish Aviation Authority has begun an investigation into the sighting of multiple unidentified flying object (UFOs) by a number of aircraft off the south-west coast of Ireland last Friday.
At approximately 6.47am on November 9, the pilot of a British Airways flight, call sign Speedbird94, contacted Shannon Air Traffic Control (ATC) to ask if there were military exercises taking place in the airspace through which her Boeing 787 was passing but there were no military exercises underway.
She further explained that the object had appeared as a "very bright light" and had flown along the left side of their 787 before it "rapidly veered to the north" and then "disappeared at very high speed." There is no indication of concerns about a possible collision.
Shannon ATC replied: “There is nothing showing on either primary or secondary (radar).” The pilot responded: “OK. It was moving so fast.” The controller then asked: “Alongside you?”
The pilot of a Virgin Airlines Boeing 747, call sign Virgin76, then joined the radio conversation to say that they too had seen more than one bright light there were “multiple objects following the same sort of trajectory”. He repeated the details about the objects being very bright and moving at extremely high speeds, likening their appearance to an object re-entering the earth's atmosphere from space.
The pilot of Virgin76 said they were very bright “where we were”.
"Glad it wasn't just me," someone chimed in at one point. "No, ah, yeah, very interesting that one," the pilot of Virgin 76 replied and noted that the two very bright objects went from 11 o'clock off their nose before climbing away at high speed.
The pilot of British Airways BA pilot flying from Montreal to Heathrow, describes how the UFO came up along the left-hand side of the aircraft, “then rapidly veered to the north”.
She said it was “a very bright light” that “disappeared at very high speed”. She said they were “wondering” what it could be, that it did not seem to be on a collision course.
The pilot of another aircraft, a Norwegian Air 737, was also party to the overall conversation. Eventually, air traffic controllers said that they had received multiple reports about the objects and would pass the information on to authorities.
A third individual – it's unclear whether they were onboard Speedbird 94, Virgin 76, or a third plane – said they were going so fast it was "astronomical, it was like Mach 2.”
Shannon ATC asked if the pilots knew which direction the objects were heading. The Virgin Airlines pilot said it was in his “11 o’clock position” with “two bright lights over to the right”, that then climbed away at speed. Shannon ATC told the pilot it would pass that information on. Shannon ATC then told Speedbird94 that “other aircraft in the air have also reported the same thing so we are going to have a look and see”.
The BA flight was passing over Kerry at the time, while the other two flights were off the south-west coast, heading eastbound, and in high-level airspace, which extends from 24,500ft upwards.
The Irish Examiner contacted the Irish Aviation Authority to ask if it was investigating the UFO.
In a statement, the authority said: “Following reports from a small number of aircraft on Friday, November 9, of unusual air activity, the IAA has filed a report.
“This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process.”
According to thedrive objects regularly enter the earth's atmosphere, and some are quite spectacular looking if they make it to lower altitudes, they do not fly up alongside aircraft, make hard lateral maneuvers, and then accelerate away at high speed.
The fact that Speedbird 94 provided a 'close-up' account of the incident while Virgin 76 conveyed a 'wide-angle' account that made this encounter even more compelling.
The entire audio is available here. It begins 17:50 and ends right after the 20:00 minute mark.
At approximately 6.47am on November 9, the pilot of a British Airways flight, call sign Speedbird94, contacted Shannon Air Traffic Control (ATC) to ask if there were military exercises taking place in the airspace through which her Boeing 787 was passing but there were no military exercises underway.
She further explained that the object had appeared as a "very bright light" and had flown along the left side of their 787 before it "rapidly veered to the north" and then "disappeared at very high speed." There is no indication of concerns about a possible collision.
Shannon ATC replied: “There is nothing showing on either primary or secondary (radar).” The pilot responded: “OK. It was moving so fast.” The controller then asked: “Alongside you?”
The pilot of a Virgin Airlines Boeing 747, call sign Virgin76, then joined the radio conversation to say that they too had seen more than one bright light there were “multiple objects following the same sort of trajectory”. He repeated the details about the objects being very bright and moving at extremely high speeds, likening their appearance to an object re-entering the earth's atmosphere from space.
The pilot of Virgin76 said they were very bright “where we were”.
"Glad it wasn't just me," someone chimed in at one point. "No, ah, yeah, very interesting that one," the pilot of Virgin 76 replied and noted that the two very bright objects went from 11 o'clock off their nose before climbing away at high speed.
The pilot of British Airways BA pilot flying from Montreal to Heathrow, describes how the UFO came up along the left-hand side of the aircraft, “then rapidly veered to the north”.
She said it was “a very bright light” that “disappeared at very high speed”. She said they were “wondering” what it could be, that it did not seem to be on a collision course.
The pilot of another aircraft, a Norwegian Air 737, was also party to the overall conversation. Eventually, air traffic controllers said that they had received multiple reports about the objects and would pass the information on to authorities.
A third individual – it's unclear whether they were onboard Speedbird 94, Virgin 76, or a third plane – said they were going so fast it was "astronomical, it was like Mach 2.”
Shannon ATC asked if the pilots knew which direction the objects were heading. The Virgin Airlines pilot said it was in his “11 o’clock position” with “two bright lights over to the right”, that then climbed away at speed. Shannon ATC told the pilot it would pass that information on. Shannon ATC then told Speedbird94 that “other aircraft in the air have also reported the same thing so we are going to have a look and see”.
The BA flight was passing over Kerry at the time, while the other two flights were off the south-west coast, heading eastbound, and in high-level airspace, which extends from 24,500ft upwards.
The Irish Examiner contacted the Irish Aviation Authority to ask if it was investigating the UFO.
In a statement, the authority said: “Following reports from a small number of aircraft on Friday, November 9, of unusual air activity, the IAA has filed a report.
“This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process.”
According to thedrive objects regularly enter the earth's atmosphere, and some are quite spectacular looking if they make it to lower altitudes, they do not fly up alongside aircraft, make hard lateral maneuvers, and then accelerate away at high speed.
The fact that Speedbird 94 provided a 'close-up' account of the incident while Virgin 76 conveyed a 'wide-angle' account that made this encounter even more compelling.
The entire audio is available here. It begins 17:50 and ends right after the 20:00 minute mark.