(The Sun) – An American Airlines jet’s close encounter with a UFO sparked a frenzy of online speculation – and it turns out it is far from the first time it has happened. Sightings of flying saucers and other “unidentified aerial phenomena” near passenger planes resurfaced this week as the FBI opened a file on the latest near-miss.
Last Sunday, a radio interceptor picked up an unusual transmission from flight AA2292 from Cincinnati to Phoenix. The pilots said they had been overtaken by a speeding craft at 36,000ft over a remote corner of New Mexico. One pilot can be heard telling an air traffic controller in Albuquerque: “Do you have any targets up here?
“We just had something go right over the top of us. “I hate to say this but it looked like a long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile type of thing – moving really fast right over the top of us.” The Airbus 302 was flying at 406mph at the time, according to flight data.
It was not far from the White Sands Missile range, but the Pentagon said no tests or launches were conducted on that day. The mystery deepened when AA confirmed the cockpit recording came from its jet – and told reporters to “talk to the FBI” for more. The FBI said it was “aware of the reported incident” but would not “confirm or deny” if it was investigating. READ MORE
