(OPINION) Exactly one year ago today, UFO experts were buzzing about reports of a pilot who claimed he saw “a long, cylindrical object” flying over New Mexico.
American Airlines and the FBI confirmed reports that flight AA 2292, which was traveling between Cincinnati and Phoenix on February 21, 2021, had a near-miss with an unidentified flying object shortly before twenty past one, local time. The pilot contacted Albuquerque air traffic control to request information on the bizarre sighting and was heard asking if they had “targets” up in the air.
In an audio clip of the radio transmission, he added: “We just had something just go 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.”
While American Airlines initially played down the report, a company spokesperson confirmed the incident in a statement that said: “Following a debrief with our Flight Crew and additional information received we can confirm this radio transmission was from American Airlines Flight 2292 on Feb. 21.”
The Federal Aviation Administration added in their statement that air traffic controllers “did not see any object in the area on their radarscopes.” But the sighting quickly became of the most significant UFO sightings of 2021 as it was one of several triggers that saw experts push for more transparency from the US government about investigations into alien life. READ MORE
