A British Airways passenger jet carrying 256 people reportedly came within 50 feet of a UFO just after taking off from London’s Heathrow Airport.
Even stranger, the pilots said the UFO looked to be about the size of four toasters. That’s right, four toasters.
The incident occurred on June 24, but details of the close encounter were only recently made public after an investigation by the UK Airprox Board. However, despite that investigation, officials still don’t know what the pilots actually saw.
British Airways Pilots Report Close Encounter With Mysterious Silver Object
According to GB News, the Boeing 777-300ER was traveling from London to New York when the pilots spotted something unusual while climbing over Guildford, Surrey.
While flying at around 5,800 feet, the pilots saw a bright, silver object fly across the plane’s right side in the opposite direction.
At first, the pilots thought it was a drone. However, according to the official report, the object moved at a very high speed, had a metallic, reflective surface and was no higher than 50 feet above the plane.
When air traffic control asked how large the UFO was, the pilots said it was about the size of four toasters.
Investigators later reviewed radar data from the incident but couldn’t find anything matching the object. They also couldn’t determine exactly what it was.
“The Board considered that providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed,” the report stated.
In other words, whatever it was, the pilots were just lucky they didn’t hit it. Thankfully, the plane continued on to New York without any issues.
British Airways later confirmed the incident and said, “We take matters such as these extremely seriously, and our pilots report these incidents so authorities can investigate them and take appropriate action.”
Another UFO Sighting That Investigators Can’t Explain
Interestingly, this isn’t the only recent incident of airline pilots encountering mysterious UFOs.
Earlier this year, two pilots flying over Ohio photographed a strange pill-shaped UFO that they couldn’t identify. Another pilot reported seeing what looked like a flying saucer while approaching Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom.
And just three days before the British Airways encounter, another pilot departing Heathrow reported seeing a large UFO flying below an Airbus A320. Investigators couldn’t identify that object either.
Now, obviously, none of this means aliens are flying around England playing chicken with commercial airliners. The object could have been a drone, as the pilots originally suspected.
Still, considering investigators couldn’t identify it, couldn’t find it on radar, and determined there was a risk of collision, it’s a little concerning. Especially when a plane carrying hundreds of passengers is involved.