Air safety officials have disclosed a remarkable incident involving a British Airways aircraft and an unidentified flying object, described as being "the size of four toasters," which rapidly passed the plane. The encounter occurred on 24th June, shortly after the flight, bound for New York City, had departed from London Heathrow Airport.
The pilot reported to air traffic control that a 'drone' travelled in the opposing direction, approximately 50 feet above the plane's right wing, at 12:08 pm. Crucially, the aircraft did not need to take any evasive action, and the Boeing 777 continued its journey, arriving at its destination without further incident.
The UK Airprox Board, the official body tasked with investigating incidents where aircraft come into close proximity, concluded that there was "no risk" of a collision. Despite this assessment, the board classified the object as an A-grade risk, which is the highest category within the International Civil Aviation Organization's safety scoring system.
According to the warning system, A-grade incidents are considered to have the potential for "catastrophic" outcomes, including "multiple deaths."
'Silver Object Moving Very Fast'
In its monthly report detailing close encounters, the UK Airprox Board stated that the plane was at an altitude of 6,000 feet when the "shiny, silver object" whizzed past. The report further elaborated, "They said it was moving very fast, was probably of silver colour, metallic and reflective." Following an inquiry about its dimensions, the pilot conveyed that the object was "about the 'size of four toasters'."
The aircraft was flying over farmland approximately one mile southeast of the village of Burntcommon when the sighting occurred. Given that nothing matched the object's altitude and description, investigators ultimately categorised it as an "unk obj," signifying an unknown object. The report concluded, "The Board considered that providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed."
British Airways issued a statement to Metro, asserting, "We take matters such as these extremely seriously, and our pilots report these incidents so authorities can investigate them and take appropriate action."
UFO Sightings in the UK
The UFO Identified database indicates that nearly 90 UFOs have been sighted this year across the UK. Witnesses have reported diverse phenomena, including "glowing orbs" observed zooming over Heathrow and "orbs with halos" seen behind trees in Peterborough.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) previously operated a dedicated UFO desk, which was disbanded in 2009 due to budgetary constraints. Nick Pope, a former civil servant tasked with investigating reports of UFOs – now frequently referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena – during the 1990s, commented before his death that many such lights and spherical objects were often merely stray paper lanterns.
Pope revealed, "In the end, we found about 80% or so of these sightings were misidentifications, 15% had insufficient data and 5% were unknown." He always reminded people, "That 5% doesn’t mean extraterrestrial, but as I always remind people, neither did we rule that out. It means unknown, no more, no less."