Irish authorities are looking into reported sightings of UFOs from a few airline pilots.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Irish Aviation Authority is investigating reports from pilots that an unidentified flying object was spotted over western Ireland.
A pilot of British Airways flight BA94, flying from Montreal, contacted air traffic control in Shannon last Friday to report seeing an object moving very quickly past the aircraft.
The pilot asked if there were any military exercises taking place off the west coast of Ireland.
She was informed there were no military exercises in the area, according to a recording of the conversation by Airlive, a website for aviation fans.
Air traffic control told the Irish Times newspaper that nothing had appeared on either primary or secondary radar.
The pilot said the object and her plane were not going to collide, but she was mystified by what it could be.
A Virgin Airlines pilot flying from Orlando to Manchester, who flew over the same region, told a similar story and said the spectacle looked like an extremely bright meteor or another object making some kind of re-entry.
The Irish Aviation Authority told the Irish Times it was investigating the incident.
Dr. Chris Lowe, a sceptical UFO expert and enthusiast, told Euronews: “In all probability, it is a meteor or other bits of space junk re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. The fact that it was fast, glowing and at a low angle trajectory is typical of this."
However, he said aspects of the reports were more unusual.
“One of the pilots said the ‘objects’ tracked the path of the plane, to the side — but then it ‘veered off'."
"This is odd, as a meteor would normally maintain its trajectory unless deflected (after an impact or collision) — and it would not normally change directory & ever away," he added.
Lowe said that there have been an "escalating number of fairly convincing reports of flying discs and triangles which appear to defy current technological ability and the laws of physics" over the past couple of years.
"Many of these have been observed by high-value, likely-reliable witnesses, including military and civil pilots, navy personnel & police officers," he added.