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The pilot of a private jet reportedly made an eerie discovery while flying thousands of feet over Rhode Island, marking the latest in unexplained encounters baffling both experts and civilians alike.
Newly resurfaced video shared on YouTube in October by the VASAviation channel reveals the head-scratching moment the pilot radioed to the ground team at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport regarding a mysterious small, silver cylinder hovering near the wing of his aircraft, telling Air Traffic Control (ATC), “It appears to be standing still.”
“Looks like a strange, small object that we just floated by,” the pilot told ATC, according to the clip. “A small silver canister. Do you know what that could be?”
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A pilot of a private jet encountered a mysterious silver, cylindrical object hovering next to his aircraft at approximately 3,500 feet while flying over Rhode Island, according to an ATC recording shared by VASAviation. (iStock)
ATC went on to inform the pilot there were no other reports regarding an object in the area and asked the pilot if it could be a drone or balloon.
“I saw nothing attached to it,” the pilot responded, according to the clip. “It was sort of hovering there. It was astonishing. I don’t know what it was.”
The object was reportedly seen floating near the right wing tip of the Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II at an altitude of 3,500 feet, before flying alongside the aircraft and later disappearing from view.
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ATC can be heard wishing the pilot, “Good luck with the aliens,” in the recording, shared by VASAviation. (iStock)
“Creepy,” the ground team can be heard saying on the radio, with ATC joking, “Good luck with the aliens.”
Other pilots quickly took to the radio to join in on the mystery, as one added, “I want to believe him.”
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One potential explanation for the mysterious object could be that it is a weather balloon, which can often carry cylindrical payloads and hover at high altitudes, according to the Daily Mail. (iStock)
“The FAA documents UAP sightings whenever a pilot reports one to an air traffic control facility,” the FAA said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “If supporting information such as radar data corroborates the report, the FAA shares it with the UAP Task Force.”
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“Multiple U.S. government agencies have individual programs or processes to study and document UAP. However, the agencies also work collaboratively on the topic.”