Location of Sighting: Near Nephi, Utah
Date of Sighting: January 14, 2016
Time of Sighting: Between 12:12 and 12:13 AM MST

Description:

This case was reported to me by Erica Lukes who is the director of MUFON for the state of Utah. She knows a radio show host who was scanning communications between aircraft and the FAA shortly after midnight on January 14, 2016. He heard a conversation between an airline pilot and Air Route Traffic Control. The pilot reported seeing an extremely long bright object that he estimated a mile wide to his right. The air traffic controller told him that he was looking in the direction of Nephi, Utah. Apparently the air traffic controller told the pilot that the object was not detected on radar. The object appeared to keep pace with the aircraft.

A Freedom of Information (FOIA) request was written to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). About six weeks later we received a response to the FOIA. The response consisted of radar returns, voice tapes and tower logs. The FAA is to be commended for their full and timely response to our request.

Research showed that the aircraft was American Airlines Flight Number 434 which was enroute from San Francisco, CA to Philadelphia, PA. The actual sighting time was between 12:12 and 12:13 AM MST on January 14, 2016. We were able to find segments of the conversation on the Air Traffic Control archives website, but much of conversation was deleted. One could hear the controller telling the pilot that Nephi, Utah was off to his right and the pilot acknowledging the transmission. However, the UFO report was not on the tape. The ham radio operator did not record the conversation so the “UFO report” could not be heard. He heard the conversation on the frequency of 127.95 mhz.

Update: March 4, 2016. The voice tape obtain from the FAA (see above) does fill in some of the transmission missing from the tape from the Air Traffic Control archives website. The only thing not confirmed from the original transmission was the estimated size of the object. The airline crew described the object as a large orange square.

The aircraft was flying at 31,000 feet and 530 knots at the time of sighting. The aircraft was headed in a ENE direction. The radar shows a “dense” area of returns at approximately the 2 o’clock position. These returns are quite isolated and very numerous. They are likely not birds, angels, ground targets or anomalous propagation.

The time is from 12:08 to 12:15 AM which is the time that the crew saw the object(s).  The map shows a large area of returns near and to the East of I-15.  The returns are not traffic as the radar is too far away to detect ground targets.

The “zoom out” map shows  the concentration of radar returns just to the SW of Nephi.  This is in the position and time observed by airline crew. Note that most of the radar map is devoid of returns except in the area immediately to the SW of Nephi.

The Doppler radar map for Salt Lake City was also obtained.  The map does show some returns to the Northeast of Nephi at the time of the sighting. The radar was operating in “clear air mode” which means that the gain is turned up making it more sensitive. (See radar map above.)

Figure 5 above shows the location of the 2 radar sites used in the analysis.  One radar (Cedar City, UT) is about 155 miles to the SSW of sighting location.  The other radar (Francis Peak, UT) is about 90 miles to the north. These returns were likely true objects and probably quite  large given the distance from the radar sites.

I also took a look at the radar returns for the entire time period of my radar request which was from midnight to 12:30 AM MST.  Figure 7 above shows all of the returns for this time period near Nephi.  Returns were found for each minute from midnight to 12:30 AM in the sighting area. In all 106 radar returns were detected. This means that the object(s) were there before and after the sighting. The returns in Figure 7 almost look a “gridded” radar map. Figure 8 shows the plot of these returns on a Google Earth relief map. It is fairly obvious that the returns are not due to the radar reflecting from higher terrain. A few of elevations are displayed. There was very little elevation change in the area of the returns.

Radar Propagation Analysis:
Atmospheric conditions can cause radar waves to bend downward or upward causing “false returns” or showing returns in the wrong location. Also there is a possibility that radar returns may be reflected off of higher terrain. (However, this is generally not the case as aviation radar is designed to not detect stationary targets.) However, Doppler weather radar can detect higher terrain and result in false returns. Figure 8 shows very little elevation change in the area of the returns.

The above slide show of photos taken by Utah MUFON Assistant State Director show no anomalies in area that could possibly cause radar returns.

Both of the aviation radars were at considerably higher altitude than the target detect area. The Cedar City aviation radar (155 miles to the SSW) was at an elevation of 10,760 feet above sea level which is over 5,000 feet higher than the target area. The Francis Peak aviation radar (88 miles to the north) was at an elevation of 9,324 feet which is nearly 4,000 feet above the target detect area. Given this scenario it is unlikely that the radar waves would be refracted abnormally because the waves would be above any surface temperature inversions over lower terrain. Figure 6 shows the locations of the two aviation radars with respect to the target detect area.

Figure 10 above is a table of computed radar refractivity gradients/1,000 Feet for the Cedar City, UT radar. Figure 11 is a similar table for the Francis Peak, UT radar. The tables show pressure levels, heights of pressure surfaces ASL, temperature, dew point temperature in degrees C, refractivity index and the gradient of refractivity index per 1,000 feet. The data were obtained from the weather balloon sounding of the atmosphere from Las Vegas, NV for the Cedar City radar. Data were obtained from the weather balloon sounding at Salt Lake City, UT for the Francis Peak radar. For both radar sites the refraction gradients are small and well within the normal atmospheric propagation of 0 to -24/1,000 feet. Given that fact the radars were at high elevations (over 10,000 feet for the Cedar City radar and over 9,300 feet for the Francis Peak radar) and given the values in the above tables the probability of anomalous radar propagation (false returns or returns in the wrong location) is nearly 0.

Comments From Martin Shough, Retired Air Traffic Controller & Radar Expert -England: As for the radar, you’re right that those primaries clustered around the interstate are not traffic and AP seems not to be relevant. You might get multiple-trip ghosts from (say) remote mountains appearing at almost any displayed range, but they’d be random with respect to local features. In this case I do get the sense of some correlation with the road, but I don’t know why. I doubt AP would look like this. There’s no significant terrain here. No airfield (although there is a small airfield and heliport to the NE at Nephi). I have absolutely no idea what they are.

Preliminary Interpretation of Voice Tapes and Radar Data:

More analysis is being conducted for this case.  My preliminary impressions follow:

1. Pilot reports a large unusual orange square of lights while flying at 31,000 feet.
2. The first conversation where the crew asked if the object was on radar & the FAA responded saying that the object was not on radar was likely redacted (see Figure 1).
3. The radar shows a dense area of returns at the exact position and time reported by the pilot.
4.  These dense returns are well removed from radar sites. The closest site was about 90 miles to the north at Francis Peak, Utah. The other radar was located at Cedar City, Utah about 155 miles to the SSW. (See Figure 6 above.)
5.  These returns are not due to military operations. There are several restricted military operations areas (MOA’s) in Utah, but Nephi is well outside of these area. (See Figure 9 above.)
6. These returns are not drones. Regular drones would not be likely detected at the long distances from the radar sites. Military drones would be detected, but they would not be in the area. (See Figure 6 above.)
7. These returns are likely not due to anomalous propagation. (See Figure 10 and 11.)
Anomalous propagation generally starts closer to the radar antenna.
8.  Birds, weather targets would not be detected in an isolated area that far from the radar sites.
9. Radar angels are sometimes observed. These are false targets, but there would not be that many of them that far removed from the radar sites.
10. The object(s) were likely at the sighting location before and after the time that the crew sighted the object(s). Figure 7 above shows returns for each minute from midnight to 12:30 AM MST.
9. Of course keep in mind that the pilot crew saw a large square area of orange lights so the radar and observation “corroborate” each other.

Where Do We Go From Here? Erica Lukes and her team of investigators have ran an ad in the local newspaper to see if other people have seen anything unusual. She conversed with the manager of a local truck stop near the sighting location and was told that UFO’s are frequently sighted in the area. One investigator believes that the crew sighted lights from a local power point (Currant Creek Plant – Mona, UT). To me this doesn’t explain the sighting as the conglomerate of radar returns suggests something unusual. Also I would expect that the same crew had flown this same route before. If this was true, why would they ask the FAA about the location?

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Date of Sighting: December 26, 2010
Time of Sighting: 5:30 PM PST
Location of Sighting: About 20 Miles East of  (See Map)

Description: I am an airline pilot. Shortly after departure from Las Vegas, Nevada we spotted a light in the sky. We were on our departure climb Northwest of Las Vegas around 5:30 PM local time. While passing abeam the town of Pahrump we noticed the light. It was moving from Northwest to Southeast at a speed greater than that of an aircraft, but slower than a meteor. It was larger than an aircraft light and blue-green in color. It traveled along the horizon passing from our 1 o’clock position to our 3 o’clock position. At the 3 o’clock position it stopped moving and appeared stationary for about 3 to 5 seconds and then disappeared as though someone turned off the light switch. It appeared to be at approximately 20 miles from our position and just east of Pahrump, Nevada at an approximate altitude of 20,000 feet. During the whole period, our Nav Display was set at a range of 160 nautical miles and our TCAS wasn’t painting any targets. I have around 8,000 hrs of flying and the pilot I was flying with has over 30,000. We both agreed we had never seen anything like that.

Note: Here is an incredible sighting by credible witnesses. Of course the area where the pilots saw the object (light) is close to the “Infamous Area 51.” More analysis will be conducted regarding this case. Updates will be posted.

Update – Preliminary Radar Analysis – March 27, 2011: A “screening analysis” of radar data has identified the airline that spotted the unknown light and has shown unknown targets in the direction, in the position and the time where the object was reported by the flight crew. The targets were moving very slowly towards the northwest which is not the same direction observed by the crew. However, the object could have appeared to be “nearly stationary” at the point that it was observed the crew because it was moving much slower than the aircraft. The aircraft was flying at around 450 mph towards the northwest at the time of the sighting. The UFO was detected at three points by both radars. Analysis shows that the UFO moved west at 94 mph, then north-northwest at 129 mph and then northwest at 225 mph before dropping of the radar. This is consistent with the report that the object stopped moving (or appeared to stop moving) and then disappeared. The above radar map shows a “zoom” of the area of the UFO returns and shows the direction of movement. The zoomed area also shows the plots from two radars.

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Note from The Black Vault: The following letter was submitted, and the person requested to remain anonymous. They submitted a high resolution copy of the very well known Aguadilla, Puerto Rico UFO sighting. This was submitted to The Black Vault in September of 2014.  

When The Black Vault was redesigned, and the case file was rebuilt into the new database, it was noticed that the original YouTube video that was uploaded by the witness (the high resolution version archived here on The Black Vault) was mysteriously removed. There was no reason given by YouTube.

The video is archived and available below, along with the letter.

Archived Video

Letter received by The Black Vault

I was reading about your involvement in getting documents from the NSA concerning UFO’s. Sir, if you want undeiable proof of UFO’s on earth from a government source it is in the video below. Try a FOIA request for this video that was leaked onto youtube.

I can vouch that the following video is 100% real. I am remaining anonymous to avoid government reprisals.
If you ever wanted to truly see how aliens are monitoring or studying us, and witness their technology, this is it.

The video is a black and white infrared recording using a L3 MX15 EOIR camera. The IR video uses back hot, meaning the blacker something is the hotter, or fuller of energy it is. The video was leaked onto youtube because the Federal Agents who recorded it realized the Federal Government was not interested in disclosing it. The video was recorded from the screen of a laptop using a iPhone type device.

Spanish is heard as background noise to distort the leaker’s voices so they are not discovered, so disregard all audio. Lastly, the poster of the video speculates it was recorded from a CBP Blackhawk. In reality it was recorded by a CBP DHC8 turboprop maritime patrol aircraft.

This is not a maybe, this is 100% alien technology on earth, in our skies, and under our oceans. The video was taken in Aguadilla Puerto Rico, and can be verified by calling CBP Caribbean Air and Marine Branch, and Aguadilla airport control tower (the UFO was over the airport without permission and tower controllers saw it and tracked it on radar.

On April 25, 2013 at 2122 Local/April 26, 2013 0122Z a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch DHC8 maritime patrol aircraft was on a routine patrol when it encountered a UFO immediately after takeoff. The object was spotted visually by the Captain of the aircraft, and the Aguadilla control tower operator. It appeared to have a strange red light.

The Customs and Border Protection crew thought the aircraft might be a smuggler so they began to follow the UFO, and record a IR video. The UFO circled the Aguadilla airport and made its way to the ocean. Initially the UFO appears as a forward flying horseshoe, then as it makes its way to the ocean, it changes its configuration to a more spherical shape. The UFO skims on top of the ocean, and submerges, unaffected by the hydrodynamic forces.

Watch the video carefully at 01:24:39 (time in upper left corner) when the object gets really dark (hot) another UFO actually pops out of the ocean and joins the original UFO in formation. Then both UFO’s make controlled entries into the ocean. Alien technology is no doubt under the ocean near Puerto Rico!

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One of the most controversial radar visual reports of the fifties occurred on August 31st, 1954. The story leaked out in December, 1954, and made front page headlines.

The official navy file on the event remained classified until the Directorate of Naval Intelligence released a copy upon my request in 1982.

During his 1973 visit to Australia, Dr. Hynek was able to interview the pilot involved in this famous incident, which became known as the “Sea Fury” encounter.

Dr. Hynek made his notes on this interview available to me during my 1984 visit to the Chicago headquarters of his organisation, the Centre for UFO Studies (CUFOS). I, in turn, provided Dr. Hynek with a copy of the official file on the incident.

Lieutenant J.A. O’Farrell was returning to Royal Australian Navy Air Station Nowra after a night cross country in a Sea Fury aircraft. After contacting Nowra at about 1910 hours, O’Farrell saw a very bright light closing fast at one o’clock.

It crossed in front of his aircraft taking up position on his port beam, where it appeared to orbit.

A second and similar light was observed at nine o’clock. It passed about a mile in from of the Sea Fury and then turned in the position where the first light was observed.

According to O’Farrell, the apparent crossing speeds of the lights were the fastest he had ever encountered. He had been flying at 220 knots. O’Farrell contacted Nowra who in turn confirmed that they had two radar “paints” in company with him.

The radar operator, Petty Officer Keith Jessop, confirmed the presence of 2 objects near the Sea Fury on the G.C.I. remote display.

The two lights reformed at nine o’clock and then disappeared on a north easterly heading. O’Farrell could only make out “a vague shape with the white light situated centrally on top.”

The Directorate of Naval Intelligence at the time wrote that O’Farrell was “an entirely credible witness” and that he “was visibly ‘shaken’ by his experience, but remains adamant that he saw these objects”

In a recent interview, “Shamus” O’Farrell described the incident:

“I said, “Nowra, this is 921. Do you have me on radar?” “And a few seconds later they came back and said, “Affirmative 921. We have you coming in from the west. We have another two contacts as well. Which one are you.” “I said, “I think I’m the central one.”

And so they said, “Do a 180…for identification.” So I did a quick 180 and then continued on around and made it a 360 back to where I was going.

“They said, “Yes, we’ve got you. You’re the centre aircraft.” I said that’s correct. They then said to me, “Who are the other two aircraft,” and I said, “I don’t know. I was hoping you would tell me, because I didn’t think there was anyone up here. “They said, “Well there shouldn’t be, and they certainly shouldn’t be that close to you.”

“So the conversation went on like this and I was very pleased to be talking to somebody because it gave me a lot of reassurance. With that these two aircraft came in quite close to me and I could really see the dark mass and that they were quite big, but I couldn’t make out any other lights or any other form of an aircraft. With that they took off and headed off to the north east at great speed.

“I was about to press the button and tell them at Nowra that the two aircraft were departing when Nowra called me up and said, “The other two aircraft appear to be departing at high speed to the north east. Is that correct?” and I said, “Yes!”. And they said, “Roger, we’ll see if we can track them.”

They tracked them for a while and then lost them. “I came in and landed at 7.30 (1930) and when I got there there were quite a few people waiting for me. I thought it was a bit strange and so they came over, and they said, “You sure you had aircraft out there!” and I said yes.

The Surgeon Commander came over and spoke to me. He said did I feel sick, or was I upset. I said no. He ran his hand over my head to see whether I had any bumps. He had a look at me and decided I was okay. So then he said, “Perhaps you’d like to come to the sick bay after you’ve changed and we’ll do an examination.”

So after I was finished I went up to sick bay and he gave me a more thorough medical, and said, no, I appeared to be alright. I found out later, that at the same time, they checked to make sure I hadn’t been drinking before I took off and all that sort of thing.”

During this interview, Dr. Hynek’s involvement came up:

“This man (Hynek) – a professor – had made a study of thousands of sightings all around the world and he had decided my sighting was one of those that he had not been able to explain away by other means.

Any way I had a talk with him. He was a very interesting chap and he made the comment that there were about 13 or 15, I don’t remember, sightings that he was aware of over the years that were like mine and could not be explained away. The interesting thing he said was that all of these sightings had been made by professional people in aviation.

By that he meant they were military pilots, military air crew, civil aviation operators, air traffic controllers, and the like, or airline pilots. These were the ones he was now (1973) going around meeting the people themselves and investigating.

All the others he had written off and had been able to explain down to some other phenomena. It came to the point where he said, “Your sighting cannot be explained away.” And he left it at that. To this day I wouldn’t know where it came from or where it went.”

I have had the opportunity to talk extensively with Shamus O’Farrell. I was particularly interested in how the interview with Dr. Hynek in 1973 came about:

“It was done through Sir Arthur Tange, who was secretary of the Department of Defence at the time. Hynek contacted him direct… Sir Arthur Tange contacted me and said Hynek was coming out. He had written to him, through the US Embassy, to set up a meeting.

And the next thing I knew I had a telephone call one day from Sir Arthur Tange saying that Hynek was coming and he would like me to met him. I said, well, I haven’t got all the facts, there all a bit hazy. So he sent me the two Defence Department files over to read, to refresh it all.”

Bill Chalker: “That seems to indicate a high level of interest in Hynek’s visit at the time?”

“Yes, well, I don’t think so. All that happened was that it was more of a courtesy because he was a very important guy, Hynek, and they wanted to show him the courtesies etc. As far as Defence was concern it was dead and forgotten but they had not got rid of the files. They kept them.

Normally when files like that are written off they are either decided they’ll put them in Archives or dispose of them and destroy them. But they had done neither. They had remained in the JIO. They’d kept them. I don’t know what they had in mind about it, I never questioned it. I just used them as a means to refresh my memory.

“Later the guy who became the chief Defence scientist, John Farrands, was very interested in it too, and he had done a lot of early investigations in most of the reports when he was chief defence scientist and in the period just before he became chief defence scientist. He had a talk with me.

I was a friend of his. I used to meet with him at lunch. He went over it in great detail. He knew it all. He agreed it was something that couldn’t be refuted. No matter how hard they tried, and they tried very hard to knock it all back. They checked everything from medical, down to when was the last time I had had a drink…”

Bill Chalker: “That must have been a bit of a concern to you?”

“Well, I wanted to hush it all up. That sort of investigation made me look a bit of a fool. I was worried it wasn’t going to do my career any good. “(Apart from the radar witness) it locked in a sighting over the NDB (non directional beacon) at Narulan, at the same time. There happened to be a guy working on the NDB.

It was down at the time.

He had gone to repair it. He happened to look up at the time because he saw these lights fly overhead. Also the air traffice control officer in the tower at Mascot saw them approaching him. “It was all investigated by the then RAAF guy who did it and later it was also investigated by the Joint Intelligence Bureau.”

In 1993 I assisted The Extraordinary television programme with a recreation of the Sea Fury incident. Shamus O’Farrell, Keith Jessop and I were interviewed on the show. The case stands as one of the best unexplained radar visual UFO cases on record in Australia.

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