Background
Missile or UFO Buzzes Continental Airlines Flight
Although rarely a topic of news, the existence of UFOs is all too real to many military and civilian pilots.Hundreds, if not thousands of valuable reports of UFO encounters by pilots, and yet, according to the U.S. Military and Government, they don’t care about them. In today’s post 9/11 world; maybe they should.
On May 29th, 2009, a mysterious object displayed just how much of a ‘threat’ UFOs can be; alien spacecraft or not.
Continental Airlines Flight 2822 was en route to Greenville Spartanburg International Airport from Houston, when the pilot radioed in something odd was happening. He witnessed what he said something that resembled “a missile” was flying below his aircraft, but he wasn’t seeing it on radar.
What was this mysterious object?
Shortly after the incident, I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FAA for all pertinent documents relating to the incident. Surprisingly, the request yielded some interesting results.
First, was the Daily Record of Facility Operation for the date of the incident. The document stated that the, “object passed 200ft below and behind [aircraft]out of 13000 [feet]… No radar target displayed.” Another reference in the document stated that it was a, “… missile passing below his aircraft by 100-200ft @13,000 [feet].”
Secondly, the FAA also supplied the air traffic controller’s communications. Sifting through the unneeded communications, and straining to hear the nearly completely inaudible audio, seven minutes and thirty seconds into the audio recording, a transmission states:
Unidentified Male #1: “About two updates ago, 2822 said something passed 200feet below him. He saw it with his eyes.”
Unidentified Male #2 (Presumably Air Traffic Controller): “Oh really??”
Unidentified Male #1: “That’s what he said.”
Unidentified Male #2 (Presumably Air Traffic Controller): “There isn’t anything out there… no primary…”
Unidentified Male #1: “Yeah, I didn’t see anything either… so…”
Unidentified Male #2 (Presumably Air Traffic Controller): “Ok thank you.”
As the recording goes on, eight minutes and fifty four seconds into the recording, the incident is discussed again:
Unidentified Male #2 (Presumably Air Traffic Controller): Inaudible. Presumably asking for update on the mysterious object sighted.
Unidentified Male #3: “Sure. The gentleman is now saying it looked like a missile.”
Unidentified Male #2 (Presumably Air Traffic Controller): “A Missile?”
Unidentified Male #3: “… flying in the opposite direction, rapidly below him… about 200ft below him. I told my supervisor.”
Unidentified Male #2 (Presumably Air Traffic Controller): “Ok, and I’ll alert mine.” Inaudible.
So what was the object? A missile? Another aircraft? An alien spacecraft? Subsequent investigations around the area for any launch sites for surface to air missiles yielded no results.
The remaining data on the CD-ROM given to me by the FAA also reportedly had radar data. The file was corrupt on the CD-ROM, and I am awaiting another copy.
The event still remains a mystery. But it also adds another piece of the puzzle that the military and government is ignoring. Whatever these UFOs are; they are a threat.
The above incident was a huge threat to the twenty-six people on board Continental Flight 2822. Luckily, this sighting was reported, and appears to have been taken somewhat seriously.
But more times than not, talk of a UFO sighting and reports of the aforementioned are simply scoffed at, ridiculed, and condemned. It is this lack of seriousness towards the UFO topic, which roughly half of society believes has an extraterrestrial connection, that may one day get someone killed.
If it hasn’t already.
Document Archive
FAA Documents/Logs Relating to the Above Event [4 Pages, 1.05MB]
FAA Air Traffic Controller Communications [12.25 Minutes, 63MB]- Update: October 06, 2009 – Radar data received via a .ppb file. I am unclear how to open this, but put it here for archival purposes. Does anyone know how to open this? DOWNLOAD THE RADAR DATA HERE [192MB]