Authorities in Ireland are investigating reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by several commercial airline pilots, including a flight from Montreal to London on Friday.
Several pilots reported seeing “very bright lights” over western Ireland, including British Airways Flight BA94 from Montreal, and contacted air traffic control to inquire about possible military exercises in the area, according to recordings published by flight tracking website AirLive.
According to Shannon Air Traffic Control, there weren’t any.
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“OK, it was moving so fast,” a British Airways pilot said. “It came up on our left-hand side and then rapidly veered to the north. It was a very bright light that disappeared at very high speed.”
The pilot noted the flight did not appear to be on a collision course with the UFO but they were “wondering what it could be.”
A Virgin Airlines pilot chimed in, noting he saw “multiple objects” about the same time, during the flight to Manchester.
“Meteor or another object making some kind of re-entry,” the pilot said. “There appears to be multiple objects following the same sort of trajectory, very bright from where we were.”
Another pilot chimed in saying he was “glad it wasn’t just me.”
The Irish Aviation Authority said it is investigating the reports of “unusual air activity.”
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“Following reports from a small number of aircraft on Friday 9th November of unusual air activity the IAA has filed a report,” the agency said. “This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process.”
Speaking with the Irish Examiner, aviation expert Gerry Byrne suggested what the pilots likely witnessed was nothing more than meteorites.
“In all probability they were meteorites and it’s not uncommon for meteorites to come in at a low angle, a low trajectory into the Earth’s atmosphere.”
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