Next time you're in an airport, ask a pilot about UFOs

Originally posted by 12voltz
You would probably get more information from the guy down the road who sits in his backyard having a ciggie . Aircraft windows have a relatively small field of vision and pilots usually spend more time scanning gauges than sightseeing. .Being licensed to fly a plane does not make anyone more credible than the dude out walking his dog.

Ya like Gary Wilcox a farmer from New York who while on his 300 acre farm claimed to speak with two little martians carrying trays on April 24th 1964 and it was oval and they had white suites on. They stated they were from mars. The incredible thing is that very same day (hours later) Lonnie Zamora a police officer was chasing a speeder out into the New Mexico desert and spotted what seems to be the same craft. It was oval and two little men were walking outside the craft. They spotted Lonnie and they (little men) quickly got in their oval craft with their white suites on and took off leaving a blue flame exhaust and burning some of the brush and desert plants underneath the craft.
That same year 1964 a guy in a california forrest was up in a tree and spotted (again two little men in white uniforms) book - Aliens In the Forest.

Though Gary Wilcox was not a pilot, he was said to have had great character as so Lonnie Zamora the police officer ( a leader of his church). I think it is time to start lending an ear to regular folk with high character.
But I have heard great comments from pilots some spectacular even.

Originally posted by CaptChaos
I was a boat captain for 25 years. I saw lots of weird things, because, once again, I spent thousands of hours just looking at the stars, because I had to stand watch, and they are there. Pilots would be looking as much as I was, and covering thousands of times the miles, so even more likely to see stuff.

Most people just never look up. Never.

Yep, been around shipping my whole life, and have had a couple of the crew, from ratings, to a Chief Mate, tell me the same thing.

Was taking one of the Islander lads to the US Consulate to get a Visa to join a tanker in the States, and on the way, grabbed a UFO mag. He saw the picture on the front, which was of a "classic" style UFO, and he goes out of nowhere "OH, OH, I'VE SEEN ONE OF THOSE! GIVE ME A LOOK!". Checked out the picture, and proceeds to tell me how he was on watch one night the the 2nd Mate, up on the Bridge doing navigation, when they both saw a UFO come up out of the water, hover for 4-5 seconds, then shoot straight up at a high rate of speed. When I asked him what kind of speed, he just said "well when it shot off, it was gone from sight in about 2 seconds", so it must have been really travelling.

Other time was when I was driving a Skipper (for some reason he was going on as Chief Mate, I think cause they were struggling to find a replacement Mate at that point) up to one of the Bulk Carriers up in Newcastle, and we were just chatting away. Can't remember how the topic came up, but I asked him if he had ever seen anything really odd while at sea. He told me how on one of the voyages, again at night, when he went up to see how the 2nd Mate was going with his watch, and if he wanted to quickly head down for a bite to eat. Next thing they both notice a green light tracking alongside the vessel underwater. Thinking it may have been a sub on exercises (they were in the Atlantic at the time), the Chief went out on the Gantry to keep an eye on it, and to let the 2nd know if he need to make corrections to avoid a collision. Basically this thing tracked them for a couple of miles, and at this point the Chief Mate had called the Skipper and Chief Engineer up to make sure they weren't running any lines or buoys or anything, and to get them to watch "it", and to make sure the Chief and 2nd Mate weren't going crazy and hallucination or imagining it.

In the end, it came up out of the water, tracked alongside the vessel for another 5 minutes, and during that time it showed up on radar, which showed it to be about the size of a decent fishing trawler (about 50-60 metres), and then it took off.

Next morning the Skipper called a meeting, and asked anyone if that had seen anything odd, the night before. The whole crew had said yes, and he just told them to keep it low key, and not let any of the higher ups within the company know about it, because they would think they were all on the drink or on drugs, and it would make it harder for them to get contracts with the company in the future.

And from what the Chief Mate told me, the Skipper put in the log book that they had had come close to an unknown "vessel", which had tracked alongside them for 8-10 Miles, hadn't responded to any hails on any frequency, and then had "sailed away on a 278 degree bearing, and after 10 minutes we lost sight of it due to its small size".

So not only do Pilots keep things quiet of their sightings, Ships crew do as well. As you would know

Edit to add:- forgot to add, the Chief Mate also said that whatever it was, it was putting off enough light that they could map the charts without any of the lights on in the Bridge, like it was during the middle of the day. And he joked around and said "It pissed off the 2nd Mate to no end, because he still had 3 hours to go on his watch, so it was around 0100 when it happend. And the 2nd was pissed off cause it was gonna take his eyes a decent amount of time to adjust to the darkness again once the "thing" had disappeared." So even though he said it was pretty freaky and odd, they still managed to have a good laugh about it in the end.

Originally posted by fixer1967
I had a pilot tell me once that for a pilot to admit to seeing or to report an UFO was the quick road to the unemployment line. He said "WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COCKPIT STAYS IN THE COCKPIT".

After I read the initial post...I was thinking that perhaps the pilots are trained to answer diplomatically about the subject of UFO's so they can keep their jobs.

I did this a few years back and the pilot said he saw a metallic sphere floating up just above his plane. I asked could it be a balloon, and he kinda smilled at me like if i had just insulted his intelligence. He then proceded to tell me, " In all my years of flying, I had never seen anything like that".

A friend of mine was a pilot for a major Airline and retired Fighter pilot for the USAF. I have asked him after a few beers if he had seen anything strange. He told me once but only when he was flying commericially. He did mention another time they had a huge delay at a large airport because of a radar signal they could not clear up and thought it best to ground the planes until they could conclude what it was (after a fighter fly over).

I have not questioned him again on this, mostly out of respect.

A little over a year ago I did this very thing. I had the pleasure of working with a client who was a father of two young daughters. I saw how loving and truly caring he interacted with them. I got to work with him a few times and I respected this man, he truly was a decent human being, he was well educated, well spoken, and I quickly grew to respect him. I had learned that he works for a major well known airlines as, you guessed it, a pilot. I felt compelled to ask him about UFOs. I asked, "Hey, I've got a question for you, have you ever noticed anything strange while flying up there?" He told me straight forward "Yes". He mentioned seeing orbs of light, and actual saucer shaped objects. That all I needed to hear. He also told me he knows a woman who he believes is from another planet. She coukd tell him everything about him, his past, and told him that "they" are here to help mankind. I already believed we are not alone and this was just very refreshing. My dad had told me about several encounters he had in the 1950s seeing 100 foot in diameter saucers that landed and took off right in front of him in a desolate mountain area from his hometown of Frackville, Pa. When I was a kid he just told me he saw them but wouldn't give me the details. Then 2 years ago (Fathers Day) he unloaded the details and seemed perpexed that he was "mysteriously""made to turn down that rarely used, dirt mountain road"

Originally posted by fixer1967
I had a pilot tell me once that for a pilot to admit to seeing or to report an UFO was the quick road to the unemployment line. He said "WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COCKPIT STAYS IN THE COCKPIT".

I heard the same- they get written off as being delusional and possibly " unfit to fly". Shame really- good idea though OP, best bet would be if you had friends/family who were pilots and ask them .

Originally posted by TechUnique
I should imagine asking astronomers would be noteworthy as well!

Do astronomers fly????

An ex-colleague of mine is now a pilot, I am going to email him! Fingers crossed he will have some stories to tell me

I don't think I would like to go up to a pilot at an airport and ask them... It would be just my luck to get some miserable old skeptic who would promptly call security to get myself and my tin-foil hat swiftly removed from the premises

To the guy who asked the stewardess and got the odd looks after, they probably were worried you might be a threat to the flight and strange, I'm not saying you were but with all the genuine nutjobs and terrorists out there I would imagine strange questions and actions give them the creeps.

As for the pilots themselves I would imagine the keep it quiet option is still very much the norm, with the stress of the job and the need to be seen as perfectly professional and competent I can't imagine many go telling the boss they had seen a strange object or craft up there.

I would think the high altitude long haul flight pilots would be the best to ask but I doubt any would go on the record if they had seen something.

Still in this day and age when you can say you believe in a bearded man sitting up in the sky looking over us but yet be made to feel awkward about believing in life elsewhere, its a weird old world.

Originally posted by fixer1967
I had a pilot tell me once that for a pilot to admit to seeing or to report an UFO was the quick road to the unemployment line. He said "WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COCKPIT STAYS IN THE COCKPIT".

Even sleeping with the stewardess in the cockpit would send a pilot to unemployment I'm sure....Vegas anyone?

As far as reporting a UFO, other pilots would probably say the pilot speaking out is crazy!

Pilots are always asked and they often share there work days with friends and familys - they just don't go on record with it. I used to work in an airport and I heard lots of stories and even more from people who I believe may have known exactly what they were. But none of thats proof unfortunately unlike a murder or some other instance that relys on witnesses to resolve.

Ok... My logic seems to come into play here saying that you'd statistically more likely to find a passenger who has seen "UFO(s)" than a pilot and/or flight attendant.

These people working for the airlines are more focused on reading gauges and tending to the needs of passengers on board. Those passengers have more time than any to gander out their windows and are therefore more likely to see something of the sort.

So, OP... Maybe it would be a good idea for you to direct your questioning towards the passengers? Or yet... How about we ask a fighter pilot??

Originally posted by alfa1Cloudynights, the biggest astronomy forum on the internet, where you find astronomers...

having a conversation
about UFOs
and Aliens

There's absolutely no evidence that any of the people posting in those threads are qualified astronomers. I too can post a link to a forum filled with physicists where a UFO thread is stickied and is taken seriously by a few moderators (who seem to be believers and trained physicists), still doesn't mean that vast majority of physicists don't view the subject as a joke and scoff at the notion.

There's a reason why many astronomers who are now "believers" were biggest debunkers in their early days, like Dr J Allen Hyenek. The institution it self promotes the "debunking" mindset.

reply to post by Shino


Airline pilots are often adicted to both legal and illegal stimulants. They work long hours and sleep very little. I'm not sure I would put much stock in what they have to say. You would be amazed at what you can see if you go without sleep for a few days!

Originally posted by caladonea

Originally posted by fixer1967
I had a pilot tell me once that for a pilot to admit to seeing or to report an UFO was the quick road to the unemployment line. He said "WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COCKPIT STAYS IN THE COCKPIT".

After I read the initial post...I was thinking that perhaps the pilots are trained to answer diplomatically about the subject of UFO's so they can keep their jobs.

Totally true. When they are in uniform, they are totally a "public representative of the airline" and must act accordingly. So they should respond courteously even if they are annoyed that a random member off the public thinks they are going to "spill the beans" about any possible UFO sightings.

My brother is a pilot for a major airline and I certainly would never even bother to ask him if he has seen any UFOs - because it puts him in a position where he might have to decide whether to lie to me or possibly risk his career. He has volunteered some info to me, but I don't necessarily think he would tell me if he actually saw something unexplained and extraordinary while he was "on the job".

reply to post by Shino


My best friend's an airline pilot and I asked him that question a long time ago. While he did give me that wry smile you mentioned, he said he'd never seen anything. He did say he'd heard stories from some of his buddies though. He also said it's not something they readily talk about if they don't want to be seen as whack jobs, something no airline pilot wants really...

reply to post by Shino


More pilots see things than they admit.

Most WILL NOT report it unless its a close collision or something similar, and even then will be very careful with their wording.

Privately, pilots will speak freely about such things, but when in uniform at a major airport you're lucky they even spoke to you. If they're lucky enough to obtain the coveted position of flying for a major airline company they have to be EXTREMELY careful what they say.

Originally posted by AlonzoTyper

More pilots see things than they admit.

Most WILL NOT report it unless its a close collision or something similar, and even then will be very careful with their wording.

Privately, pilots will speak freely about such things, but when in uniform at a major airport you're lucky they even spoke to you. If they're lucky enough to obtain the coveted position of flying for a major airline company they have to be EXTREMELY careful what they say.

AlonzoTyper, I'd tend to agree with you there and I don't know if you've looked at the NARCAP website but there's quite a few good technical reports about the subject including this one dealing with 'under reporting bias' within the pilot community:


Aviation Safety in America: Under-Reporting Bias of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and Recommended Solutions. Ted Roe


As Dr Richard Haines also points out in the interview below, there's a huge number of military/civilian pilot sightings out there yet many are reticent to report their experiences due to fear of ridicule, damage to reputation, potential unemployment etc..

The Paracast - Dr. Richard F. Haines.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/942a1eb9a2da.jpg[/atsimg]

Dr. Richard F. Haines, Chief Scientist for the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP), speaks at length about airline sightings, airline safety, and his extensive research into these strange aerial mysteries.

Great Interview with Dr Richard Haines

Cheers.

reply to post by thetiler


That's awesome! The little green men in white suits ran out of propane for their saucer and pulled over to get some more. It sounds silly but what if it really is how first contact will happen? Instead of, "take me to your leader", they would say, "give me your propane!"