Spooky news in from our Britania cousins, as it's been revealed that a British Airways and a Virgin Atlantic pilot have both seen UFO's whilst flying over Ireland!

Happening just recently on the 9th of November, two different pilots saw bright lights in the sky and could not otherwise explain the objects.

What is the story so far?

At 6:47 AM local time, over the skies of Shannon Airport, a British Airways 787 pilot noticed a bright object moving at almost Mach 2 (Twice the speed of sound, or 1485 mph (2190 km/h)).

British Airways Boeing 787-8
British Airways is adding four Boeing 787-8s to their London-Johannesburg route

The glowing object flew alongside the left of the plane before rapidly changing direction to the north.

The pilot got in touch with the airport air traffic control to ask if there were military exercises taking place, only to have reply indicating a negative on both primary and secondary radar.

Of course, this might have been the end of it if not for another pilot nearby in a Virgin reporting likewise.

The other pilot confirmed the sighting and relayed that the objects (more than one at this point) seemed to take off and gain altitude!

Air traffic control then mentioned that "other aircraft in the air have also reported the same thing so we are going to have a look and see”.

You can hear the pilots discuss with air traffic control here:

The event concluded with the jets remaining on course, and air traffic control reporting it to the proper authorities.

What caused the lights in the sky?

Whilst many people who buy tinfoil in bulk have suggested visitors from other worlds (Who, of course, have come to take advantage of the excellent reward credit cards currently available), the truth may be far more benign.

It's very likely that it was a large meteorite falling into the earth, burning up due to friction with our atmosphere and exposure of elements reacting to free oxygen. This would account for the bright light, series of objects on the same trajectory and the speed.

Many experts have also weighed in on the conversation, confirming with almost "1000%" certainty that it was a natural phenomenon.

"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." - Aviation journalist Gerry Byrne

meteor
Meteorites can form trails that match contrails of planes, although moving much faster.

What happens now?

For now, officials in Ireland have only issues this short statement.

"Following reports from a small number of aircraft on Friday 9 November of unusual air activity the IAA has filed a report. This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process." - the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said.

At least, that's what the authorities are telling us.

 

What do you think? Do you think the UFO was a meteorite or perhaps something more?