An Airbus A319 pilot reported seeing a disc-shaped object, described as a suspected “flying saucer”, pass close to the aircraft while approaching London Gatwick Airport at 11.30am on April 29.
According to a report by the UK Airprox Board published in June: “The A319 pilot reports that descending, turning left, a disc or ‘flying saucer’ type suspected drone was seen flying very close in the opposite direction, at the same level to them, past their right wing.”
The object was spotted over the Sussex countryside near Hangcross, a village roughly seven miles south of Gatwick. The airline carrier was not identified, but the operation was described as a “CAT” operation, meaning commercial air transport.
Close encounter at 8,500ft
The incident occurred as the aircraft was descending to land. The object was estimated to be about 100ft from the wing at an altitude of 8,500ft. The board’s monthly meeting report said: “The object looked like a disc with darker markings on the rim, a suspected possible drone but not sure.”
It added: “It was very close to the aircraft, but no evasive action was required as they were in a turn already.”
Investigation inconclusive
Investigators cross-checked the sighting with radar data to see if it was a known drone, but found no match. No other pilots in the area reported seeing the object, although air traffic controllers issued a warning about it.
The board concluded: “In the Board’s opinion the reported altitude and/or description of the object were such that they were unable to determine the nature of the unknown object.” It also considered that “although safety had been reduced, there had been no risk of collision.”
UFO sightings and the MoD
Nearly 90 unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have been spotted this year, according to the UFO Identified database. Reported sightings include “glowing orbs” jittering over Heathrow Airport and “orbs with halos” glowing behind trees in Peterborough.
There is no central system, such as a government or police hotline, that records and investigates UFO sightings. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) once operated a dedicated UFO desk, but it was shut down in 2009 due to budget cuts.
Nick Pope on the 5%
Nick Pope was among the civil servants tasked with probing reports of UFOs – now often called unidentified aerial phenomena – in the 1990s. Speaking before his death last year, he told Metro that many of the eerie lights and blinking balls were nothing more than stray weather balloons or paper lanterns.
He said: “Almost all of them came from people who were utterly sincere in their belief.” He added: “People are less likely to hoax the MoD, probably because they were worried about the men in black. In the end, we found about 80% or so of these sightings were misidentifications, 15% had insufficient data and 5% were unknown. That 5% doesn’t mean extraterrestrial, but as I always remind people, neither did we rule that out. It means unknown, no more, no less.”
