generations of Americans repeatedly told otherwise: that the subject of UAP should, at best, be cast into the category of folklore and, at worst, viewed as somehow harmful propaganda,” Dr. Haines commented recently in an e-mail. “But we must keep working toward the goal of accepting the truth when and where we find it. To do anything less is to set ourselves up for a possibly dangerous future.”
Beyond the legitimate efforts to confront safety issues, I became intrigued by the absolutely crucial and central role pilots can play in simply documenting these mysterious and elusive UFOs, whether safety is a factor or not, since they represent the world’s most experienced and best-trained observers of everything that flies. Able to rapidly identify and respond to anything that would endanger a flight, pilots are required to have practical knowledge of all other aircraft, military test flights, and other special air activities such as missile tests, as well as unusual weather and natural phenomena. Professional pilots are highly qualified to recognize a true anomaly as distinct from any of these. What better source for data on UFOs is there? The aviation world is in a position to provide information that could greatly increase knowledge about the UFO phenomenon, if only our scientists wanted to take advantage of it.
These professionals spend countless hours behind a unique window into miles of usually empty sky, a perfect platform for observing exceptional details about the behavior and physical appearance of UFOs when they appear. Pilots might be able to precisely determine the distance and velocity of the anomaly, as well as its relative size, which is more difficult to estimate from the ground. They could also document the transitory impact of electromagnetic fields on cockpit equipment, providing potentially useful clues as to the nature of any radiation from the object. Able to remain calm and focused during unexpected stressful situations, pilots can report accurately and precisely on events outside, using on-board radar and communications with air traffic control with its ground radars to home in on the object. Nearby aircraft could be contacted and asked to head for the area, or military jets could be launched if the encounter was prolonged. And—of great interest to all of us—crew members would be able to take outstanding photographs and videos of the lengthier encounters. These unique circumstances potentially transform any jet aircraft into a specialized flying laboratory for the study of rare anomalous phenomena. Important evidence of UFOs has been obtained this way in many powerful cases since the 1950s, not only raising concerns about safety, but also adding greatly to the historical record.
Pilots are among the least likely of any group of witnesses to fabricate or exaggerate reports of strange sightings. But unfortunately, as things stand now, most would prefer never to be confronted with the dilemma of seeing a UFO and having to decide whether to report it. According to Haines, reporting on the presence of UAP
Neil Daniels, a United Airlines captain for thirty-five years,[19] with more than 30,000 hours of flying time and an Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, was one of those pilots who feared reporting his sighting, despite the physical effect experienced by his airplane. In 1977, he, his copilot, and a flight engineer observed a perfectly round, “brilliant, brilliant light off the wing tip,” as he described it, about 1,000 yards away from their United DC-10, which was en route to Boston Logan from San Francisco. While flying on autopilot, the passenger plane was forced into an uncommanded left turn, apparently pulled by the object’s magnetic interference, prompting Boston Center to ask, “United 94, where are you going?” Captain Daniels replied, “Well, let me figure this out. I’ll let you know.”
The captain and his first officer then noticed that their three compasses were all reading different headings, and at that point they deliberately uncoupled the autopilot and flew the airplane manually. (Haines points out that the magnetic sensor providing the input to the compass then controlling the autopilot was the one located nearest to the UAP.) The powerful light followed along with the aircraft at the same altitude for several minutes, and then took off rapidly and disappeared.
Captain Daniels said that the luminous object shot away so swiftly that he does not understand how it could possibly be a man-made machine. But no matter what it was, he says, “it did cause a disruption in the magnetic field around the aircraft to the point where it pulled the aircraft off course.”
Neither Daniels nor any of his crew reported the incident. The air traffic controllers did not ask further questions about the disturbance to his flight. It was as if everyone wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, but Daniels could not forget what he had seen with his own eyes. Seven months later, while duck hunting with his United Airlines boss, he had a momentary change of heart and decided to tell him the story. Unfortunately, he discovered that his initial instinct to keep quiet was the right one. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Daniels’s employer admonished. “Bad things can happen to pilots who say they have these sightings.”
Now retired, Daniels was not particularly concerned about the safety of his jet at the time. But if, as Daniels reported, a UFO can knock a flight off course from a distance, what might happen if it were closer?
CHAPTER 4
Circled by a UFO
by Captain Julio Miguel Guerra
On the morning of November 2, 1982, I was flying a DHC-1 Chipmunk northward in the region of Montejunto mountain and Torres Vedras near Ota air base. It was a beautiful, clear day with no clouds, and I was headed in the direction of my work area, E (echo) zone, planning to climb to 6,000 feet for an aerobatic training. As a twenty- nine-year-old lieutenant with ten years in the Air Force, I was a flight instructor as part of 101 Air Force squadron, flying solo in my plane.
At about 10:50 a.m., when I was overflying Maxial zone at an altitude of 5,000 to 5,500 feet, I noticed below me and to the left, near the ground, another “aircraft.” But after a few seconds I saw that this airplane seemed to have only a fuselage. It didn’t have wings and it didn’t have a tail, only a cockpit! It was an oval shape. What kind of airplane could that be?
I immediately turned my plane 180 degrees to the left in order to follow and identify this “object,” which was flying to the south. Suddenly the object climbed straight up to my altitude of 5,000 feet in under ten seconds. It stopped right in front of me, at first with some instability, oscillations, and a wavering motion, and then it stabilized and was still—a metallic disc composed of two halves, one on the top and another on the bottom, with some kind of band around the center, brilliant, with the top reflecting the sun. The bottom half was a darker tone.
At first it moved with my aircraft, then it flew at a fantastic speed in a large elliptical orbit to the left, between 5,000 feet to the south and approximately 10,000 feet to the north, always from left to right, repeating this route over and over. I tried to keep it in sight.
Right away, when I realized it was an unknown object, I called the tower and told the controller that there was a strange object flying around me. He, and others from three or four other airplanes, said it must be some kind of balloon. Some of the pilots flying in other zones made fun of it, and I responded by asking them to come and see it with their own eyes if they didn’t believe me. I told them that if it was a balloon, how could it ascend from the ground to 5,000 feet in a few seconds? The response was silence. They started asking for my location, my work zone, and two fellow Air Force officers, Carlos Garces and Antonio Gomes, told me they would join me.
While waiting and watching it, I wanted to know more about this object. Even though I got close, I didn’t know what it was. I was alone with it for fifteen minutes—which felt like forever—never knowing what would
