NUFORC Sighting 59734

Occurred: 2007-11-09 00:00 Local
Reported: 2007-11-10 18:32 Pacific
Duration:

Location: Romania (in-flight intercept), , Romania

Shape:

Jet fighter hit by an object in the presence of four UFO's

This is a translation from an article in a Romanian newspaper.

Here's the link: http://www.expres.ro/article.php?artid=329959

"MiG hit by a UFO above Ardeal November 9, 2007 by Mihai Soica A jet fighter from Campia Turzii was hit by four unidentified flying objects Air force pilot Marius Mitrica declared yesterday that his MiG 21 Lancer craft was hit while flying at an altitude of 6,500 meters by an unidentified flying object.

The accident took place last week during a training flight in the area around the city of Gherla, close to Cluj.

The jet fighter piloted by commanding lieutenant Marius Mitrica was flying at over 850 km/h. "I was flying at 6,500 meters [of altitude] and I didn't notice anything particular. Suddenly, however, I was hit by a sturdy object from the Right side of the airplane. The collision broke the Plexiglas covering the cockpit. The pieces pierced my helmet and injured my face. At first, I ducked as much as possible because the air current was very strong and the temperature reached -30 degrees Celsius. I came down to a lower altitude and I slowed down. I noticed that the airplane responded to my commands and I finally slowed down", explained Marius Mitrica who is an Air force pilot since 1991.

Neither a bird nor a meteorite The pilot is convinced that the object that hit him was not a bird. "I'm 99,9 percent sure that it wasn't a bird", he said. Immediately after landing, a committee of specialists from the Air force inspected the airplane hoping to find the rest of the object that hit the MiG. "When I landed, my first instinct was to look in the cockpit to find the rest but I just found Plexiglas pieces", added Mitrica who ended up with a Black eye due to the accident.

The pilot also added that it is impossible that he was hit by a meteorite because in such a scenario the impact would have been devastating. "I don't think it was a meteorite because this one has a considerable kinetic energy. Had it hit the airplane, I don't think I would be here talking to you", said the pilot. He added that he was lucky with the Oxygen mask who helped him overcome the shock quickly. "Had I not had the mask, I could have lost conscience due to the shock of finding myself without the plastic shield. The biggest danger was hypothermia", Mitrica said.

One of the air controllers from the Campia Turzii Base during the training flight when the accident happened was the pilot's own wife, Carmen Mitrica. She declared that she could not ask her husband if he is all right through the radio because that frequency was used by the other pilots in the air. "I gave him all the indications he needed to land safely", said Carmen Mitrica. Every fighter jet has a video camera recording training flights. However, the video analysis did not shed any light on this accident according to the Air force's 71st Base stationed in Campia Turzii.

The video clip with the UFO is with the SRI Air force general Ion Avram specified that the video clip shows four triangles the size of an A4 sheet each coming towards the aircraft from the right. "We gave the video images to the Romanian Information Services [SRI, N.B. The Romanian secret services] to be analyzed and to tell us what hit the MiG", declared general Ion Avram. The general also added that birds do not fly during this season at such altitudes because it's too cold.

The 71st Air force officials also verified if the "UFO" could be an object from another airplane flying in the vicinity. The hypothesis was excluded since the last airplane flying in the area passed by there more than an hour prior to the accident."

NUFORC Note:

Our gratitude to he gentleman who first apprised us of this article, and for his having provided a translated version. PD

Posted 2007-11-28