NUFORC Sighting 84494

Occurred: 2010-03-12 15:30 Local
Reported: 2011-10-12 16:05 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 5

Location: In flight (Spokane to Las Vegas), NV, USA

Shape: Cylinder
Characteristics: Aircraft nearby

Black rod witnessed by passengers on plane

Weather: Clear skies; sunny I was a passenger on Southwest Airlines Flight #0745 departing from Spokane, WA (GEG) 1:55pm and arriving in Las Vegas, NV (LAS) 4:20pm.

We were roughly an hour from landing in Vegas (I don’t know what that puts our location or altitude at). I looked out the window (left) and saw a non-reflective, black rod hovering in the sky.

While I can’t tell you exactly how far away it was, it was definitely close enough to easily determine that it was a 3-dimensional shape (rod) that was completely stationary (at an angle) and at a slightly lower altitude than our plane.

I looked down at the ground in the area and saw absolutely nothing but bare, unoccupied land.

I immediately began pointing it out to others around me who had no problem seeing it. After observing it for roughly 2 minutes, our plane maneuvered sharply to the right (away from the object) without warning. It was not our final approach, and none of the airline staff said anything.


((COPIES OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH SOURCE OF REPORT))

Dear Ms. Evenson,

Thank you very much for the excellent report, and for the nice illustration

Do you happen to know any of the other witnesses? If so, we would very much
like to have them prepare reports of what they recall about the incident.

Also, did the object happen to travel along with the aircraft, or did it
seem to be stationary?

What type of aircraft were you in, please? Was it a jet, e.g. a 737, or was
it a turboprop?

Were you a member of the crew of the aircraft you were on, by any chance, or
just a paying passenger, as you suggest in your report? I ask because your
report seems to me to have been written by someone who is familiar with
aviation.

((Paragraph deleted.))

Again, thank you very much for having shared the information with our
Center, and for having taken the time to compose such a nice report!!

Cordially,

Peter Davenport, Director
National UFO Reporting Center

((END MESSAGE))

((BEGIN RESPONSE FROM WITNESS))

Mr. Davenport,

I'm glad that my crude illustration was at least somewhat helpful, haha!

I was just a passenger on the plane (ex.: 737), but I'm familiar with some aviation terminology/procedures because of my brother (12+ yrs of Flight Simulator, and now aviation school). My plane ticket for that trip was sent to me via e-mail, so I was able to go back and get the precise details of the flight. I thought this could be useful in case there were other reports of the incident that I didn't know about.

Unfortunately, I didn't get contact information from the other witnesses. As odd as it sounds, I think I was too preoccupied(?) with trying to piece together what I/we had just seen to consider needing to reach them in the future.

As for the object itself, it did remain stationary from what I could tell. That's what led me to look at the ground because I figured this thing had to be attached to something. It was not.

Important Note!!!!: (I feel like SUCH an idiot for not including this crucial detail before)

There was so much turbulence throughout the entire flight that all of the passengers and crew had to remain seated/buckled in (I remember that vividly because I was really regretting not using the bathroom prior to boarding). Even though the turbulence was more or less constant, the pilot(s) would still announce whenever we were moving into an area where it would be more intense. So, given that every occupant of the plane was seated, they were able to safely maneuver in the way I described (this was not a gentle, gradual turn). The fact that they didn't alert us prior to doing so (like they had been the whole flight) is what leads me to believe that it was in direct response to the UFO.

Again, I apologize for not reporting it sooner. It wasn't until something jarred my memory yesterday that I realized this was something you guys might want to know about!

((Line deleted)), and do not hesitate to ask me any questions.

Thank you,

((END CORRESPONDENCE))

Posted 2011-10-19

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