Something strange seen in Arizona sky

PHOENIX – Pilots over Arizona encountered something strange last month, according to an FAA recording obtained by the Arizona Republic.

“Was anybody, uh, above us, who passed above us 30 seconds ago?” a pilot asks air traffic control.

“Negative,” the air traffic controller responds.

“Well, something did,” the pilot replies.

Another pilot chimes in that “it was a UFO,” followed by chuckles.

The incident took place the afternoon of Feb. 24 just north of Tucson.

The pilot who first reported the unidentified object was with Phoenix Air Group, a company out of Georgia that contracts with the government and private groups.

The pilot wasn’t the only one who saw something.

The Phoenix Air Group pilot and copilot saw something very bright in front of and above them, company spokesman Bob Tracey said.

They were flying at 37,000 feet and estimated the object was at about 50,000 feet, above the cruising altitude of most airliners. Most airlines are limited to 45,000 feet.

The object was too bright for them to make out its shape, and it was moving pretty fast, Tracey said. It was going about the same speed a normal jetliner would go, Tracey said the pilot told him.

It lasted about 30 seconds.

A few minutes later, the American Airlines pilot tells air traffic control, “Yeah, something just passed right over us,” noting the object was at least 3,000 feet above them.

The FAA declined to speculate, but the Air Group pilot has an idea.

“He said he has seen lots of balloons with GoPros,” Tracey said his pilot told him.

Amateur videographers, hobbyists and others have launched small highaltitude balloons with cameras or other equipment. Something that small would be hard to pick up on radar.