During an American Airlines flight from New Mexico to Phoenix on February 21st, the pilot called in claiming to have seen a fast-moving object above them: “I hate to say this but it looked like a long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile type of thing moving really fast right over the top of us” (Forbes). Despite flying near the Army’s White Sands Missile Range, the military has denied that the object was theirs. As little evidence for what the pilot had seen has been provided, the possible alien incident has caught the attention of many.

Shortly after, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that they did not see any objects in the radar scopes. On February 25th, the FAA updated their conclusions and refuted the pilot’s sighting as air traffic controllers did not see any objects.

Of course, the FBI was also notified; however, whether or not they know anything about the incident, they cannot deny or confirm anything. According to TMZ, Frank Fisher, an FBI spokesperson, has shared that the FBI is at least aware of the incident.

This lack of information has led to the growth in popularity of the incident. Rebecca Kam (11) shares her opinion when adding “I would not be surprised if the FBI found nothing about the case and still kept everything classified. Although some people may find it disturbing and dislike not knowing the truth, it’s what makes this story so interesting. I’m sure the FBI couldn’t care less about making the story popular, but if there was nothing going on to begin with, at least it was interesting for some people.”

While these incidents are mysterious and interesting – especially attributed to the FBI’s lack of sharing information – this is not the first time that UFO-like objects have been reported. About three years ago on February 24th, a shockingly similar event occurred above the Sonoran Desert. Two pilots – one flying a Learjet and the other flying another American Airlines flight – had both reported seeing a mysterious object. “Was anybody above us that passed us like 30 seconds ago?” asked the Learjet pilot to which the tower replied “Negative” (Forbes).

New UFO sightings are always interesting as people often describe seeing similarly shaped objects in the sky. While there is little evidence of these objects actually being there, the public continues to be curious about possible UFOs and creative with hypotheses about aliens.