This is interesting because it doesn't involve questionable "eyewitnesses" or vague "we think we saw...but we're really not sure..." kind of information. Instead, these are fighter pilots, airline pilots, and control tower personnel. They all clearly see something out there. As one pilot puts it in response to the control tower, "It's just a white stick out there, no markings."

The audio, which you can link from the original article, is quite interesting. I'm sure the pilots here will listen with a sharper ear, but to me-- I can almost hear some of these guys thinking, "WTF??"



Airliners And F-15s Involved In Bizarre Encounter With Mystery Aircraft Over Oregon

The FAA, the USAF, and air traffic control recordings all confirm the bizarre event did indeed occur last October.

By Tyler Rogoway

Tyler Rogoway/Author
Something quite out of the ordinary occurred in the skies over Oregon on October 25th, 2017. A mystery aircraft was flying in daylight hours among the steady stream of airliners that traverse from south to north, between locales in California and Nevada and cities like Portland and Seattle and beyond. The incident began, at least as best we can tell, around 4:30pm near the California-Oregon border and resulted in multiple pilot eyewitnesses, recorded air traffic control audio, and eventual confirmations from both the FAA and North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) that it did indeed occur.

The first inklings of the story came to me shortly after the incident occurred from friends of mine in the aviation world. Sparse on details at the time, it sounded like it was probably just another one of the often misconstrued incidents that happen in the skies around the US everyday—ones where aircraft with inoperable radios or transponders stray into areas they shouldn't. And sometimes these occurrences result in local fighter jets paying the wayward aircraft a visit at the direction of NORAD. But days after initially blowing off the incident, it later began to seem that there was indeed more to the story than just than another "NORDO" private aircraft or lackadaisical pilot.

I came upon one Reddit thread that was of particular interest that seemed to not only corroborate the strange account, but also add critical details too it. The post was supposedly penned by a pilot who says they were in the sky over the Northwest in the early evening when the incident occurred, with the post coming shortly after the incident. The entry by Reddit user "Duprass" reads:

"Just landed in Seattle coming from the bay area. Beginning over Southern Oregon we kept overhearing Seattle Center attempting to track an airplane with no transponder who wasn't talking. A handful of crews were able to track it visually, best they could tell it was between FL350-370 [35,000-37,000 feet], northbound. Nobody close enough to see the type.

Last we heard it was over the Willamette valley northbound and some fighters, perhaps out of PDX [Portland International Airport], were scrambled to go take a peek. Center had trouble tracking it on primary radar.

Strange! My theory is they were running drugs to Canada. No news yet, not that I could find.

**Update 0500z. Called SEA ARTCC. The gentleman I spoke with said that they initially got alerted to the aircraft from Oakland Center who was painting it on primary [illuminating it with radar, but without transponder information]. For whatever reason they couldn't track it themselves on primary, and that's when I overheard them using airline aircraft to track it visually. The last airplane to see it had to descend into Portland and lost sight of it. The fighters were scrambled out of PDX but flew around for a while and did not find it. And that's that."

Air traffic control audio recorded over at LiveATC.com of Seattle Center Sector 14 is available from the time of the incident and it corroborates much of this information. You can listen to the entire series of exchanges here starting at around the 20 minute mark and through to the first part of the next time interval recording that can be found here.

The audio is fantastic as it illustrates that there were many communications between various jet crews and Seattle Center whose controllers tried to track the aircraft as it made its way north towards the Willamette Valley. The aircraft was not able to be tracked on radar nor did it show up on crews' digital traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS), but it was clearly there, although never quite close enough to positively identify what its exact type was.

The activity seems to have begun in the far reaches of Northern California, around Mt. Shasta, and continued on into Southern Oregon, past Crater Lake and up through the Willamette Valley (Stock Photo).

The back and forth between air traffic control and various airline pilots lasted for roughly half an hour. Recordings from other Seattle Center Sectors, such as those closer to Portland (namely 42 and 46) are not readily not available and it's very possible—if not probable based on other reports—that the incident continued up the Willamette Valley. We did review PDX approach and tower exchanges from a half hour before to two hours after the event occurred and didn't find anything that stood out, although it was unlikely we would have as aircraft have descended when using those frequencies.

After reading this account and listening to the audio it was clear that the incident was worth looking into on a much deeper level, and that's what we did, inquiring with the 142nd Fighter Wing based at Portland International Airport, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and the FAA about the odd ordeal.

NORAD's reply was quick and clear. An incident involving multiple airline crews, air traffic control, and F-15Cs from the 142nd Fighter Wing based out of Portland did occur. According to the limited information NORAD supplied, airliner pilots were asked by FAA air traffic controllers to help track and possibly identify a "white aircraft" traveling in the flightlevels nearby—roughly between 35,000 and 40,000 feet based on the radio recordings. NORAD also said that the incident did result in F-15s from Portland being scrambled to investigate, but by the time they got up and "looked around" the mystery aircraft couldn't be found.

A quick note on the fighter jet aspect of this story—the 142nd Fighter Wing operates F-15Cs upgraded with the most capable air-to-air radar set in the world (AN/APG-63V3) and Sniper advanced targeting pods for long-rang visual identification. Their pilots are some of the best in the world and are highly trained in the homeland air defense mission. The fact that they "didn't find anything" is surprising to say the least. Maybe this was due to the nature of the aircraft being searched for, or the possibility that they launched long after it was first sighted, or that we simply aren't being told the whole story.

As for the F-15's launch time, it seems that this mystery aircraft was moving fairly fast—at least at the same speed of the airliners around it or greater. It's also worth noting that Oakland Center, which controls airspace to the south of Seattle Center's responsibilities, could have been trying to track the aircraft before the communications began on Seattle Center's frequencies if the object emanated from farther south. We have reviewed the PDX air traffic control audio up to two hours after the first radio traffic began regarding the mystery aircraft between Seattle Center and airliner pilots and we did not readily hear the tower clear the F-15s for launch. As such it's not clear when exactly the fighters took to the skies in search of this unidentified aircraft or why they were launched so late if that was the case.

It is also possible, albeit somewhat unlikely, that a fighter patrol could have been diverted if they were already airborne. Also, once in the air the F-15s are capable of traversing the entire state of Oregon in just a matter of minutes if need be, so if they were launched promptly it seems unlikely they wouldn't have been able to intercept the aircraft being pointed out by commercial pilots over Southern Oregon.

The FAA wasn't as forthcoming as NORAD, taking nearly a week and multiple emails to respond to our initial inquiry, only to say simply that they have nothing further to add to the description of events I provided to them. As such, they did acknowledge that the events occurred, but did not expand upon them. The 142nd Fighter Wing did not respond to our inquiries.

Clearly there had to be some level of after-action investigation into this event. Having an unidentified aircraft that doesn't show up on radar flying among civilian air traffic in the flight levels for extended periods of time isn't something you just brush off, especially considering the current global security situation and the circumstances that have existed since 9/11.

Western Air Defense Sector (WADS), which goes by the callsign "Bigfoot," keeps a close watch on airspace over the Northwest and directs alert fighters and fighter patrols to targets of interest on short notice.

One of the Reddit posters with the handle "The Flying Beard" from the same thread, who supposedly is an air traffic controller, claims to have some inside knowledge of the event, stating:

"...Was just going to post about this actually. I was working an adjacent sector and was helping to coordinate some of the military stuff. They ended up launching F15s off of PDX to try and find it but no joy... [posts one of the audio clips linked above]... The crazy thing is, we didn't have a primary target or a mode C intruder, and it was out running 737s abeam it.

Also, (cue conspiracy theory) our QA department was working on this today, and got a call from the commander of the 142FW at PDX and was basically told to knock it off, and we know nothing.

A couple guys at work seem to think it may have have been this plane [unlikely, and that's an article I wrote] based of the description, and also the 'lack' of military interest. FWIW, I think the FAA is pursing this at higher levels. From a safety standpoint, if the military is running super secret test stuff in the NAS [National Airspace], that's bad. If I were one of the pilots that had a sighting, I'd definitely be filing a NASA form and any other official reports that you can...

...If the ‘aircraft’ continued on its presumed heading/course altitude, the F15s were sent the wrong way. The last known position was around the EUG area heading North around 750kts and the fighters went South when they launched ~25-30 min after the first report in the Shasta area...

...The time of day made it hard. All the guys on the east side couldn’t see it due to the setting sun and the North bound traffic on the west side was pretty sparse. I guess ZOA [Oakland Center] had a good primary/mode C on the guy for a bit in the RBL [Red Bluff Municipal Airport] area. It was initially heading SW and it made a pretty sharp turn to the North. Way harder/faster than what a commercial aircraft could handle at that speed/altitude without ripping the wings off."

We have no way of confirming this poster's information, although based on past Reddit posts their occupation description seems accurate, and their account certainly does add to the story if true.

We have filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the FAA and NORAD, as well as other federal parties involved in the incident. Hopefully we will find out more eventually as to what really went on that day so we can provide a more complete picture for our readers.

An F-15C belonging to the 142nd Fighter Wing blasts out of Portland International Airport on a typical rainy day in the Northwest. Portland Air National Guard Base (PANG), which is co-located across from PDX's passenger terminals, is seen in the background. The 142nd's Eagles cover the airspace from northern California to the northern tip of Washington State and sometimes beyond. Two primary fully armed jets are always on quick reaction alert (QRA) and can launch within a few minutes of the klaxon howling. An armed spare jet is also usually available as well as one armed with a full magazine of 940 20mm cannon shells.

In the meantime, I would suggest reading the Reddit thread related to the event after listening to the air traffic control audio yourself. In it, some say it could have been a smuggling aircraft or even a secret military airframe. It seems odd that a smuggler would fly in broad daylight in an area they know they will be spotted, not to mention the question of how they stayed off the FAA radar scopes.

When it comes to a secret military aircraft, flying such an asset among jetliner traffic in daylight, albeit it was around sunset time, certainly seems like an odd choice for a secretive program, but that doesn't make it impossible. There are vast and remote training ranges that could be taken advantage of in Alaska for clandestine aircraft programs, and it is a long flight to get there. Still, the idea that U.S. military would willingly fly an aircraft through a major air traffic route at common jet operating altitudes without radio, transponder, or even radar contact would be highly concerning if true.

Amongst all the questions that remain, one thing is certain, an unidentified white aircraft was indeed flying over Oregon on that day in October, and the USAF and the FAA are both willing to admit that the event occurred. In the Air Force's case, the fact that they are even willing to tell us that they couldn't catch or even find the unidentified aircraft with their sensor-packed and fast F-15s is interesting to say the least. On the other hand they may not be sharing the entire story with us.

Whatever the case, we'll keep you updated on this white flying mystery machine of sorts and the circumstances surrounding its presence over Oregon when, or should I say if, new information becomes available.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com


http://www.thedrive.com/the-wa...aircraft-over-oregon

It was a weather balloon.




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpiP_jN1Pv4

^^^^ I thought the pilot said, "...white stick." But maybe he actually said....

That will be a running gag line in "Ted 3"...


Siri: "Did you mean "White Dick?"..."

Somebody put a glow stick into a weather balloon which caught the jet stream.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
Amongst all the questions that remain, one thing is certain, an unidentified white aircraft was indeed flying over Oregon on that day in October, and the USAF and the FAA are both willing to admit that the event occurred. In the Air Force's case, the fact that they are even willing to tell us that they couldn't catch or even find the unidentified aircraft with their sensor-packed and fast F-15s is interesting to say the least. On the other hand they may not be sharing the entire story with us.

I remember stories of $600 toilet seats, then one day a squadron of fully functional stealth fighters was revealed. Maybe they really did pay that much for toilet seats, maybe not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Zamora_incident

I was acquainted with Mr. Zamora in the 1980's. He was still on the PD albeit part time then. About 1996 he was featured on Unsolved Mysteries. So what did he see?

Of the more prolific, two of my favorites are, John Callahan of the FAA, JAL 1628 and my all time favorite Rendlesham Forest with Deputy Base Commander Charles Halt, John Burroughs, and James Penniston. All very credible and higher ranking individuals involved in some of the more compelling investigations.

I'm always puzzled by people who think that the possibility of extraterrestrial life is preposterous, outlandish! Just look up at the sky on any clear night. To me the preposterous idea is that we are the only life in all that-- and everything beyond that we cannot see even with the most high-tech equipment.

Probably 90% of UFO sightings can be explained as hoaxes, natural phenomenon, experimental aircraft tests, and so on. And the rest, to me, are glimpses of other highly advanced beings who live out there, somewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
I'm always puzzled by people who think that the possibility of extraterrestrial life is preposterous, outlandish! Just look up at the sky on any clear night. To me the preposterous idea is that we are the only life in all that-- and everything beyond that we cannot see even with the most high-tech equipment.

Probably 90% of UFO sightings can be explained as hoaxes, natural phenomenon, experimental aircraft tests, and so on. And the rest, to me, are glimpses of other highly advanced beings who live out there, somewhere.

To play devil's advocate: The argument typically isn't that extraterrestrial life in some form doesn't exist, given that the odds almost require it, but rather whether that life has evolved to the point where it conceivably has the ability and technology to travel trillions of miles (even the nearest solar system to ours is 25 trillion miles away) to visit us -- and, for that matter, if they did, why they'd bother coming here just to slaughter cows and make cool patterns in cornfields.

quote:

Originally posted by at-home-daddy:

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
I'm always puzzled by people who think that the possibility of extraterrestrial life is preposterous, outlandish! Just look up at the sky on any clear night. To me the preposterous idea is that we are the only life in all that-- and everything beyond that we cannot see even with the most high-tech equipment.

Probably 90% of UFO sightings can be explained as hoaxes, natural phenomenon, experimental aircraft tests, and so on. And the rest, to me, are glimpses of other highly advanced beings who live out there, somewhere.

To play devil's advocate: The argument typically isn't that extraterrestrial life in some form doesn't exist, given that the odds almost require it, but rather whether that life has evolved to the point where it conceivably has the ability and technology to travel trillions of miles (even the nearest solar system to ours is 25 trillion miles away) to visit us -- and, for that matter, if they did, why they'd bother coming here just to slaughter cows and make cool patterns in cornfields.

Or just to mess with our air traffic. I mean - I could see them flying around a while to gather info on us and on our technology advancement, but eventually they'd probably either try to make friends or just land and kill whoever messed with them.

And these are usually smaller aircraft/spacecraft than I would think you would want when crossing lightyears of space...

I doubt that we have any way to understand how they travel vast distances, or even why they might want to visit this planet.

Imagine you can time travel to 1850 with a microwave and an electrical source to plug it into. And you put a sausage into the micro and cook it. You cook it without making a fire, and in fact leaving the inside of the oven cool.

Imagine an intelligent observer who knows the science of the day trying to understand what he just witnessed. You cooked the sausage without heating the air around the sausage....cooked it in a few minutes, start to finish...with no heat source. (This makes no sense!!)

Imagine using a cell phone in 1850. Or a laptop.

My point is not just that these things-- not all that long ago-- would dazzle and amaze. No one at that time could possibly even come close to understanding what they just witnessed.

You can't--to take one example-- say it would simply take too long for a spacecraft to cross distances of light years. That would be like saying, in 1920, that people could never walk around with personal phones because the wires would have to be so long, and would get tangled, and...and....

I wondered when he'd show up.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
I doubt that we have any way to understand how they travel vast distances, or even why they might want to visit this planet.

Imagine you can time travel to 1850 with a microwave and an electrical source to plug it into. And you put a sausage into the micro and cook it. You cook it without making a fire, and in fact leaving the inside of the oven cool.

Imagine an intelligent observer who knows the science of the day trying to understand what he just witnessed. You cooked the sausage without heating the air around the sausage....cooked it in a few minutes, start to finish...with no heat source. (This makes no sense!!)

Imagine using a cell phone in 1850. Or a laptop.

My point is not just that these things-- not all that long ago-- would dazzle and amaze. No one at that time could possibly even come close to understanding what they just witnessed.

You can't--to take one example-- say it would simply take too long for a spacecraft to cross distances of light years. That would be like saying, in 1920, that people could never walk around with personal phones because the wires would have to be so long, and would get tangled, and...and....

The universe has a speed limit, unless you bend space time there is no way around that. I don't see that changing in the next 150 years or 1,000 years either.

I do think there are extraterrestrials, we just will never see them. If we do, look out, because they aren't traveling 10's or 100's of light years just to fly around and screw with people. They are coming here to move in and take what they want.

Whose to say that "they" have had to travel millions of miles to visit us? Maybe they never left and this world has been their home for millions of years before us. All these folks can't be wrong, abduction's, credible witnesses to include high ranking Government employees, High ranking Military folk, Law Enforcement personnel, thousands from all over the Earth, and dating from the past to present day. All these folks can't be wrong or delusional or hallucinating. Across the spectrum people of all ages and children documented to have mass sightings. Yes, most could be explained away, but not all of them. What about the craft above Gate C-17 at O'Hara during the day, during rush hour. So many Employees from the Airlines and Pilots as well as Civilians who witnessed this craft hovering above the gate for quite some time...mass hallucinations?? I could go on and on. Even the Governments top investigator Alan Hyneck(sp?) He finally went to the other side because he got tired of trying to explain away everything they wanted to him to. He's probably the Father of "Swamp Gas" and "Weather Balloon" explainations. Even the Condon report was a ruse and it was eventually leaked that Edward Condon himself was outed for his extreme bias when he was caught saying that there is nothing to UFO's in this study but...I'm not suppose to come to that conclusion until another year and a half! I believe that intelligent life exists outside of our planet and quite possibly here. Were still discovering things every day that scientists said couldn't or doesn't exists. Maybe they're just not looking in the right places!

I'm not quite sure what will occur first...A female NFL player or, a flying saucer landing in DC! I'm tossed on that

quote:

The universe has a speed limit, unless you bend space time there is no way around that.

I'm sure you know much more about physics, and science, than I do, Skins. But "the universe has a speed limit" sounds to me like so many previous "laws" that have fallen by the wayside of scientific progress. Maybe you can bend space time. Or do something else that is as inconceivable now as in the 19th C: holding a small hunk of plastic and metal in your hand, not connected to anything, and talking back and forth with someone in China.

quote:

as inconceivable now as in the 19th C: holding a small hunk of plastic and metal in your hand, not connected to anything, and talking back and forth with someone in China.

1850s Waldmüller painting at the Neue Pinakothek museum in Munich.