A former NASA astronaut has revealed a startling mid-air encounter with unidentified flying objects, describing two metallic spherical orbs that zipped past his plane while cruising at 9,000 feet.
The unexplained sighting has reignited discussions about UFO phenomena in aviation.
According to express.co.uk, American Leroy Chiao, who was the 196th NASA astronaut to fly in space and the 311th human in space, served on multiple missions during an illustrious career after qualifying in 1991.
Mr Chiao, who is also a keen light aircraft pilot, said he was flying his plane back to Houston in Texas when something odd suddenly whizzed past.
Revealing the encoutner to broadcaster NewsNation, he said saw the “two metallic spherical orbs” which were around three-feet in diameter and 20-feet away in August this year.
He added: “It’s just kinda dumb luck that they didn’t hit me. It could’ve been a bad result, if they had actually hit me. It happened so quick, there wasn’t even a chance to get scared.
“It wasn’t on radar, air traffic control certainly didn’t alert me.
“[And] it wasn’t on my display that shows other airplanes that are participating with the [Federal Aviation Administration] FAA-required transponders. I don’t know what it was.”
Mr Chiao, who has received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and two NASA Exceptional Service Awards, explained to the US broadcaster that he only saw the objects for “a second”.
Discussing what he thought the objects might be, Mr Chiao pondered: “My first guess is that it’s some kind of military program, a drone of some kind, but you know it’s hard to say, right?’
“Frankly, I think whoever was operating the drone wasn’t aware that I was there.”
