‘A American Airlines pilot saw what he described as a “long, cylindrical object” zoom over the plane he was flying in the air above Phoenix on Sunday. The FBI said it was aware of the incident, and the Pentagon said the military did not conduct tests in the area that day.
“Do you have any targets up here?” asked one of the pilots of the American flight 2292 air traffic controllers, according to a recording of the broadcast obtained by CBS News. ‘We just let something go above us, which – I hate to say it – looks like a long, cylindrical object that looks almost like a cross-missile-type thing moving fast and going above us . “
American confirms that the transfer from flight 2292 was from Cincinnati’s airport to Phoenix. The airline referred additional questions to the FBI, which said it was aware of the incident.
“While our policy is not to confirm or deny investigations, the FBI is constantly working with our federal, state, local, and tribal associates to share intelligence and protect the public,” said Frank Fisher, spokesman for the FBI’s field office. in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said in a statement. “Anyone who is aware of suspicious or criminal activity should contact their local law enforcement agency or the FBI.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the pilot reported the sighting over New Mexico shortly after noon Sunday. The agency said air traffic controllers see no object in the area on their radar scopes.
A Pentagon spokesman told National Security Correspondent David Martin to CBS News that the sighting took place about 400 kilometers from the Army’s White Sands rocket range in southern New Mexico. The spokesman said that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, the Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Strategic Command on Sunday did not conduct any tests from the missile range.