Encounters between US Navy pilots and UFO uncovered in Navy reports

Days after the US Department of Defence officially released three videos showing what appears to be UFO, new documents revealing incidents that happened between the years 2013 to 2019 have emerged. The information unveils interactions between the US navy figher pilots and what appeared to be unidentified flying objects moving through space.

The documents published eight bizarre encounters between the Navy jets and what is described as an "unidentified aerial phenomenon" in response to requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act to the Navy Safety Centre by the military website The Drive. Each one of these incidents occurred along the East Coast of America between Virginia and North Carolina.

The first incident described occurred on June 27, 2013, whereby F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 11 (VFA-11), flying out of Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia ran into an aircraft that appeared "white in colour and approximately the size and shape of a drone or missile." The pilots report it to have passed down the right side of their jet with approximately 200 feet lateral separation.

The second incident reportedly occurred six months after, on November 18, 2013, wherein F/A-18E Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 143 (VFA-143) saw an "aircraft had an approximately 5-foot wingspan and was colored white with no other distinguishable features." The report said that it was an unmanned aerial system. On the same day, pilot of another F/A-18E Super Hornet reported having seen the same object.

As per the report, in one of the run-ins that occurred on March 26, 2014, an F/A-18E Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 106 (VFA-106), flying out of Naval Air Station Oceana caught a possible radar track at around 19000 feet above the ground. The encounter led to a debate between the pilot and his wingman who thought it was possibly a false alarm due to high-speed winds. The report says that the pilot described the object as an "unknown aircraft appeared to be small in size, approximately the size of a suitcase, and silver in colour." The pilot was able to come within 1,000 feet of the object but lost sight soon after.

In another incident that reportedly occurred on April 23, 2014 F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 11 (VFA-11) ran into "multiple" flying objects described as "unidentified aerial devices" (UAD) while jetting off out of Naval Air Station Oceana. The record mentioned the presence of four objects on their route.

In less than 24 hours, another encounter took place whereby the F/A-18Fs made radar contact with another unidentified flying object during Basic Fighter Maneuvering (BFM). This object was surmised to be stationary or near stationary at 0.0 Mach at 11,000 feet.

With three encounters within 10 months, the Navy was forced to issue internal warnings. Not too long after, on April 27, 2014, the navy jet reported encountering another UAD in a violent situation. It was described as "near mid-air collision with a balloon-like object." Following this encounter, no new report apparently emerged until five years later. The crew of EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23), flying out Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland reported to have seen what they described as "a red weather balloon" at 27,000 feet on February 13, 2019.

The FOIA officer handling the request reportedly said that these were the only eight incidents that are available in the Web-Enabled Safety System (WESS) Aviation Mishap and Hazard Reporting System (WAMHRS). These are centralised systems that are supposed to hold the records of all such hazards and incidents reported by the Navy to the Naval Safety Centre.

The newly released reports come two weeks after the US Department of Defence declassified previously leaked three videos of UFO encounter occurring in 2004 and 2017. One of the videos was shot in November 2004 by US navy pilots and the other two in 2015.