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California pilot reports ‘dogfight’ with sphere UFO

A California private pilot at San Bernardino reported a close encounter with a sphere-shaped UFO that came within 150 feet of his aircraft, according to testimony in Case 76954 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The pilot encountered the object at about 1,000 feet AGL. Pictured: San Bernardino, CA, skyline. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The pilot encountered the object at about 1,000 feet AGL. Pictured: San Bernardino, CA, skyline. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The event occurred on June 5, 2016, while the witness was flying a private aircraft shortly after takeoff while still in the traffic pattern.

“I encountered an unidentified object at approximately 1,000 feet AGL,” the witness stated.“Object was going in the opposite direction and passed within 300 feet off my left wing. It was a metallic orb that reflected the light brilliantly and was approximately the size of a basketball.”

The object first passed within 300 feet of the aircraft. (Credit: Google)
The object first passed within 300 feet of the aircraft. (Credit: Google)

The pilot banked hard left in an attempt to chase the object, placing his aircraft at its 6:00 position.

“Almost immediately the object did a hard left turn accelerating to a position opposite my left wing and within 150 feet. I banked hard left again and became engaged in a two-turn ‘Dogfight’ with the object as we both tried to get on each other’s tail. After the second turn the object broke away in a southern direction. I lost sight after that.”

This is the second encounter the pilot has had with an identical object while in the air. The pilot stated that the last encounter was in 1978.

The object came within 150 feet of the airplane on a second pass. (Credit: Google)
The object came within 150 feet of the airplane on a second pass. (Credit: Google)

San Bernardino is the county seat of San Bernardino County, CA, population 209,924. California Field Investigator Linda Flechtner is investigating. Please remember that most UFO sightings can be explained as something natural or man-made. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.

Roger Marsh

Roger Marsh is a UFO writer and content developer. He is Director of Communications for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) where he manages media contact, rights and permissions, and content development for television, film, documentary, radio, print and stage. Roger is a MUFON case researcher for History channel’s “Hangar 1: The UFO Files.” He is editor of the monthly international MUFON UFO Journal, executive producer of the weekly “MUFON UFO Traffic Report” radio show; serves as the MUFON webmaster; reporter for the daily “UFO Traffic Report” in web and audio formats; and publisher of the “MUFON Books” imprint. He is the author of Sacred Dialogue, editor of Silent Invasion, and co-editor of Ron Paul Speaks. Roger was featured in the 2015 season premiere episode of Destination America's "Monsters & Mysteries in America." Roger and his wife, Joyce, live in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, restoring a 1910 Pennsylvania four-square.

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6 Comments

  1. I just can’t wait to the United States Of America come clean and tell all they know about the mysterious U.F.O.’s ! We all must know what’s been really going on for centuries on our planet and in our solar system? We want to believe and it’s time to tell all to the American Public of Area 51 and everything that we want to know about alien beings and so on – – – ” WE MUST KNOW NOW ” – – –

  2. I really do not understand why so many UFO encounters are not video recorded. Does not the pilot have a smartphone in this case? Or at least some pics?

  3. Hello Alberto,
    While flying over a high density area (close to an airport) at a so low level (1000ft AGL), a pilot has a lot to do. He was probably in VFR (Visual Flight Rules), so it’s attention was really concentrated on the outside.
    So flying, navigating and visual separation: no place for a shooting!… Sure he would have taken a picture, but fully engage in the avoidance maneuvre, he simply can’t.

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