Pilot reports close encounter with UFO during 2022 flight

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - As long as there have been pilots, there have been sightings of strange objects in the sky. Every year pilots from around the globe claim to see strange objects flying near their aircraft during flights. Sometimes these encounters are close enough to force pilots to take evasive maneuvers. Sometimes it’s a story that stays with them forever.

Julious Figueroa is a Virginia pilot who had a close encounter with a strange object while flying a plane carrying skydivers in July of 2022.

Figueroa says since he was young he has always been interested in aviation. He served in the Navy for two years to help increase his flight time, and become a better pilot. After the Navy, he took a job in the Midwest as a skydive pilot. During a flight on July 10, 2022 he would see something he’d never forget.

“We were climbing to 10,000 feet, and at around 4,300 feet I was looking into the distance and this thing caught my eye.” Figueroa said. “It started getting closer and it was approaching me about 15 feet to my left heading north.”

Figueroa said the object was a spherical golden orb that was flying very fast.

Something interesting he reported was that you couldn’t see the object when you looked at it directly. Other pilots have reported the same thing during their encounters. He said the object was the size of a small car, and without realizing it, he started turning his plane to the left. As the object passed by, Figueroa let out a yell, which caused the people in the back of the plane to look out the window.

“Three of them see it, including one of the instructors.” Figueroa said. “By the time I turned the plane, it was already on the horizon.”

Shortly after, the object was gone.

Figueroa contacted Air Traffic Control and asked if they had seen a drone on radar, to which they said they didn’t. He called again and described the object he saw and asked if they had seen it.

“There was a long pause on the other end, and then they said they didn’t see it.” Figueroa said.

Figueroa’s story sounds very similar to other stories from all over the world, and he says he always keeps his head on a swivel during flights to see if it happens again. As more investigations are launched into UFO’s and UAP’s, more sightings could pop up from anywhere and everywhere.

If you have a UFO sighting you’d like to share, send an email to Digital Content Producer Jacob Fife at: jacob.fife@gray.tv

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