Two pilots described seeing UFOs “zipping” through the sky west of Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday night, according to an alleged recording of their communication with air traffic control.
In the audio, an air controller told one to pilot “maneuver” around the “UFO.”
Newsweek hasn’t independently verified the recording, but its metadata and the information about the flights given by the speakers match flight records.
Greg Vaughn / VWPics via AP Images
The Recording
In the 44-minute recording, the pilots reported seeing unidentified red, circular lights and objects moving erratically toward the ocean and returning at various altitudes, with one saying the objects moved in corkscrew patterns and at extreme speeds.
The air traffic controllers advised one pilot to “maneuver as necessary left and right to avoid the UFO out there.”
User SabineRitter posted the recording to Reddit on Sunday. It was an archived audio recording from the night before on LiveATC.net, a website that broadcasts air traffic control transmissions.
The URL of the archived recording from LiveATC.net contains a timestamp (Dec-08-2024-0430Z), which specifies the date and time the recording began: 4.30 a.m. on December 8 in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or 8:30 p.m., December 7, in Oregon (PST).
The URL also contains the code KEU, which is the airport code for Eugene Airport, and ZSE, which is the official abbreviation of the Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC).
Newsweek has contacted the Federal Aviation Authority, United Airlines via email and LiveATC.net via online form for comment.
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The Pilots’ Words
The first relevant part of the recording starts at 9 minutes and 50 seconds, where, if the recording stated at 8:30 p.m. PST, would be at 8:39 p.m. A pilot introduced himself with callsign UA1596, a United Airlines flight from Denver to Eugene.
“Is there any military activity out straight ahead of us?” the pilot asked. The controller replied, “1596, no, we’re not seeing anything. I had another report at like 30,000 feet in the Eugene area, we’re not sure what it is.”
The pilot responded: “Yeah, there’s lots moving out there.”
According to flight tracking website flightradar24.com, at that time UA1596 was flying west towards Eugene, over Willamette National Forest.
The pilot continued: “Looking straight west to Eugene. We’re seeing 3 or 4 targets… they’re at all altitudes, up and down, it’s pretty crazy.”
The controller replied: “Does it look like it’s at your altitude?” The pilots replied: “There was some at 30 [thousand feet] probably, they’re shooting way up, we say, even up to the 50s it looked like.”
Normal commercial aircraft don’t tend to reach 50,000 feet, which is the maximum altitude for an F-22 fighter jet.
Six minutes further into the recording, at 8:46 p.m. PST, another pilot communicates with the controller, identifying himself as MEDEVAC (a medical evacuation aircraft).
“Is there traffic out about our 2 to 3 o’clock, at about, I don’t know, 20 or 30 miles?”
The controller replies: “No, is that the four different lights going up and down? I’m getting a few reports. Are you seeing it right in front of you as well?” The pilot continues, “It’s 2 to 3 o’clock from our position. Looks about 20 miles, going in circles.”
According to flightradar24.com, only one other aircraft was within close vicinity to Eugene at this time. No information about the aircraft is listed on the website except for its model type, a Pilatus PC-12 NG, which is an aircraft commonly used as an air ambulance.
This aircraft, which could potentially be the MEDEVAC in the recording, was flying south over Albany, Oregon, north of Eugene, at 8:46 p.m PST.
The pilot continued: “There’s one way up high, and one about my altitude. Moving in a circle, like a corkscrew pattern.”
Seven minutes further into the recording, at 8:53 p.m. PST, the MEDEVAC pilot said: “Just had another one show up, at my 1 o’clock, about 1,000 feet high, zipping towards us and then back out towards the ocean. Red in color. Moving at extreme speed, I just don’t know how to describe it.”
The controller replied: “Roger. You are clear to maneuver as necessary left and right to avoid the UFO out there. And uh, all of the reports you’re giving us are good information, appreciate it.”
At this time, according to flightradar24.com, the Pilatus PC-12 was west of Eugene, heading southwest over Siuslaw National Forest.
The Images
Two minutes later, at 8:56 p.m. PST, the controller asked the pilot if he was trying to film the UFOs. He replied: “We’re trying right now. It’s weird. It’s a red circular shape, and it keeps zipping out towards the ocean and then coming back in about 20 miles or closer to us, and then zips back out to the ocean and we can’t see it.”
The controller later gave the pilot his phone number so he could send in the footage.
Another Reddit user, A_Concerned_Viking, wrote in a comment on Tuesday that he sent a text to the number given in the recording. The user said he received a reply with images and videos.
The user posted the images and videos, including an image of a light in the sky, and several videos that appear to be shot from a plane cabin, but are very dark.
Mystery Drone Sightings in New Jersey
The UFO reports in Oregon follow mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey and, more recently, in New York, that are currently under investigation by the FBI.
During a Tuesday hearing on drone threats to homeland security, several members of Congress questioned how the FBI could have so few answers more than a month after drones were first reported, with some seen in the skies over sensitive military sites.
The session raised more questions than answers with regards to the spate of sightings of unidentified drones and other objects over the U.S., whose origin and purpose remain unknown. The phenomenon has fueled rumors and speculation, including about crash sites, clocks changing time and even extra-terrestrial involvement.