Image: ibtimes.co.uk
The Story
The object near the British Airways 777 created a serious collision risk, but its identity was never established.
The strongest ordinary reading is an air-safety near miss: a crew saw and reported a fast reflective object, and investigators judged the separation dangerous. The official material establishes the encounter and its risk, not the object’s identity. A drone remains part of the reported aviation framing, but the available investigation did not confirm it.
- The UK Airprox Board classified the encounter as involving a serious risk of collision, while leaving the object’s nature unresolved.
- The pilot initially reported to air traffic control that a drone had flown over the aircraft’s right wing.
- The reported object was reflective, fast-moving, and approximately the size of four toasters, based on the crew’s account.
Deeper Insight
A silver object passed 50 feet above a climbing British Airways 777. Investigators logged a serious risk and never named the object.
Over Guildford, a British Airways 777 was climbing when the crew saw a shiny silver object, about the size of four toasters, flash past roughly 50 feet above. The UK Airprox Board rated it a serious collision risk. The report never identifies it as a drone, a balloon or anything else. A danger can be official while the thing that caused it stays anonymous.
- What it could changeRequiring an identified cause for every serious near miss would close a gap passengers never hear about.
- How it touches todayAn earlier UK passenger-jet encounter with a bright metallic object also stayed unexplained.
- Our futureCrowded skies could carry more unknown traffic than airlines or regulators can name.
- The incident shows how a credible cockpit observation can still end without an identified object or a verified explanation.
- Historical British cases documented by David Clarke show that balloons and intelligence systems were sometimes reported as UFOs after being seen by military crews.
- A previous UK passenger-aircraft encounter with a bright metallic object also remained unexplained after aviation investigators examined it.
Sources · 7
Featured · Analysis · thesun.co.uk
Packed BA jet in heart-stopping near-miss with mystery 'UFO' at 5,800ft
'TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT' BA jet packed with 256 passengers in heart-stopping near-miss with mystery ‘UFO’ at 5,800ft after leaving Heathrow A BRITISH Airways plane came within yards of crashing into a UFO at 5,800ft, a report said. The pilot contacted air traffic control after the mystery shiny silve
Read sourceAnalysis · ibtimes.co.uk
British Airways Boeing 777 Avoids Mid-Air Crash With Mysterious Object the 'Size of Four Toasters' | IBTimes UK
British Airways Boeing 777 Avoids Mid-Air Crash With Mysterious Object the 'Size of Four Toasters' | IBTimes UK ## A split-second sighting over Surrey leaves aviation investigators with a serious warning and an unanswered question By Briane Nebria Published 25 October 2026, 12:08 PM GMT A Boeing 777
Read sourceAnalysis · drclarke.substack.com
UFOs and Spy Balloons - David’s Substack
UFOs and Spy Balloons - David’s Substack ### A Secret History Mar 04, 2023 The shoot-down of a Chinese 'spy balloon' and three other mysterious objects over North America has kicked off a flurry of renewed media interest in UFOs But current speculation about the military value of balloons for long-r
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