An American Airlines pilot reported seeing “a long, cylindrical object” surprisingly approaching the aircraft as it flew over New Mexico.
The strange incident, which happened on Sunday during a flight from Kentucky to Phoenix, is being investigated by the FBI, the agency said in a statement.
The pilot called air traffic control shortly after noon, local time, to report seeing the object, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Do you have any targets here?” the pilot is heard asking on a radio broadcast. “We just passed over something that – I hate to say it – looked like a long, cylindrical object.”
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“It almost looked like a type of cruise missile that moved very fast and passed over us,” added the pilot.
The FAA said in a statement that air traffic controllers “did not see any objects in the area on their radarscopes”.
American Airlines confirmed that the radio call came from one of its flights, but has postponed further questions to the FBI.
“After an interrogation with our flight crew and additional information received, we can confirm that this radio broadcast was from American Airlines flight 2292 on February 21,” said the airline.