SIGHTINGS:

SIGHTINGS

Swiss Miss: UFO, Weather Balloon, or Missile? Who Controls the Media?


Submitted by Doc in Phoenix

Sunday 9/28/97 the captain and co-pilot of the Swiss Air 747 that had an encounter with a weather balloon or an unidentified fying object between Philadelphia and Boston on August 9th, were on a Swiss Television Program, both rebuking the claim made by the U.S.'s FAA on Sept. 26th that the object encountered was a weather balloon.

The 747 Captain and his co-pilot do not agree on the shape of the object sighted. Both agree on the speed of the object sighted and the distance from the 747. Both detailed experience with identifying weather balloons.

It is amazing that the event happened on August 9th, both the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, examined the report which was turned in on August 9th, but comment was withheld for 15 days.

Forty-Eight days after the event, on Sept. 26th, the FAA released a report stating that the object seen on August 9th was a weather balloon which was sighted by a United Air Lines plane in the same area at about the same time.

Why was the FAA report released after 48 days? It was because the media in Switzerland was reporting the incident as a UFO encounter and the Swiss report was about to be duplicated in all of the European media.

Now that the FAA has reported, the major wire services, radio and TV networks, and newspapers in the U.S. will inform the public of another close call with a weather balloon. In most of the European media the object is reported as a UFO.

If anyone understands why the FBI was involved with the NTSB in investigating a sighting report, please let me know, thank you.

ZURICH, Switzerland (September 26, 1997 12:51 p.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) -- An unidentified, wingless object traveling at high speed passed dangerously close to a Swissair jetliner between Philadelphia and Boston, the airline said Friday.

The pilot and co-pilot gave U.S. investigators different descriptions of the object that passed about 50 yards from the Boeing 747 after it had taken off from Philadelphia on Aug. 9, said the airline.

The pilot told the National Transportation Safety Board that the object was long and wingless, but the co-pilot said it was more spherical in nature, Swissair spokesman Erwin Schaerer said.

The incident took place at 23,000 feet. The plane's final destination was Zurich.

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Weather Balloon Spooks 747 Near Philadelphia 4.05 p.m. EDT (2005 GMT) September 26, 1997

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - The mystery of one UFO has been solved.

An unidentified flying object passed dangerously close to a Swissair jetliner traveling between Philadelphia and Boston on Aug. 9, the airline said Friday.

Swissair spokesman Erwin Schaerer said the crew reported that an object sped by about 50 yards from the Boeing 747 after the plane had taken off from Philadelphia and had reached 23,000 feet.

The pilot told the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board that the object as long and wingless, but the copilot said it was more spherical, he said.

And what was it?

It probably was a weather balloon, NTSB spokesman Pat Cariseo said Friday.

"(The sighting) does not lead us to believe that was something self-propelled," Cariseo added.

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Swissair Flight Has Close Encounter

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuter) - A Swissair (SWSZN.S) passenger jet flying over New York had a close encounter last month with a weather balloon, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday.

The crew aboard the Swissair 747, flight 127 traveling from Philadelphia to Boston, said the encounter occurred on Aug. 9 at 5:10 p.m. local time over Deer Park, New York.

The crew could not identify the object, which the airplane passed at an elevation of 23,000 feet (7,000 metres). The airplane was traveling about 500 mph (800 kph) at the time.

A United Airlines(UAL - news) flight passing through the same area a short time later identified the object as a large balloon, the FAA said.

An FAA investigation of the incident "concluded that it was indeed a weather balloon," FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. He said the National Weather Service balloon had been cleared in advance to be in that area.

Swissair spokesman Ulrich Wohn said the pilot followed standard procedure by reporting the close encounter. He said the flight landed on time in Boston and continued on to Zurich without incident.

"At no time were any of the passengers at risk," said Wohn. "They didn't even see it."

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Swissair Plane In UFO Near-Miss Off New York

Agence France-Presse Fri, Sep 26 1997

GENEVA, Sept 26 (AFP) - US authorities have launched an inquiry into an unidentified flying object that whizzed 50 metres (yards) past a Swissair jet near New York last month, Swissair said Friday.

Company spokesman Jean-Claude Donzel dismissed reports that the object could have been a missile, saying the incident was "very serious" but the results of the inquiry were not yet known.

Swiss RSR radio, reporting that the pilot thought it "could have been a missile," noted that the incident occurred near where a TWA flight blew up in July 1996 with the loss of 230 lives.

One of the many theories circulated over that crash was that a missile had hit the plane, although US authorities have firmly denied it.

According to RSR radio, the National Transportation Safey Board (NTSB) believes the object in the latest incident was a weather balloon.

The Boeing 747, with 34 passengers and 17 crew on board, was about 10 miles (16 kilometres) from New York en route from Philadelphia to Zurich via Boston when the near-miss occurred on August 9.

Donzel said the pilot and co-pilot both saw an object fly past at high speed. They were later interviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration, the NTSB and the FBI.

The pilot said it was "elongated, white and without wings," while the co-pilot described it as "rather round."

"Neither the pilot nor co-pilot spoke of a missile" in their statements, another Swissair spokesman, Erwin Schaerer, said.

Donzel dismissed the missile theory as "speculation," saying the speed of the object would account for the slight variation in the descriptions provided by the pilot and co-pilot.

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Pilot: "Could have been a missile."

An unidentified object narrowly missed a SWISSAIR Boeing 747 while the aircraft was at 23,000 feet, passing in air space between Philadelphia and New York, on Aug 9, Swiss radio reported this morning. Major newswires are taking the story and moving it. The pilot described the object, which passed within 50 yards of the aircraft, as "white, elongated and without wings," and strongly rejected U.S. explanations that the object was a weather balloon, the radio report said. The pilot is reported to have said it "could have been a missile." The object was moving at very high speeds, Swissair spokesman Erwin Schaerer tells the NTSB. The plane was Zurich-bound, from Philadelphia. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE is reporting that there may be passenger witnesses to the incident...

What follows is a reply from NTSB spokesman Pat Cariseo to an inquiry regarding the Aug. 9, 1997 UFO/Balloon incident involving a Swiss jetliner. Below his reply is the question, forwarded initially to Lyn Donaldson.

Subject NTSB Aviation Incident data from AUGUST 9 Date: October 9, 1997 From: Cariseo Pat, NTSB To: "'task@fuse.net'" <task@fuse.net CC: Lyn Donaldson

Kenny Young:

The NTSB investigates all civilian aviation incidents and accidents in which there are deaths injuries or substantial damage to aircraft or property. However, the NTSB also decided to look into this sighting by the Swiss Air crew after it was reported to air traffic control because the incident happened over New York airspace.

We assigned one of our investigators from our New Jersey office to look into it. He is preparing a brief report which is not yet available.

The FAA believes it was a weather balloon because one had been launched that day and the FAA issued a notice to airmen about it. Another airline crew reported seeing a weather balloon about 50 minutes after the Swiss Air crew reported seeing the unidentified object.

Although our investigator originally thought it might be a weather balloon, we may not come to that final conclusion.

After examining radar data, estimating the speed of the Swiss Air 747, and interviewing the Swiss Air crew, we do NOT believe it was a powered vehicle. It did not show up on radar and we believe that the object may have been stationary or drifting. The crew's observation that the object sped by them may have actually been the jet speeding past the object since the plane was going more than 500 mph.. One crew member described the object as spherical, the other as cylindrical. It could have been some other type of balloon ( a promotional balloon that escaped into the atmosphere, for example.) When we complete the brief, it should show up on our home page under the Aug. 9, 1997 date.

[Pat Cariseo, NTSB spokesman]

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From: Donaldson Lyn Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 1997 9:30 AM To: Cariseo Pat Subject: FW: NTSB Aviation Incident data from AUGUST 9

Pat, can you handle this one?

___________________________________

-----Original Message----- From: Kenny Young [SMTP:task@fuse.net] Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 1997 8:40 AM To: Donaldson Lyn Subject: NTSB Aviation Incident data from AUGUST 9

National Transportation Safety Board:

I was hopeful that you could advise me where to turn with my efforts to locate the NTSB summation of an incident happening after a Boeing 747 had taken off from Philadelphia on August 9.

The incident involved an unidentified, wingless object which passed 50-yards from the jetliner. NTSB spokesman Pat Cariseo said that the object "was probably a weather balloon."

The incident involved a Swissair jetliner, and was disclosed to the public after the Associated Press reported on the event.

In review of your web-site which contains a listing of Aviation accidents and incidents, there is no listing available with regards to the disturbance. I was curious to learn why the incident was/is not listed within your database.

Enclosed is a copy of the Associated Press article regarding the incident.

I was also seeking to review the report on this happening, as well as the information available to NTSB spokesman Pat Cariseo which revealed these findings. Would you be able to kindly assist me with this inquiry and point me in the right direction?

I appreciate your time and efforts.

Sincerely, KENNY YOUNG task@fuse.net

____________________________________________________________________

Newspaper article:

"Weather Balloon Spooks 747" The Associated Press Friday, September 26, 1997

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- The mystery of one UFO has been solved.

An unidentified flying object passed dangerously close to a Swissair jetliner traveling between Philadelphia and Boston on Aug. 9, the airline said Friday.

Swissair spokesman Erwin Schaerer said the crew reported that an object sped by about 50 yards from the Boeing 747 after the plane had taken off from Philadelphia and had reached 23,000 feet.

The pilot told the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board that the object as long and wingless, but the copilot said it was more spherical, he said.

And what was it?

It probably was a weather balloon, NTSB spokesman Pat Cariseo said Friday.

``(The sighting) does not lead us to believe that was something self-propelled,'' Cariseo added.

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