2001: Captain Achille Zaghetti’s Close Encounter

THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: April 12, 2001

Sighting Time: 9.00 pm

Day/Night: Night

Location: Coast of Kent

Urban or Rural: -Air

Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light) Point or extended luminous source observed at night.

Duration:

No. of Object(s): 1

Height & Speed:

Size of Object(s): three meters long

Distance to Object(s): 1,000 feet

Shape of Object(s): round

Color of Object(s):  light brown

Number of Witnesses:

Source: The Western Daily Press newspaper, of Bristol, England, reports on June 15, 2001

Summary/Description:  On the night of 21 April 1991, the term ‘close encounter’ took on an altogether more significant meaning for the crew and passengers of a London-bound airliner. At 9.00 pm Captain Achille Zaghetti, who was piloting a McDonnell MD-80 aircraft, was amazed to see an unidentified flying object pass his aircraft as it flew over the coast of Kent at a height of more than 22,000 feet. As the UFO was no more than 1,000 feet above the airliner, and the incident therefore classed as a ‘near-miss’, an official inquiry was launched by the CAA. Approximately two weeks later the following brief statement was issued:

“The pilot said the object was light brown, round, three meters long, and did not describe any means of propulsion, “The aircraft was under the control of London air traffic control center who had no other aircraft in the vicinity, but consistent with the pilot report, a faint radar trace was observed ten nautical miles behind the Alitalia aircraft. “Extensive inquiries have failed to provide any indication of what the sighting may have been.”