US Air Force pilot reports close encounter with UFO in leaked air traffic control audio

A US Air Force pilot apparently had a close encounter with a UFO, leaked air traffic control audio reveals.

An experienced Air Force pilot was flying a Beechcraft 350 C on a secret flight through a controlled airspace in California on September 17 last year when he claims to have breezed past a 'football-sized' UFO.

According to his call with air traffic control, which has been leaked and obtained by NewsNation, the jet that was flying at 20,000 feet almost came into contact with the unidentified object on what was a clear afternoon at 2.30pm that day.

The pilot, identified as Troy 21, can be heard saying to the controller: "This is going to sound weird, but I just had something pass underneath my wing."

He added: "Maybe a football-sized object right under my wing."

Animated video footage replicates the bizarre moment, which shows a cylindrical-looking object zooming past the plane.

The news outlet reported the jet was on an undisclosed military-related operation involving the Department of Homeland Security when the incident occurred.

The air traffic controller could be heard asking the pilot if he thought it was a drone, to which he replied: "Uh, I have no idea. I've got my sensor operator looking for it on the camera right now."

"It was like a dark gray cylindrical object and it was probably the size of a football and it passed maybe 10 feet under our right wing," he added.

Roughly two minutes later, the airman tracked the object and estimated it had flown about 60 miles away from his current position.

Later in the leaked audio, another air traffic controller discusses the reports of a 'UFO' before saying: "[T]hat's all taken care of now."

A former FBI agent and UFO investigator, Ben Hansen, who shared the audio exclusively on Banfield, explained the aircraft was equipped with a 'very sensitive and complex radar array' used to track drug traffickers.

He also noted the encounter was significant, what with the object travelling through a controlled airspace in an area with no reported air traffic.

"So when they called this thing in [...] it's broad daylight, they got a good look at this thing," Hansen continued, "This cylindrical, dark object that passes underneath their wing so close, so I mean obviously you can see there are big problems with that happening in a controlled air space like they were, and they weren't notified of any air traffic that was supposed to be in the area."

Hansen commented on the speed of the mysterious object and its high altitude, saying it was unlikely to have been a drone considering it was in a controlled zone.

He said: "It could be, it'd be very rare, but hobby drones can go up that high, obviously military can as well. This occurred near what we call military operations area but it was not in that airspace.

"So anyone who was flying something to test a commercial type of drone or something would've had to call in.

"The other thing that is very interesting about this is you hear them tracking this object about 60 miles away because they've got their own airborne radar and the pilot calls back."

However, Hansen said it's 'debatable' whether the radar could pick up something so small from 60 miles but said 'if true', that would mean the object would be travelling at Mach 2, and would 'absolutely eliminate' the drone theory in his opinion.

Spooky.