FAA Report: Pilot at FL450 Reports UFO at FL550 as Aircraft

FAA Report: Pilot at FL450 Reports UFO at FL550 as Aircraft Suffers Double Autopilot and Attitude Reference System Failures

LXJ359, while traveling at FL450 3 miles SW of ESL, reported a UFO at FL550. The report was an extremely bright light that then turned into a string/line of lights. While passing underneath of the UFO the lights turned off but he could still see something there. Also, while underneath the aircraft had a double Attitude Reference System failure and double autopilot failure.

Published

September 15, 2026

Declassified

Date not listed

Source agency

The Black Vault (FOIA archive)

faaufofoiapilotfl450fl550aircraftsuffers

FAA Mandatory Occurrence Report Documents 2022 UFO Sighting

The Federal While passing underneath it, the lights turned off, yet the pilot could still see something there. During that same period, the aircraft experienced a double Attitude Reference System failure and a double autopilot failure. The report further states that numerous other aircraft reported seeing the object, including callsigns SWA368, SWA1393, and UAL46, and that numerous pilots began discussing the event on guard frequency.

The document was printed by Robert Law on 4/26/2022. Critically, the report is marked DRAFT, and it offers no analysis, conclusion, or identification of the object; it does not state the cause of the system failures or establish any causal link between those failures and the reported object. That gap is precisely what makes the record consequential.

An official FAA form captures a multi-crew observation and simultaneous avionics anomalies, yet leaves the nature of the event unresolved. The central question, therefore, is not whether the…

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Based on the official release at https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/faa-confirmed-ufo-sighting-april-22-2022-by-lxj359-over-kessel-west-virginia/

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