Long time lurker in this sub, but I’m happy to finally share something. This is from my contacts within the FAA describing an incident over Kessel WV recently. The LXJ359 is a FlexJet Embraer Phenom business jet who were flying at 45,000ft at 8:52pm EST when they saw an object 10,000 above them. Very few conventional aircraft could reach that height especially without the knowledge of air traffic controllers. While passing beneath the object apparently disrupted the aircraft avionics. While not specifically mentioned in the memo it was relayed to me that other pilots saw the object and it was discussed on Guard frequency VHF 121.5
I’m hoping there was some witnesses in the aviation community or passengers who can corroborate this and perhaps took pictures or filed a MUFON report.
UPDATE: In the days following my initial post I spoke with an FAA supervisor at this facility and they heard that the pilot said he witnessed the object’s lights go out, but he could still see the silhouette of the object and that’s when the aircraft system’s failure happened. I’ve now heard that same story from two different people which lends a little more credence to it. If we can find the ATC audio that would verify this account or otherwise get a statement from the flight crew. If true that may rule out Starlink as an explanation.
On April 25, 2022, The Black Vault saw the posting and filed a request seeking out any information relating to the case, or at the very least, validation it was real.
The FAA responded on May 9, 2022, and sent the copy of the Air Traffic Mandatory Occurrence Report. Along with it, as requested, were Air Traffic Control recordings. However, they seem to not contain anything about the sighting, and rather, just the communications between the tower at Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center and multiple aircraft.
Should anyone notice anything different, please CONTACT ME. I have contacted the FAA to ask why I was sent the file if nothing was transmitted regarding the sighting (that I can tell).
The raw file, as sent to me, is archived below for down. The stereo track .wav file has two channels. One static, the other with the recording. The “raw” audio file plays both tracks, while I made a second copy to stream, in real time, the clean audio track only. Both are available below.
Document Archive
FAA Confirmed UFO Sighting April 22, 2022, by LXJ359 over Kessel, West Virginia [3 Pages, 1MB]
ATC Recording
RAW AUDIO FILE DOWNLOAD [45.8MB] – This stereo track has two channels. One static, the other with the recording. This is the raw file with both sides, as received.
Stream the Audio – Realtime Playback (Clean Channel Only – Static Removed)
Additional Information
Although The Black Vault did not formally investigate the sighting itself, but rather, went after official documents; others believe that it was Starlink.
A thread was started on “Metabunk” to show that research by user Flarkey. See: “UFO report on the Black Vault.”