AudioBlog: Pilot Reports of UFOs Over Oregon

In last week’s blog, we looked at a case that is typical of UFO
reports in the news these days: it originated on social media,
there was no proper name for the source, and a great deal of
fruitless speculation and arguing followed. As if in answer to our
complaints, a case showed up that has just about everything a
researcher/investigator could hope for. It involves an Air Traffic
Control recording of multiple pilots reporting strange lights
moving around in unusual patterns near Eugene, Oregon. Supporting
the fact that the recording is genuine, one of the pilots has come
forward and talked to the news media.According to
the article by Flynn Nichols headlined “Pilots told to
‘maneuver’ around Oregon ‘UFO’ in leaked cabin audio” published on
the Newsweek website on December 12, 2024, a 44-minute
recording was posted on Reddit by user SabineRitter on
Sunday (which was December 8, 2024). The link to the original
recording on LiveATC.net no longer works (the recording seems to
have been deleted from the site), but there is an edited 13-minute,
28-second version still available on Youtube as of this
writing. The article was updated later the same day with the
statement from the FAA that “a pilot reported seeing unidentified
lights while flying in Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center
airspace on Saturday, December 7.” It is explained by Nichols that
“The URL of the archived recording from LiveATC.net contains a
timestamp (Dec-08-2024-0430Z), which specifies the date and time
the recording began: 4.30 a.m. on December 8 in Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC) or 8:30 p.m., December 7, in Oregon (PST)” and
that “The URL also contains the code KEU, which is the airport code
for Eugene Airport, and ZSE, which is the official abbreviation of
the Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC).” Read
more