A Gray Cylinder Over the Gulf: Three Oil Platform Workers Report a Sighting

What Happened On July 13, 2011, three workers on an oil platform about 75 miles offshore, near the Texas-Louisiana border, witnessed something unusual. One spotted an “object” in the sky and asked aloud, “What is that?” The three looked up and saw a sizable gray-white cylinder moving south, with no lights, wings, or rotors and no sign of smoke or steam.

The object appeared to be above the cloud layer. The witnesses estimated it was at least five to ten times larger than fighter jets or commercial aircraft they had seen in the area. That surprised them: commercial air traffic over the Gulf of Mexico is sparse, and the only regular flights are helicopters traveling to the platforms. The sighting lasted about 30 seconds. The workers made no attempt to track the object with measuring equipment.

Background This was the second time the same two workers had seen a cylinder-shaped object in the area. The first sighting was in early June 2011, when the cylinder was moving faster. Both incidents took place several dozen kilometers offshore, in an area with almost no routine air traffic.

Why It’s Interesting Several features stand out: the object’s cylindrical shape, the absence of lights, rotors, or steam, and its estimated size. Its appearance in an area with almost no commercial air traffic also makes the sighting difficult to explain. Still, the available information offers no evidence of aliens or advanced technology. This is an eyewitness account that has not been verified.

Summary The three workers’ account describes an unexplained sighting 75 miles offshore: a gray-white cylinder with none of the features of a conventional aircraft. No further information has emerged to confirm or rule out what the object was, so the report remains unverified.