Boeing Crew Saw a Light Stop Dead—and Chose Not to Report It
The sighting over Los Angeles rests on the pilot’s recollection; no radar data or air traffic control recordings have been released.
A former Boeing 737 captain describes a nighttime sighting over Los Angeles in an online account: a light on another aircraft moved at an angle of about 35 to 40 degrees, then stopped abruptly. He and his crew did not report it, and other aircraft that night also chose not to report what they saw.
The night was clear, without a cloud in the sky. The aircraft was descending toward Los Angeles after a short flight from Las Vegas, late at night. At an altitude of about 5,500 meters, the first officer spotted another aircraft, far away and higher up to their left. What stood out were its lights: the other aircraft had already switched on all its landing lights, well before pilots typically do so.
John Cheshire, a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, was flying as captain of a Boeing 737 at the time. He recounted the night in a post on Quora. According to his account, just before turning to line up with the runway, he suddenly saw the light move across the sky at an angle of about 35 to 40 degrees. It happened at a distance, and the light stopped abruptly in its new position. He turned to the first officer and asked if he had seen it. “Absolutely,” the other pilot replied.
Cheshire said no aircraft he knew of could move that way, and no person or animal could survive such acceleration and sudden stop. He tried to find a simple explanation, such as a reflected spotlight, but the sky was clear, with nothing that could have reflected the light.
A Week Later
A week later, the pilot flew the same route at the same time. He saw nothing, but the radio frequencies carried unusual conversations for such a late hour. Several flight crews reported seeing the light, too. Air traffic control asked each crew whether they wanted to report the sighting. Everyone declined, including Cheshire.
Why They Didn’t Report It
“What would we have said?” the pilot wrote. “People look at you funny when you say you saw something and don’t know what it was.” He said he and the first officer never discussed the sighting again.
The sighting has not been independently verified: no radar data or air traffic control recordings have been released, and the pilot recounted it decades after it happened. He described the lights as numerous and varied, like those of a conventional passenger aircraft.
Questions & answers
Is there proof that the sighting really happened?
No. No radar data, air traffic control information, or independent confirmation has been presented. The account is based on a recollection from decades ago.