Former F-15 Pilot Describes Metallic Object Over Tel Nof
Dror Gurlik says the object passed near him in 1998. Neither the radar nor the camera recorded it, and his navigator said he saw a yellow light.
Former F-15 pilot Dror Gurlik says he saw an object during an Israeli Air Force exercise at Tel Nof in 1998
On a clear summer afternoon, with no clouds and the sun nearly overhead, two F-15s entered the landing pattern at Tel Nof Air Base. Dror Gurlik, a former squadron commander, was flying the second aircraft in the formation, alone in the cockpit. It was his second flight of the day, part of a major Air Force exercise.
Gurlik described the incident in an interview posted to Anomaly, a YouTube channel run by his son. The website S-M-B Tech reported on the interview.
At one point, Gurlik spotted a bright yellow light. In the bright sunshine, he said, it seemed out of place. At first, he thought it was another aircraft entering the pattern from the opposite direction and considered warning the flight leader of a possible head-on collision. But the light had already passed the lead aircraft and now appeared between the two jets.
"It wasn't coming straight at me, but from a little to the left, a little to the east. About 300 to 400 meters away. So I didn't make an evasive maneuver. I just watched to make sure it would pass beside me, not through me."
The Object
As it drew closer and resolved from a point of light into a solid shape, Gurlik described a silver body that did not shine at any particular point, with a dome on top, two arches beneath it, and a completely flat bottom. A ring of yellow lights ran around its perimeter. It left no trail, and there was no sign of propulsion. He said it looked like a mushroom or a muffin.
"As it passed to my left, I saw an aircraft that I still can't explain," he said. The F-15 is designed to intercept and shoot down airborne targets, yet Gurlik did not pursue it. "To this day, I don't know why I didn't light the afterburner and turn after it," he admitted. "I kept going straight."
What Wasn't Recorded
The Canon camera in the aircraft was set to record only when activated manually or during the final two minutes before landing, after the landing gear had been lowered. The encounter happened earlier, so nothing was saved. The aircraft's systems, including radar and its friend-or-foe identification system, did not detect the object either.
Who Saw What
During the post-flight debrief, Gurlik told the crew what he had seen. The pilot of the lead aircraft said he hadn't seen anything. The navigator partly confirmed the account: "I saw a strong yellow light pass beneath our wing, but it was moving backward, and I decided not to say anything to you." Gurlik replied, "I thought, well, at least something was there."
He called the control tower at Tel Nof and asked whether anyone had seen anything. No one had. He also checked with the radar unit, which had registered no return from an object in the area. Later, he approached a senior squadron officer and drew the object for him. When he asked whether the military had anything similar, the officer replied: "We asked for one, but there's no budget." Gurlik understood the answer to mean that the officer did not recognize the object and that it did not come from a program the officer would have known about.
On his way home, Gurlik drove through the fields around Tel Nof looking for traces on the ground. He found nothing.
It's unclear whether the incident was reported to an official body. If it wasn't, no reason was given. The distance from the flight path and how long the object remained visible are also unknown.
What Remains
No recording, radar detection, or control-tower report has been found to corroborate the incident. The account rests on the pilot's memory, the drawing he made at the time, and the navigator's description of a strong yellow light passing beneath the wing.