UFO strobe lights spotted by pilots could be ‘celestial bodies’ says astronomers

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Astronomers claim an intriguing and mysterious UFO sighting could be "celestial bodies".

The eerie incident happened back in 1995 when two American pilots were on a from Dallas, Texas, to Las Vegas when they claimed to have a close encounter with a "UFO".

New analysis and research into the mystery indicate that the discovery could be linked to extra-terrestrial space life.

Captain Eugene Tollefson was with his co-pilot John Waller when a flight attendant saw something odd in the sky.

Although there was no interaction between the plane and the UFO, the crew reported seeing strange lights in the distance, reports the Daily Express.

The pilot reported the strange object to Air Traffic Control in New Mexico and in a transcript exchange, he said: "Off to our three o'clock, got some strobes out there. Could you tell us what it is?"

When he was asked what he could see, the co-pilot replied: "There's a strobe and starts… um, going on counter-clockwise, and uh… the length is unbelievable."

As there was no detection of the mysterious aircraft on the radar systems, Air Traffic Control decided to see if any military aircraft were in the sky and contacted the control tower at the nearby Air Force Base.

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Air Traffic Control responded with: "Cactus 564… we checked with Cannon and they don't have any, uh, weather balloons or anything up tonight.

"Nobody upfront knows any idea about that. Do you still see it?

Despite the incident remaining a mystery, astronomers have attempted to explain what the pilots witnessed in the 2015 Smithsonian Channel documentary "UFOs Declassified: Pilot Eyewitness".

In the documentary, a lead astronomer at the SETI Institute, Seth Shostak, said: "The kinds of things that can fool even, I think, trained pilots are, for example, bright planets."

The narrator explained that it could have been "celestial bodies" that played a part in America West flight 564's bizarre experience.

He explained: "From 30,000 feet, a distant planet or star can appear to strobe, giving the illusion of the UFO."

Professor of Astronomy at York University in Toronto, Dr Michael De Robertis, added: "Some of the brightest stars can give an illusion that they're strobing, that they're changing brightness really rapidly."

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