The Irish Aviation Authority is investigating after an unidentified flying object was sighted by pilots flying over Ireland.

On the morning of 9 November the pilot of British Airways flight BA94 from Montreal called air traffic control in Shannon to report seeing an object moving past her aircraft, and asked if there were any military exercises taking place off the west coast of Ireland.

“It was moving so fast,” she said. “It came up on our left-hand side and then rapidly veered to the north. It was a very bright light that disappeared at very high speed.”

According to a recording of the conversation by Airlive, a site for enthusiasts, the pilot was told there were no military exercises in the area. “There’s nothing showing on either primary or secondary [radar],” air traffic control said, according to the report.

The pilot said her plane and the object were not on a collision course, but she was “wondering” what it could be.

Other aircraft flying in the area reported the same thing. A pilot, flying a Virgin Airlines plane from Orlando to Manchester described the sight as a “meteor or another object making some kind of re-entry”, adding it seemed to be “multiple objects following the same sort of trajectory – very bright from where we were.”

Another pilot also weighed in, saying: “Glad I’m not the only one.”

A spokesman for the Irish Aviation Authority told the Irish Times it was investigating the incident and would file a report. “This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process.”

The spokesman added that it was unlikely to be aliens from another planet.