If I were a personal-injury attorney, I might want to start getting up to snuff on this UFO stuff. Since the Navy revamped its procedures to encourage military pilots to report their brushes with The Great Taboo, America’s commercial airspace could present juicy opportunities for ambulance chasers.

It’s been nine years since the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena produced a cautionary study on civilian airline safety worldwide. As with airplane crashes, run-ins with The Great Taboo are obviously quite rare. Still, NARCAP researchers reviewed case logs going back to the 1940s and examined dozens of incidents involving near misses, communications and electro-magnetic disruption, not to mention confusing discrepancies between what eyewitnesses saw and what turned up on radar. In extremely rare cases, UFOs caused startled pilots to make abrupt flight corrections. Imagine the potential for actionable proceedings in the event of injuries to crew or passengers. Especially if authorities knew there was a danger, but made no effort to educate pilots.

Getting blown off by a federal bureaucracy makes one feel inconsequential, forlorn and extraneous/CREDIT: unsplash.com

NARCAP published those results on its website, in a study called Project Sphere. It recommended that aviators at least get some sort of awareness training. After reading the NY Times account of how two F-18 pilots came thisclose to colliding with a UFO in early 2015, De Void wondered if the Federal Aviation Administration was inclined to follow the Navy’s lead in finally acknowledging these realities and taking proactive measures, if for no other reason than to cover its ass legally.

Last month, De Void volleyed some email questions with the FAA to see if it had taken a position. Note the dates. This is dispiriting. If this were a Monday, I don’t think I could’ve handled it.

Cox, Billy <billy.cox@heraldtribune.com> Thu, May 9, 10:04 AM to jim.peters, rick.breitenfeldt Thu, May 9, 10:04 AM

Good morning:

You may have heard about the U.S. Navy’s recent decision to revise its procedures for pilots to report UFOs in an effort to establish tighter security controls. Here’s a link to a statement the USN gave to Politico last week. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/23/us-navy-guidelines-reporting-ufos-1375290 Apparently, there has been a recent uptick in reports, which have garnered the attention of USN command.

I’m querying the FAA because it would appear that UFOs may pose similar challenges to domestic commercial aviation traffic. I’m providing a link to an account of confusion among airline pilots, ATC, and at least one FAA administrator during and after a potentially disruptive intrusion into a busy West Coast air corridor in 2017. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18473/faa-recordings-deepen-mystery-surrounding-ufo-over-oregon-that-sent-f-15s-scrambling This unauthorized violation of airspace was serious enough to have provoked a scramble of two F-15 jet fighters. What’s most impressive about this account is the reporter’s acquisition of FAA records to reconstruct the event.

My question is, how much consideration has the FAA given to reassessing its incident reporting policies for pilots? I know from chatting with commercial pilots over the years that many are reluctant to publicize events that they’ve witnessed due to the stigma attached. A lack of candor would seem to be counterproductive in trying to figure out how to make our skies safer. What sorts of discussions has the FAA had with the Navy in its efforts to get a sharper and more accurate assessment of these sorts of air safety challenges?

Regards,

Billy Cox

Cox, Billy <billy.cox@heraldtribune.com> Fri, May 17, 9:41 AM to kathleen.bergen Fri, May 17, 9:41 AM

Hi Ms. Bergen —

I’ve not gotten a response from this yet. Hope you’re back at work soon. Thanks.

bcox

Salac, Arlene (FAA) <Arlene.Salac@faa.gov> Fri, May 17, 10:25 AM to me Fri, May 17, 10:25 AM

Billy,

I just received your inquiry today. I will check with our folks in HQ.

Arlene

Cox, Billy <billy.cox@heraldtribune.com> Fri, May 17, 11:12 AM to Arlene Fri, May 17, 11:12 AM

Thank you.

Cox, Billy <billy.cox@heraldtribune.com> Fri, May 31, 9:22 AM (13 days ago) to Arlene Fri, May 31, 9:22 AM

Any luck?

Cox, Billy <billy.cox@heraldtribune.com> Wed, Jun 5, 10:08 AM (8 days ago) to Arlene Wed. Jun 5, 10:08 AM

Nothing?

Salac, Arlene (FAA) Wed, Jun 5, 10:11 AM (8 days ago) to me Wed, Jun 5, 10:11 AM

I understand our Los Angeles office (Ian Gregor) got back to you last week.

Cox, Billy <billy.cox@heraldtribune.com> Wed, Jun 5, 10:12 AM (8 days ago) to Arlene Wed, Jun 5, 10:12 AM

That’s news to me.

Salac, Arlene (FAA) Wed, Jun 5, 10:14 AM (8 days ago) to me Wed, Jun 5, 10:14 AM

I will circle back with him.

Cox, Billy <billy.cox@heraldtribune.com> 9:38 AM (7 hours ago) to kathleen.bergen Thu, Jun 13, 9:38 AM

Hi Ms. Bergen: I think it’d be a lot less aggravation if we just put the FAA down for “no comment.” Agreed?

Bergen, Kathleen (FAA) 10:11 AM (6 hours ago) to me Thu, Jun 13, 10:11 AM

The FAA declined to comment.