Ryan Graves

We began to upgrade our radar systems. When that happened, we put in essentially a much more powerful radar into our jet. It took about eight months. So you'd have – you might fly with a – Newer radar in the morning, maybe an older radar at night.

We began to upgrade our radar systems. When that happened, we put in essentially a much more powerful radar into our jet. It took about eight months. So you'd have – you might fly with a – Newer radar in the morning, maybe an older radar at night.

And consistently, when we were flying with these newer radars, we were picking up a bunch of objects that were operating in our working area that we weren't seeing with the older radar. They were performing in strange ways. They would be stationary. They would be around 250 to 350 knots, kind of meandering around the area.

And consistently, when we were flying with these newer radars, we were picking up a bunch of objects that were operating in our working area that we weren't seeing with the older radar. They were performing in strange ways. They would be stationary. They would be around 250 to 350 knots, kind of meandering around the area.

And consistently, when we were flying with these newer radars, we were picking up a bunch of objects that were operating in our working area that we weren't seeing with the older radar. They were performing in strange ways. They would be stationary. They would be around 250 to 350 knots, kind of meandering around the area.

not really working together per se but kind of clearly operating in the same vicinity as one another right so we weren't flying in formations necessarily and we'd even see these supersonic as well 1.1 1.2 mach typically heading east and we'd only see them over the water We originally thought they were radar errors, right? Some kind of software glitch.

not really working together per se but kind of clearly operating in the same vicinity as one another right so we weren't flying in formations necessarily and we'd even see these supersonic as well 1.1 1.2 mach typically heading east and we'd only see them over the water We originally thought they were radar errors, right? Some kind of software glitch.

not really working together per se but kind of clearly operating in the same vicinity as one another right so we weren't flying in formations necessarily and we'd even see these supersonic as well 1.1 1.2 mach typically heading east and we'd only see them over the water We originally thought they were radar errors, right? Some kind of software glitch.

But eventually we started to correlate these across other sensors, such as our IR FLIR system. Our missile systems would lock onto these. And we would try to fly up to them to see them physically with our eyeballs. And when we do that, we wouldn't see anything. We come within about 500 feet of these objects. All our sensors are pumped into our helmet, augmented reality style.

But eventually we started to correlate these across other sensors, such as our IR FLIR system. Our missile systems would lock onto these. And we would try to fly up to them to see them physically with our eyeballs. And when we do that, we wouldn't see anything. We come within about 500 feet of these objects. All our sensors are pumped into our helmet, augmented reality style.

But eventually we started to correlate these across other sensors, such as our IR FLIR system. Our missile systems would lock onto these. And we would try to fly up to them to see them physically with our eyeballs. And when we do that, we wouldn't see anything. We come within about 500 feet of these objects. All our sensors are pumped into our helmet, augmented reality style.

And it would tell us exactly where to look and boom, we come right past this object and there'd be nothing there. We'd circle back around and then pick it back up on our sensors. It would be slightly displaced, but that was kind of status quo for a few weeks until we had a near miss with one of these objects right at the entrance to our working areas.

And it would tell us exactly where to look and boom, we come right past this object and there'd be nothing there. We'd circle back around and then pick it back up on our sensors. It would be slightly displaced, but that was kind of status quo for a few weeks until we had a near miss with one of these objects right at the entrance to our working areas.

And it would tell us exactly where to look and boom, we come right past this object and there'd be nothing there. We'd circle back around and then pick it back up on our sensors. It would be slightly displaced, but that was kind of status quo for a few weeks until we had a near miss with one of these objects right at the entrance to our working areas.

The pilot came back, canceled the flight, had a look of shock on his face and described as a dark gray or a black cube inside of a clear sphere. And once that happened, we kind of had to come together as a squadron with the safety officer in our squadron and say, hey, you know, like, OK, what's going on? This has kind of been rumor and conjecture, but, you know, we almost had a near miss.

The pilot came back, canceled the flight, had a look of shock on his face and described as a dark gray or a black cube inside of a clear sphere. And once that happened, we kind of had to come together as a squadron with the safety officer in our squadron and say, hey, you know, like, OK, what's going on? This has kind of been rumor and conjecture, but, you know, we almost had a near miss.

The pilot came back, canceled the flight, had a look of shock on his face and described as a dark gray or a black cube inside of a clear sphere. And once that happened, we kind of had to come together as a squadron with the safety officer in our squadron and say, hey, you know, like, OK, what's going on? This has kind of been rumor and conjecture, but, you know, we almost had a near miss.

You almost lost an aircraft. You know, let's gather as much information as we can. As it turned out, there are four other near misses that had occurred in the past month that pilots were too uncomfortable to even report. And that really kind of kicked off the seriousness of this issue for us.

You almost lost an aircraft. You know, let's gather as much information as we can. As it turned out, there are four other near misses that had occurred in the past month that pilots were too uncomfortable to even report. And that really kind of kicked off the seriousness of this issue for us.

You almost lost an aircraft. You know, let's gather as much information as we can. As it turned out, there are four other near misses that had occurred in the past month that pilots were too uncomfortable to even report. And that really kind of kicked off the seriousness of this issue for us.