A pilot flying over Rhode Island spotted something strange next to his plane and reported it to air traffic control. The controller’s response has gone viral online. After hearing what the pilot saw, the air traffic control operator told him “Good luck with the aliens” before ending their conversation.
According to Bro Bible, the pilot was flying a Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II at 3,500 feet when he noticed the unusual object. He described it as a small silver canister that appeared to be hovering right next to his wingtip, just a few feet away. What made the sighting even stranger was that the object looked like it was standing completely still in mid-air without being attached to anything.
The pilot ruled out common explanations like drones or weather balloons and called what he saw “astonishing.” He contacted air traffic control asking for help identifying the object. The controller admitted they had no idea what it could be and asked for more details about its location. The first controller called the situation “creepy” before another one made the now-famous alien comment.
The FAA hasn’t explained what the mysterious object actually was
The Federal Aviation Administration has not made any public statement about this incident over Rhode Island. This silence is typical in these cases, but the pilot’s detailed description makes this sighting particularly interesting.
Rhode Island is not known for UFO activity. Since May 2018, the state has only recorded 1,022 UFO sightings total, ranking it 44th in the United States. This makes the pilot’s experience even more unusual for that location.
Similar cylindrical objects have been reported in other airspace before. In 2025, a Customs and Border Patrol reconnaissance plane recorded video of a short, cylindrical object moving at high speed without wings or propellers. In 2023, a U.S. Air Force Reaper drone captured images of what looked like a skinny, cylindrical UFO hovering over Iraq.
The most well-known report came in 2021 when an American Airlines flight spotted a fast-moving “long, cylindrical” UFO in New Mexico airspace. The FBI investigated that incident. The FAA stated that air traffic controllers did not detect any object on their radar screens at the time, which only deepened the mystery. UFO-related incidents continue to spark intense public interest, particularly when they coincide with government discussions about classified materials.
Whether this silver canister is connected to those previous sightings or something completely different remains unknown. But getting that kind of sign-off from air traffic control is definitely a memorable experience. Of course, not every mysterious object in the sky turns out to be extraterrestrial, as some viral incidents have hilariously proven.
Published: Dec 26, 2025 10:28 am