Following the Pentagon’s confession regarding its investigations on extraterrestrial life, several pilots from the U.S. Navy have come forward to reveal their encounters with unexplained flying objects.

According to the pilots, their strange encounters with that can only be described as UFOs began after the radar systems of their fighter jets were upgraded, according to The New York Times. After transitioning from the 1980s-era technology that they had to a more modern one, the pilots began detecting strange crafts flying alongside their own jets.

According to F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot Lt. Ryan Graves, who was been with the Navy for a decade, majority of his encounters with the UFOs occurred between 2014 and 2015. According to Graves, he and the other pilots saw these unexplained aircrafts flying over the East Coast daily.

What initially caught their attention was the entire design and nature of the aircrafts. Graves noted that one of the objects he saw looked like a spinning top that had no infrared exhaust plumes or a visible engine. Despite its appearance and apparent lack of any means of propulsion, it was still capable of hitting hypersonic speeds and staying in the air for a long period of time.

“These things would be out there all day,” Graves told The New York Times. “Keeping an aircraft in the air requires a significant amount of energy. With the speeds we observed, 12 hours in the air is 11 hours longer than we’d expect.”

Lt. Danny Accoin, another Super Hornet pilot who was a member of the VFA-11 “Red Rippers” squadron along with Graves, said he had two separate encounters with the UFOs. The first instance happened when he picked up a strange object on his radar. He then followed the unidentified craft and flew 1,000 feet below it. Despite being close to the object, he was still unable to see it using the camera on his helmet.

Accoin’s second encounter happened a few days later after his jet’s training missile suddenly locked on the object, which was also detected by his infrared camera. However, just like in his first encounter, he wasn’t able to visually locate it.

Despite the gravity of the situations they were in, Graves and Accoin are still considered lucky for not colliding with the unknown objects. Unfortunately for one of Graves’ squadron mates, this is exactly what happened to him.

According to the pilot, he was out with his wingman over the Atlantic near Virginia Beach. As they were flying 100 feet apart, something flew in between their jets. The pilot said the object looked like a cube protected by a spherical shell.

“I almost hit one of those things,” the stunned pilot told Graves.

For years, the U.S. Navy has been compiling repots sent by pilots regarding their experiences with the UFOs. Navy spokesman Joseph Gradisher said the department has updated its guidelines and procedures when it comes to assessing these reports, according to The New York Post.

Since the Navy is still unsure of what the strange objects really are or where they came from, it intends to use the new guidelines to streamline its investigation regarding this matter.

RELATED STORIES
Aliens