Reports are emerging from a Gulfstream G550 flight crew of an unidentified lighted object in the sky above them. On a December 23 night flight to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, the business jet was cruising near the Bahamas at Flight Level 430 or FL 450 when air traffic control asked them to look for “a foreign object” near their position. It’s unclear whether controllers were relaying reports from other aircraft or if they were tracking the object on radar.
There were two pilots and one flight attendant on board. Local television news interviewed flight attendant Cassandra Martin, who told the station that, after controllers notified the crew, the pilots spotted three lighted objects and she saw one. She said the object was “way above us,” and she was able to record video of it. She told the television station that it appeared white in color but later changed to a greenish glow. She also said it “had the capability to zigzag” and that it was visible for about 45 minutes.
The Gulfstream is registered to Lynchburg, Virginia-based Banker Aviation, likely associated with a steel-fabrication company with two plants in Lynchburg and a third in Orlando, Florida. The 2009 G550, N888HK, is also listed on aircraft management firm Surjet’s website as one of its managed fleet. Martin said the crew was “astonished,” and that while the experience was “daunting,” it was “also fascinating.”
