iStockphoto
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, a U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper fighter jet was damaged earlier this year by a UFO in a collision over Arizona. The force of the impact with the UFO reportedly cracked the jet’s canopy and forced the pilot to land.
The incident occurred on January 19, 2023 while the F-16 Viper was flying in restricted airspace over Gila Bend. No injuries were reported, but the fighter jet was grounded for repairs. The report states that the UFO collision occurred over the U.S. Air Force’s Barry Goldwater Range where the military conducts combat exercises, so there should not have been, as the FAA reported, a “orange-white UAS” (uncrewed aerial system) in the area.
DailyMail.com reports that the F-16 Viper collision is just one around two dozen incidents that have occurred in recent years within 100 miles of Luke Air Force Base, where many of the F-16 fighter jets using Barry Goldwater Range launch.
In February of 2024, CBS 5 News in Arizona reported there had been 22 incidents between October 2022 and June 2023 where Air Force fighter pilots reported seeing or colliding with UFOs.
“Maybe somebody was just out there trying to film, get a good shot of an F-16, or doing something they weren’t supposed to. On the other side of the coin, maybe it was a foreign entity or somebody trying to get some info,” said Mike Canada, chair of the unmanned aerial vehicle program at Prescott’s Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Canada, who operated drones in Afghanistan and Iraq during a previous career, added that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a consumer drone to reach the altitudes that were being reported over the Air Force’s Barry Goldwater Range.
More recently, Army veteran Bob Thompson, a man who spent 14 years with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), shared a never-before-seen video last week of a UFO that was spotted in the sky over Arizona.
“I’ve seen orbs that were off in the distance. I’ve seen crafts that were cigar-shaped, I’ve seen triangles,” Thompson said, adding that he had personally spoken to “at least 100” border agents who had witnessed anomalous objects.
“There’s obviously something going on in Arizona along the border areas, more than just illegal immigration,” Thompson stated. “No one likes to talk about it freely. I think it’s just still a taboo subject.”