Navy F/A-18 pilot says four-jet training mission was cancelled over “interlopers”
"Pretty quickly the flight lead's like, "We got to return to base. We're unable to complete this with the interlopers." So, we had to cancel that day's flight, which is a pretty costly evolution uh to get four jets up in that sky to do this. So, we rejoin, we go back, we land, and I remember in the debrief expecting that we're going to talk about this thing that had just happened, and nobody said anything."
About this episode
A US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot referred to as “Lieutenant Gill” recounts two experiences he associates with unidentified aerial phenomena. First, he describes waking in a Virginia Beach house during recovery from an unspecified period away from flying to a bright light outside a second-storey window, which he says appeared like “a massive set of stadium lightings” at eye level. He recalls feeling an unusual sense of calm, returning to bed, and later wondering whether it was a dream.
He then describes seeing internal email traffic while working a ground job at Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic. Gill says senior personnel discussed sightings of unidentified objects in the Whiskey 72 training airspace and that the conversation was shifted to SIPRNet (“Sipper”), which he interpreted as an indication it was being treated seriously.
Gill’s main operational account concerns a four-jet training mission in Whiskey 72. He says his flight detected “interlopers”, that he observed a “spherical object” via radar and FLIR, and that the sortie was cancelled as a result. He adds that the object was not discussed during the debrief, which led him to speculate there could be a related programme outside his clearance.
In later discussion, Gill offers personal beliefs that some UAP involve “alien craft” and recovered technology, and claims—without presenting evidence—that such technologies are being controlled by defence industry actors for profit and to avoid destabilising existing energy and economic systems. The episode ends with a brief request to like and subscribe.
Key takeaways
- Gill describes a late-night bright-light incident at a Virginia Beach house that he later questioned as possibly a dream.
- He says senior Navy personnel circulated emails about sightings in the Whiskey 72 training airspace and moved discussion to SIPRNet.
- Gill says he tracked a distant “spherical object” using radar and FLIR during a training sortie.
- He claims the flight lead aborted the mission due to “interlopers”, forcing four aircraft to return to base.
- Gill says the object was not discussed in the post-flight debrief, which he interpreted as possible classification.
- He states a personal belief that some UAP are alien technology and that recovered craft exist, citing unnamed “reputable people” he has heard.
- He argues, without evidence, that powerful actors suppress such technology to protect economic interests, including oil and gas.