Unknown over 21-minutes, flight time, north of Phoenix, AZ

The report, as filed

This sighting occurred while onboard Allegiant Flight AAY 552, Phoenix, Arizona, to Bellingham, Washington, Sunday, January 16, 2022. Take off time: 4:45 p.m. MST. Time of sighting: 5:06 p.m. MST. Weather: Daylight. Sunny with partial clouds. Elevation: @ 35,700’. Coordinates at time of sighting: @ 35.4556 Lat / -112.0866 Lon. The sun was setting, but still relatively high, on the port side of the airplane. I was seated starboard, in window seat 7D. My companion was in seat 7E. As we taxied to the runway, I began photographing scenes outside my window for the benefit of my curious three and five year old grandsons back home. I shot a series of photos on the ground and during take off. As we gained altitude, above the partial cloud coverage, I snapped a few shots of the emerging full moon and was captivated to see, upon review of the images, a light phenomenon my eyes did not initially detect. This light, however, was not the UFO sighting. The camera’s eye revealed a beautiful, circular rainbow just below the moon. I had never seen such a mystical wonder so I continued to shoot, hoping for just one exquisite capture. It may be helpful to note here that, according to my camera’s metadata, the series of ten images I have submitted, seven reflecting the UFO, were collectively shot within 60 seconds. This sighting happened fast. As I was photographing the celestial scene, a dark, black streak appeared in the top left corner of the frame. Startled and on reflex, I lowered my camera/phone to look directly at the window fearing it had suddenly cracked. Seeing the streak was not ON the window, but far off in the distant sky, I immediately resumed photographing. The smoking object appeared to be traveling south, parallel to our northbound airplane, at a very high rate of speed. I saw no metal. No flames. No material form of any kind or shape. It was at a distance too great for me to guesstimate. It was descending at approximately a 30-degree angle leaving two thick, black contrails behind. I saw no lights. No fire ball. No other craft, object or smoke elsewhere around it. Only two significant contrails of smoke, with what can only be described as open space between them, hinged at the nose. It all happened so very fast. When the object rotated perpendicular to the ground, I grabbed the arm of my travel companion and said with alarm, “Look at this! I think that’s an airplane going down! Oh, my, God, all those passengers!” We both fixed our eyes on the smoking object while I continued to photograph. Suddenly, the object, which was clearly falling, completed an aerobatic somersault, began to level its altitude, then sharply and suddenly diverted due east and vanished. Completely vanished without a trace of craft or contrails left behind. This falling object ceased to fall, redirected itself, then just simply and literally evaporated. I snapped a few additional after-shots, hoping a shift in our plane’s position and reflective light might capture some last trace of evidence, but nothing appeared on the images. The sky looked as if nothing had been there. My companion and I were quite unsettled and uncertain about what, if anything, to do. I had the thought to ask a flight attendant to take my camera/phone to the pilot to ask for a reasonable explanation but I wasn’t quite able to muster the courage to act on it. As we deboarded and I passed by the cock pit, thanking the attendants, I felt a little nudge to lean in and ask the Captain myself but again, I hesitated. The pilot must have sensed me, because just as I was turning away, he swung around in his seat, acknowledging me with a tilt of his head and a polite wink. I jokingly told my friend, “I think he knows!” Later, I had one final opportunity to speak with the Captain as he passed by my husband and I at baggage claim. But as I quickly reached to open my phone’s gallery and told my husband, (who was as yet unaware of the sighting,) “I have a question I REALLY need to ask that pilot!”, my husband grabbed my arm and stopped me. “Don’t bother that man, honey. He’s had a long day and is probably anxious to get back home or to his hotel room.” So, one more time, I didn’t ask, still have no answers and am now filing this report with you. Per your request for a bit of personal background information, I am a retired Washington State County employee. I served a total of 21 years including eight with the Prosecuting Attorneys Office and twelve as the acting Deputy Clerk for Superior Court’s Domestic Violence and Drug Court divisions. This sighting is not my first, it’s my third, but the first with the photographic evidence to support my claim. Previous sightings were in March, 2021, while vacationing with the same travel companion, on Oahu, Hawaii and in 1974, as a high school senior, in Schenectady, New York. I remember each of these sightings with equal clarity. The images are forever etched into my memory and I’m happy to provide additional information, if it is of value to you. My travel companion, also retired, owned a very successful, paper and packing business with her husband serving multiple Washington State counties. We first met and worked together in Bellingham, Washington, in 1977 and have lived near to one another and remained dear friends since. Additional follow-up: As soon as I returned home, I forwarded the images and a text message to one of my retired Superior Court judges/friend who is also a licensed pilot and retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel. He was perplexed by the images and suggested I contact the UFO Reporting Center. I also personally know the Airport Operations Manager at Bellingham International Airport, who was equally mystified and unable to offer any potential explanation. I am curious and eager to speak to an investigator about this mysterious unknown. Thank you all for the work you are doing to collect UFO data and help expand the Public’s knowledge regarding the unlimited potentials and possibilities within our vast Universe. Flight detail summary: Sunday, January 16, 2022 – Allegiant Flight AAY 522 Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to Bellingham International Airport Departure time: 4:45 MST Sighting time (as noted in image metadata): 4:06 PST / 5:06 actual MST Time discrepancy: For reasons unknown to me, the metadata on the images reflect PST at the time of capture, however, we had not yet entered PST zone when the images were shot. Coordinates at time of sighting: 35.4556 Lat / -112.0866 Lon were found via Flightaware.com tracking. The object in question aappears to us to be another high-altitude jet with a thick contrail trailing behind it. PD

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #166445). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.