Calls from the BBC as well as an Irish radio station today and I responded that, with all the recent asteroid and other debris sighted I believe this was a large meteorite breaking up.
Lucia Binding, news reporter,Sky News
UFO investigated in Ireland after multiple aircraft sightings
The Irish Aviation Authority is investigating an unidentified flying object (UFO) after pilots reported seeing one off the coast of Ireland.
Shannon Air Traffic Control received a call from a British Airways pilot flying from Montreal to Heathrow over County Kerry at 6.47am on 9 November.
In an audio clip posted by LiveATC.net, the pilot can be heard asking if there were military exercises taking place within the craft's airspace at the time.
She said the object came up alongside the plane before vanishing at "a very high speed".
"Alongside you?" the Shannon Air Traffic Controller replied.
"It came up on our left-hand-side and then rapidly veered to the north," the BA pilot said.
She said it was "a bright light and then it disappeared at a very high-speed", adding they were "wondering" what it could be - adding that that it did not seem to be on a collision course.
Controllers on the ground said there was "nothing showing on either primary or secondary (radar)".
Two other planes can then be heard reporting the sighting to Shannon Air Traffic Control.
A Virgin Airlines pilot suggested that the it could be an object re-entering the earth's atmosphere after reporting seeing "multiple objects following the same sort of trajectory... very bright from where we were."
Another pilot said the speed of the UFO was "astronomical, it was like Mach 2", or twice the speed of sound.
Despite the term UFO being widely used for extra-terrestrial spacecraft, most UFOs are later identified as conventional objects or phenomena.
The Irish Aviation Authority said they were investigating the incident.
In a statement, an IAA spokesman told Sky News: "Following reports from a small number of aircraft on Friday 9th November of unusual air activity the IAA has filed a report.
"This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process."
updated from BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46181662
UFOs spotted off Irish coast under investigation
GETTY IMAGES
The Irish Aviation Authority is investigating reports of bright lights and UFOs off the south-west coast of Ireland.
It began at 06:47 local time on Friday 9 November when a British Airways pilot contacted Shannon air traffic control.
She wanted to know if there were military exercises in the area because there was something "moving so fast".
The air traffic controller said there were no such exercises.
The pilot, flying from the Canadian city of Montreal to Heathrow, said there was a "very bright light" and the object had come up along the left side of the aircraft before it "rapidly veered to the north".
She was wondering what it could be but said it did not seem to be heading for a collision.
Another pilot from a Virgin plane joined in and suggested it might be a meteor or another object re-entering the earth's atmosphere.
TWITTER
He said there were "multiple objects following the same sort of trajectory" and that they were very bright.
The pilot said he saw "two bright lights" over to the right which climbed away at speed.
One pilot said the speed was "astronomical, it was like Mach 2" - which is twice the speed of sound.
What could it have been?
Apostolos Christou, an astronomer from the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, said what the pilots saw was probably a piece of dust entering the earth's atmosphere at very high speed.
"It was most likely what are commonly called shooting stars," he said.
"It appears the matter was extremely bright so it must have been quite a large piece of material.
"I cannot say from the pilots' description, but it could have been the size of a walnut or an apple."
GETTY IMAGES
The astronomer said November tended to be a very active month for such activity.
"It also appears there were bits coming off the object and flying past the aeroplane, that is also what you would expect if it was a particularly large rock from space hitting the atmosphere, it would tend to fragment."
"Following reports from a small number of aircraft on Friday 9 November of unusual air activity the IAA has filed a report," the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said.
"This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process."
A spokesperson for Shannon Airport said it would not be appropriate for the airport to comment while the IAA investigation is ongoing.
