Over northern New Jersey on descent toward LaGuardia Airport, United States
Red Disk Passes a US Airways Express Jet (23 November 2003)
An anonymous passenger signing only “J. A.” reported seeing a bright reddish circular object pass a US Airways Express/Chautauqua ERJ-145 during descent toward LaGuardia at about 14:00 on 23 November 2003. He described a rapid pass, apparent climb and jerky motion, but could not reconstruct whether
Why This Case Matters
A corrective case: the title can sound like a pilot/airline encounter, but the surviving evidence is a single anonymous passenger account submitted to a UFO website.
Chronology
- 23 Nov 2003 ~14:00 passenger on Dayton–LaGuardia flight sees red circular object briefly during descent
- witness does not report event to crew/FAA in surviving account
- account submitted to UFO Casebook
- earliest preserved web publication appears in Dec 2003 archive
The Witnesses
Evidence
The following evidence types are documented for this case:
Conventional explanations: Another aircraft seen at unusual aspect, flare, balloon, reflection or misjudged relative motion remain viable; the extremely brief view and moving observer prevent reliable speed/range estimates.
What Remains Unresolved
- Witness identity
- exact flight number and track
- passenger/crew corroboration
- airline/FAA/ATC records
- original submission metadata
- exact sightline and duration.
Key Takeaways
- Do not describe this as a pilot sighting or official near-miss. It is a single passenger report with no recovered corroborating record.
Sources
Primary and secondary sources for this case file: