On September 17, 2024, a U.S. Air Force pilot known as “Troy 21” experienced a jaw-dropping UFO sighting while flying over Los Angeles, California. This incident, captured in leaked audio and reported by outlets like The Mirror US, Daily Mail, and NewsNation, has reignited curiosity about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Here’s everything we know about this chilling encounter pieced together from credible accounts and firsthand audio.
The event unfolded at 2:30 p.m. PST in broad daylight, with Troy 21 piloting a Beechcraft 350C—a twin-engine surveillance plane modified for Department of Homeland Security missions, likely tracking drug trafficking. Cruising at 20,000 feet in controlled airspace, he spotted a “dark gray cylindrical object,” about the size of a football, passing just 10 feet beneath his right wing. In the audio, obtained by NewsNation’s Banfield, he tells Los Angeles air traffic control, “This is going to sound weird, but I just had something pass underneath my wing. Maybe a football-sized object right under my wing.” The shock in his voice is palpable—a seasoned pilot rattled by something he couldn’t explain.
The Beechcraft 350C isn’t your average plane. Equipped with advanced radar and cameras for surveillance, it’s designed to spot elusive targets. Troy 21 immediately directed his sensor operator to scan for the object, reporting, “I’ve got my sensor operator looking for it on the camera right now.” Minutes later, he noted a radar hit 60 miles away—possibly the same object, though it would’ve had to move at over Mach 2 (1,500 mph) to cover that distance so fast, a point raised by Ben Hansen on UFO Witness. Air traffic control asked if it might be a drone, but Troy 21 couldn’t say; at 20,000 feet, consumer drones don’t cut it, and military ones shouldn’t buzz a manned craft unannounced.
What was this thing? Theories abound. Hansen, a former FBI agent, ruled out drones due to the speed and altitude, suggesting it outpaced anything civilian. A secret U.S. military test—perhaps from nearby Edwards Air Force Base—could fit, but the lack of pilot briefing raises red flags; protocols don’t gamble with near-misses in busy airspace. Foreign tech, like a Chinese or Russian stealth craft, is another long shot without evidence. And then there’s the extraterrestrial angle: a silent, wingless cylinder zipping through LA’s skies fits no known human design, leaving room for wild speculation.
The audio ends oddly. A second controller chimes in, “There was a UFO reported here, but that’s all taken care of now,” brushing it off without elaboration. No official Pentagon statement has dropped, and the Air Force hasn’t commented, consistent with the classified nature of Troy 21’s mission. This silence mirrors the 757 UAP cases logged by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office from May 2023 to June 2024, where 21 remain unexplained. Could this be one of them?
Los Angeles isn’t new to UFO buzz. August 2024 saw residents report lights over Palmdale and Lancaster, some debunked as a Pokémon drone show from Hawaii misattributed online. But Troy 21’s case stands apart—daylight, radar-backed, and from a military source. Posts on X from February 2025 show folks still chewing it over, with some calling it a “smoking gun” and others a “tech demo gone rogue.” Without video or declassified data, we’re left with the pilot’s words and that eerie radar ping.
This sighting echoes the 2017 Navy “tic-tac” encounter—another radar-confirmed, pilot-seen anomaly that went public. Troy 21’s brush might stay under wraps longer, given its Homeland Security tie, but it’s a reminder: even in 2024, our skies hold secrets.
