Sherman R. Frederick Commentary: Where’s George Knapp when you need him?

The nighttime sky in rural Nevada is drop-dead spectacular. No pollution and no big-city lights produce dark skies and a blanket of majestic stars. My bet is most people who live in the great open spaces of Nevada have seen a UFO. Or two. Or more.

Now, I don’t want anyone to confuse me with George Knapp, the longtime Las Vegas TV guy who is 24-7 all about UFOs, but I do love a good UFO story, especially when it is relayed to us by real people. I’m using “real people” here not as a way to deride regular UFO sighters (such as myself), but in a way to say there are people who see things with a trained eye and senses. I tend to believe their “oh, wow, did you see that!) stories above my own. 

Anyway, this story involved the pilot of an American Airlines airbus heading to Phoenix from Cincinnati at over 400 mph. While over New Mexico, his plane was overtaken by a UFO. 

It happened on Sunday, Feb. 21. The plane was flying at 36,000 feet over a remote corner of New Mexico. The pilot radioed to Albuquerque air control with this transmission: 

“Do you have any targets up here? We just had something go right over the top of us. I hate to say this, but it looked like a long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile type of thing, moving really fast right over the top of us.” 

When reporters caught wind of the close call, American Airlines confirmed the encounter and told them to “talk to the FBI” for more information. This is the same FBI that couldn’t find a crime when they caught Anthony Weiner in possession of Hillary Clinton’s top secret information on his wife’s shared laptop. So it came as no surprise when reporters asked the FBI about what in the world caught and overtook a jet liner going 400 mph over the New Mexico desert, the FBI gave it a big shoulder shrug. 

Now, anyone who knows their Western geography can tell you that the White Sands Missile Range is in the area of the sighting. It could have been something from there. But, if it was, it would have been a colossal mistake, since the military ops there are tightly scheduled and cognizant of surrounding aircraft.  

I don’t understand why all this UFO stuff is so shrouded in secrecy. If it was a military screw up, just say it was and move along. Not saying anything, provides fertile ground in which to grow conspiracy theories. What we do know is that something spooked American Airlines pilots that night. 

What was it? Also, where’s George Knapp when you need him?

ONE MORE THING

— As a newspaper columnist for some 50 years, I have finally learned that pleasing everyone is impossible. But pissing off almost everyone remains very doable.

— Getting older is one body part after another saying: “Ha, ha, you think that’s bad? Watch this.”

— California English: No, Yeah = Yes. Yeah, no = No. Yeah, no, for sure” = Definitely.

With that, I’ll pick up my knitting and let myself out. Thanks for reading. Be safe, be kind and mask-up. 

(Sherman R. Frederick is the founder of Battle Born Media, a newspaper company dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/sherm.frederick/. He may be reached at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)