Ex-NASA commander recounts eerie near-collision with mysterious ‘metallic’ orbs while piloting private plane

A former NASA commander has revealed that while piloting his private plane in Texas last summer he nearly had a collision with two mysterious “metallic, spherical orbs.”

Astronaut Leroy Chiao, who flew in three Space Shuttle flights and was the commander on the Expedition 10, discussed the aerial encounter with two unidentified flying objects in an interview with NewsNation last week.

Dr. Leroy Chiao claims to have spotted two metallic orbs while flying a private plane from Colorado
to Houston, Texas. cdrleroychiao/Instagram

“That was in August, I was flying back from Colorado and I just refueled in the panhandle of Texas in my small airplane and I was flying back to Houston,” Chiao told The Hill on NewsNation, adding, “Clear air and I was about 9,000 feet.”

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“And suddenly, out of nowhere, these two big, metallic, spherical orbs, one on top of the other about three-feet in diameter each, went zipping by the left side of my airplane, right underneath, about twenty feet away,” Chiao recalled.

A depiction of metallic orbs provided by NASA as part of a 2023 UAP report. NASA

“I got a good look at ‘em, only for a second, it happened so quick there wasn’t even a chance to get scared, but it could’ve been a bad result if they had actually hit me,” Chiao said of the “orbs” that he nearly collided with.

Chiao explained that the two orbs did not appear on his plane’s radar nor were their presence communicated to him by air traffic control.

“I don’t know what it was. My first guess is that it’s some kind of military program, a drone of some kind, but, it’s hard to say, right?,” Chiao said.

Chiao said he felt it was simple “dumb luck” that the orbs did not collide with his plane.

Dr. Leroy Chiao has flown in three Space Shuttle missions and lived aboard the International Space
Station for six months. cdrleroychiao/Instagram

He also opined about the drone phenomenon in New Jersey, saying it was “hard to believe” the government doesn’t know what’s going on in the Garden State.

Reports of drones, some exhibiting high-performance capacities, started on Nov. 18th in New Jersey, spreading across the state, and to Staten Island in the following weeks.

Last month, local news aired chopper footage that incidentally recorded a mysterious orb-like object screaming over the Hudson River, possibly coming from the direction of New Jersey.

And last year, the Pentagon released radar footage of an apparent orb moving through military controlled airspace, claiming they could not identify the object.