According to the report, Alitalia pilot Achille Zaghetti, at the helm of a jet from Milan to London’s Heathrow Airport on the evening of 21 April, 1991, thought that a flying object which streaked across his field of vision was a missile.
“At once I said: ‘Look out, look out,’ to my co-pilot, who looked out and saw what I had seen,” Zaghetti wrote in his report. “As soon as the object crossed us, I asked to the ACC (area control centre) operator if he saw something on his screen and he answered, ‘I see an unknown target 10 nautical miles behind you.’”
An investigation later ruled out a missile – but never ruled anything in, either. And as fate would have it, Alitalia which itself is in danger of becoming an unidentified flying object, may stand a better chance of being bailed out by aliens than any earthly beings.