I am a commercial pilot with over 5000 hrs and have never flown at night after this event.Back in June 1998 I saw from a distance six strange lights while night flying over metropolitan Adelaide with a tourist. I was gaining my night flying hours to gain experience for further training .Naturally I contacted ATC approach and told them that I had visual traffic at 12 o’clock same night in Controlled airspace coming towards me.I asked for vectors.The controller replied no other aircraft? I made a few more calls relating to this traffic ,a formation of flying objects orange in colour. Later the controller told me he has asked the guys in the tower at Adelaide airport to have a look.He got back to me with they see nothing? I flew right thru this formation nearly hitting one it was that close.I continued and landed at another airport as planned. I called aviation ATC after landing and they wanted the aircrafts registration..My near miss fell on deaf ears.
Later shocked after dropping of my passenger at her backpacker accommodation.” She was a German tourist” I did not know but experienced the event. I dropped by my parents place.My father looked at me and asked have I seen a ghost? I explained what had just happened and he told me to call this guy..a UFO reporter Collin Norris.I did,Collin said his phone had not stopped ringing from eye witness on the ground of my close encounter. This story attracted media and lots of people heard about what happened to me. So did the ATC guy I was talking to that night.I never reported what happened with him as he came forward months later. He the ATC guy recognised me from the media and we both actually went to the same school and class as kids. He stopped my sister who he knew from church and told my sister to tell Mark that’s me that he did see something on the radar that night but chose not to agree on air. I later met up and even recently and he still openly admits he saw these objects on radar.
I went on to become a commercial pilot,I did intend to go to airlines but I never wanted to fly at night again cos of the shock of nearly having a mid air so I chose Visual flying later seaplanes as a career.I feel if this never happened I’d be nearly a retired airline pilot.However what I saw as scary as it was money can’t buy.
Hope you enjoyed my story..
Mark J Muscat