A Ryanair jet was climbing after taking off from the Stansted Airport when it encountered a "black" object at a height of 4,000 feet, according to information released by the Essex Police. The plane came within "20 metres" of the unidentified object, the police log further said. The details were released in a Freedom of Information request. The request asked Essex police for a copy of UFO sightings reported over the past five years, and for a copy of the incident summary and where it was reported from.
Describing the 2022 incident, the Essex Police summary said: "Ryanair was climbing out from Stansted Airport and was a height of 4000ft and just over the St Elizabeth Centre the pilot saw an object which describes as 'black'."
"It passed within 20 metres of the aircraft, the plane was travelling at 230mph and the object was travelling from north to south. They have said that it was possibly a drone but the drone monitoring equipment at the airport has not picked it up," the police log further read.
The report also contains three other incidents in which planes were alerted to another "object" over Essex last year.
The Essex Police website also contained incidents reported by other people. One of them from Colchester said, "I would like to report a sighting of an unidentified flying object. The object appeared oval in shape and was a metallic colour with no apparent markings or lights. There were no conventional aircraft characteristics at all."
"The object was travelling east to west just south of my address in a straight line and the altitude was level around 100 feet at all times, as a guess. The object was moving quickly across the sky very smoothly with no deviation in height or direction or without any effects of the weather," the June 5, 2023, report further said.
