Military Pilot’s Strange Encounter with Rectangular UFO at 30,000 Feet
A former Air Force Thunderbird pilot describes his encounter with a mysterious rectangular object that matched his jet’s speed at high altitude.
The Encounter Above Wyoming

Major Ryan Bodenheimer was flying his F-15 fighter jet at 30,000 feet when something caught his attention in the distance. The experienced pilot, who had served with the elite US Air Force Thunderbirds display team, spotted what appeared to be an unknown object over the Wyoming landscape below.
At first, Bodenheimer thought he was heading toward a collision. The object seemed to be directly in his flight path as he traveled at 400 knots. His ground team also believed the pilot was on a dangerous collision course with whatever was approaching his aircraft.
Then something unexpected happened. Instead of maintaining its original trajectory, the mysterious object changed course and pulled up alongside Bodenheimer’s military jet. It matched his speed perfectly and kept pace with the advanced fighter aircraft.
Description of the Strange Object
The pilot described the object as having a perfect rectangular shape. He estimated it measured somewhere between 30 to 50 feet in height. The edges of the rectangle appeared bright white and seemed to pulse with light. The center portion displayed a cream color, while the very middle appeared completely clear.
Bodenheimer noted several details that made the encounter particularly puzzling. The object had no visible wings, no exhaust system, and no apparent method of propulsion. Despite these missing features, it moved through the air at nearly 400 knots alongside his sophisticated military aircraft.
The pilot emphasized that the object’s ability to fly at such speeds defied basic principles of flight. A rectangular shape should not be capable of maintaining that velocity through the atmosphere without some form of aerodynamic design or visible propulsion system.
Ruling Out Common Explanations
With his extensive flight experience, Bodenheimer systematically considered possible explanations for what he witnessed. He ruled out the possibility that the object was a weather balloon, noting that such balloons do not move at 400 knots or maintain formation with aircraft.
The pilot also dismissed the idea that he had encountered another aircraft. The object lacked wings, engines, or any recognizable features of conventional planes or helicopters. Military drones were also eliminated as a possibility due to the object’s size, shape, and flight characteristics.
Bodenheimer’s military training and years of flight experience allowed him to quickly assess and eliminate these common explanations. His familiarity with various aircraft types and atmospheric phenomena made his observations particularly noteworthy.
The Pilot’s Background and Credibility
Major Ryan Bodenheimer brings significant credibility to his account through his military service record. As a former member of the US Air Force Thunderbirds, he had extensive experience with high-performance aircraft and aerial maneuvers. The Thunderbirds represent some of the most skilled pilots in the Air Force.
After his military service, Bodenheimer became an aviation content creator on social media platforms. His background in both military and civilian aviation provides him with a comprehensive understanding of aircraft capabilities and limitations.
The pilot described his encounter as the most unusual experience of his flying career. Despite witnessing countless aircraft and atmospheric phenomena during his years of service, nothing had prepared him for this particular encounter.
Breaking the Silence Among Military Pilots
Bodenheimer acknowledged that many military pilots have remained silent about similar encounters due to professional concerns. He noted that a stigma has long existed around reporting unidentified aerial phenomena, particularly within military circles.
However, the pilot observed that this stigma appears to be diminishing in recent years. More military personnel seem willing to discuss their encounters with unexplained objects, possibly due to changing attitudes within the military hierarchy and increased public interest in the topic.
The pilot’s willingness to share his experience publicly represents a shift in how military aviation professionals approach these encounters. Rather than keeping such incidents private, some are now choosing to document and discuss them openly.
Similar Military Encounters
Bodenheimer’s account joins a growing collection of similar reports from military aviation personnel. US Navy pilots have previously reported encounters with cube-shaped objects surrounded by clear spherical shapes during training exercises off the East Coast.
Other military pilots have described encounters with large objects resembling oversized Tic Tac candies. These objects reportedly displayed no visible wings or propulsion systems yet demonstrated flight capabilities that exceeded those of the most advanced military aircraft.
The consistency in these reports from trained military observers has drawn attention from both military leadership and civilian researchers. The similar descriptions of objects with unconventional shapes and flight characteristics suggest a pattern of encounters.
Government Response and Secrecy Claims
Recent reports have suggested that some UFO accounts may have been deliberately promoted by military officials to conceal classified weapons development programs. According to these claims, Pentagon officials used UFO stories as cover for secret military technology testing.
During the Cold War, military bases like Area 51 in Nevada reportedly used UFO mythology to disguise testing of experimental stealth aircraft. Officials allegedly encouraged local residents to believe they were witnessing alien technology rather than classified military projects.
These disinformation campaigns supposedly included the distribution of fake UFO photographs and the deliberate spread of extraterrestrial theories. The goal was to direct attention away from actual military aircraft development and testing programs.
Current Military Policy on Aerial Phenomena
The military’s approach to unidentified aerial phenomena has evolved significantly in recent decades. Official policies now encourage the reporting of unusual encounters rather than discouraging such reports through stigma or career concerns.
Military leadership has acknowledged that pilots and other personnel should document encounters with unexplained objects. This represents a major shift from past policies that often discouraged or ignored such reports.
The change in policy reflects growing recognition that unidentified objects in military airspace represent potential security concerns regardless of their origin. Whether these objects represent foreign technology, natural phenomena, or something else entirely, they warrant investigation and documentation.
Technical Challenges of the Encounter
The flight characteristics described by Bodenheimer present significant technical puzzles. A rectangular object maintaining 400 knots at 30,000 feet would face enormous aerodynamic challenges under conventional physics.
The lack of visible propulsion systems makes the object’s speed and maneuverability even more difficult to explain. Conventional aircraft require engines, propellers, or jet systems to generate the thrust necessary for sustained flight at high altitudes and speeds.
The object’s ability to change course and match the F-15’s speed suggests an advanced control system. Military aircraft use sophisticated flight control systems to maintain stability and execute maneuvers, yet this object accomplished similar feats without any visible control surfaces.
Source: Daily Star
NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is not an AI voice.
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