Working as a commercial pilot involves immense responsibility, blending the thrill of aviation with the constant pressure of ensuring passenger and crew safety. Beyond navigating from departure to destination, pilots must maintain unwavering vigilance throughout every flight.
Captain Steve's Social Media Revelations
Captain Steve, an experienced pilot with American Airlines, has cultivated a significant online following through his engaging Q&A sessions on social media. With over 426,000 followers on TikTok, he regularly fields questions from aviation enthusiasts and curious travellers alike.
During a recent interactive segment, one follower posed an intriguing question about unexplained aerial sightings, asking: "Have you ever seen anything weird or unexplained while flying?"
Addressing the UFO Question
Captain Steve responded candidly, acknowledging that while he hasn't witnessed traditional UFOs, he has observed unusual atmospheric phenomena. "Sometimes weather formations are a little weird," he explained, before directly addressing the underlying curiosity about extraterrestrial encounters.
"Not in the traditional sense of a UFO," Steve clarified, "every once in a while you'll be flying and something will go right by you fast and usually it's like a balloon, like there was a kid's parade and there's a helium balloon that goes by."
The Truly Disturbing Sight
The pilot's response took a more serious turn when he revealed what he considers genuinely concerning. "I've seen drones go by before. That's disturbing," Steve stated, highlighting the growing aviation safety concern posed by unmanned aerial vehicles operating near commercial aircraft.
He further described another unusual visual phenomenon encountered during flights through Canadian maritime regions. "There's a lot of those satellites and sometimes the sun hits them just right and they all kind of light up. And that looks weird," Steve explained, noting how orbital reflections can create deceptive visual effects for pilots.
"All those satellites up and sometimes they come and go, depending on how the sun's hitting them. And again, it might be black at night where you are but the sun is hitting them from all over here and can't see the sun now. And it causes them to light up and not light up. So sometimes it can look they're moving around but they're not. They're actually stationary and yeah that's kind of a little weird."
The Science Behind St. Elmo's Fire
Captain Steve identified St. Elmo's fire as perhaps the most scientifically fascinating phenomenon he's witnessed. This atmospheric electrical display manifests as a glowing plasma discharge on aircraft surfaces during thunderstorms.
"St. Elmo's fire is static electricity on the windscreen of your airplane and when you're going through certain weather conditions, it'll start to crackle and you'll hear it, and it looks like mad science," the pilot described vividly.
He elaborated on the auditory experience accompanying the visual spectacle. "It's like that across your screen and it'll crack so loud sometimes it'll get your attention, but it doesn't do anything to the windscreen."
This natural phenomenon occurs when intense electric fields ionise air molecules around aircraft extremities, creating harmless but dramatic light displays that have fascinated aviators and mariners for centuries.
Captain Steve's insights provide a rare glimpse into the visual challenges and atmospheric wonders commercial pilots regularly encounter, balancing scientific explanation with practical aviation experience while addressing public fascination with aerial mysteries.
