The pilot's report stated "UFO appeared in our right hand side ... we were travelling at Mach point 8. It went into our 12 o'clock and accelerated away. Another 2 Tornados saw it".

Further details were reported in the National Enquirer, March 12, 1991, page 50: "Airline pilot in chilling brush with giant UFO", by Fleur Brenham. Has photo of "Veteran pilot, Capt. Mike D'Alton. He's convinced it came from outer space."

"A massive glowing UFO stunned a veteran British Airways pilot and his crew when it shot in front of their Boeing 737 on a night flight from Rome to London - then zoomed out of sight at fantastic speed"

The newspaper quoted the pilot: "This thing was not of this world," declared Capt. Mike D'Alton. "In all my 23 years of flying I've never seen a craft anything like this."

More: "Capt. D'Alton says he's convinced the mysterious craft came from outer space because: It was traveling at tremendous speed, but caused no sonic boom. . . it had a bizarre shape like nothing he'd ever set eyes on . . . and it made a sharp turn while flying at high speeds - an impossible maneuver that would rip any man-made aircraft to bits. Just as incredible, when Capt. D'Alton checked with area air traffic controllers, they hadn't detected a thing! 'There was nothing on the radar screens of any of the control towers it was flying over,' he said."

According to the article, "The encounter began at 6:03 p.m. last November 5 as Capt. D'Alton's airliner was flying over Genoa, Italy. 'The rest of the crew saw it, too,' he said. 'What we saw was one large, fairly bright light. Ahead of it was a formation of three fainter lights in a triangle. Another faint light was behind the large light and was slightly lower.'

D'Alton continued: "The craft was flying level, going much too fast to be a man-made aircraft. I've flown all over the world, and I know this thing wasn't a shooting star, space debris or the northern lights."

Said Bob Parkhouse, the flight's chief steward: "The UFO was moving from left to right across the horizon. It was a sight I'd never seen before!"

"The crew watched the craft for two minutes, said Capt. D'Alton. 'Then it took a lightning-fast right-angle turn and zoomed out of sight.' Other pilots, including a Lufthansa German Airlines captain, reported a UFO sighting around the same time. Capt D'Alton said. 'It had to be something from another planet - because it was definitely not man-made!' "

Still more details from Tim Good's "UFO Report 1992", pp. 136-7.

"5 November 1990: Genoa, Italy/North Sea - British Airways Captain Mike D'Alton reported sighting a UFO during the night flight in a Boeing 737 from Rome to Gatwick, describing it as a silver disc with three faint points of light in arrow formation and a fourth light behind it.

"Captain D'Alton said the object was visible for about 2 minutes over Genoa. 'I've never seen anything like it before and can't explain what it was. My co-pilot and I called in two cabin crew to see it and then it went out of sight. Ground radar couldn't pick it up, so it must have been travelling at phenomenal speed.' (Sunday Telegraph, London/Sunday Mail, Glasgow, 11 November 1990)