Sighting in Gatwick, May 21, 2011

A passenger on board an airliner saw something they could not explain. The aircraft was passing through an area of turbulence, under a clear blue sky with a layer of cloud below. The witness then noticed a broad brown streak, horizontal and running parallel to the plane. Below the wing, they saw a white sphere that appeared about the size of a one-cent coin held at arm's length. They took photographs. The observation lasted about fifteen minutes, between 7:55 and 8:10 pm.

According to the investigation, the streak was the shadow of the aircraft's own trail cast onto the cloud layer. The bright sphere was an atmospheric optical phenomenon similar to the Brocken spectre: light is scattered back by droplets of haze toward an observer positioned in the direction of the sun. The vibrations the witnesses felt were considered unrelated to this phenomenon. The sphere most likely vanished because the cloud layer came to an end. The case was classified B, probably identified.