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Unidentified flying object investigated by the Irish Aviation Authority

A pilot reported seeing an object with bright lights come up on her left hand side before veering off on Friday.
Image: A British Airways aircraft landing at Dublin Airport
A British Airways aircraft landing at Dublin Airport.Brian Lawless / PA Wire/AP file

The Irish Aviation Authority is investigating reports of "unusual air activity" after several reports of unidentified flying objects.

On Friday, a pilot reported seeing bright lights near the British Airways plane she was flying from Montreal to London, according to a recording of the exchange on flight enthusiast website Airlive. The pilot radioed air traffic control in Shannon, Ireland, initially asking about military exercises in the area.

Air traffic control responded saying there were no military exercises happening in the area of her Boeing 787.

"It came up on our left hand side and rapidly veered north," the pilot said, adding that the object had "bright lights" on it and then disappeared. The pilot told air traffic control that she didn't believe the object would collide with her plane but wanted to know what she had seen. She described the object as moving "so fast."

A person responded saying that it could be a "meteor or another object making some kind of reentry."

In a statement to NBC News, the IAA said that it was investigating the reports.

"Following reports from a small number of aircraft on Friday 9th November of unusual air activity the IAA has filed a report. This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrence investigation process," the statement read.

On the recording, a second pilot also said he saw the object. The pilot, flying a Virgin Airlines flight from Orlando, Florida, to Manchester, England, said that he saw the lights, too.

"Two bright lights over at 11 o'clock seemed to bank over to the right and then fly away," another pilot added.