In two separate incidents, a total of 13 aircraft from radar across Austria and its neighboring countries in what the nation’s flight safety monitor calls an “unprecedented” incident.
According to Marcus Pohanka of Austria’s flight safety organization Austro Control, the two incidents occurred on June 5 and June 10 and were each 25 minutes in length. In each case, multiple flights completely disappeared from air traffic control screens. Monitors in Germany and the Czech Republic both reported similar incidents.
The planes, believed to be passenger craft, were not entirely lost. They remained in radio contact, and air traffic control was done by voice alone. Pohanka says the planes were never in any danger, and extra controllers were immediately brought in to assist in establishing radio contact and plotting new flight corridors. “Voice communication guaranteed that we knew everything about the planes in Austrian air space and allowed air traffic controllers to do their jobs,” he .
Although experts have said that the problem was probably an issue of interference between the aircraft and transponders on the ground, the mysterious similarities between the two incidents will likely fuel speculation of the extraterrestrial variety. In other words, they’re not saying it’s aliens.