Ex-NASA astronaut probes ‘military link’ after shock near-miss with ‘two metallic orbs flying at 150mph’ at 9,000ft

A NEAR-MISS with two mysterious flying objects has seen a former NASA commander propose a link to the military as he admits not knowing what he saw.

Astronaut Leroy Chiao was flying his private plane back from Colorado after refuelling in Texas when he was nearly taken out by two orb-shaped objects last August.

Chiao who has flown in three Space Shuttle flights and commanded Expedition 10 to the International Space Station told the New York Post how they had “no visible means of propulsion.”

“They came right at me,” he said of the “perfectly smooth” orbs.

“I didn’t see any visible means of propulsion, so I don’t know what it would be,” he said.

“You gotta have a jet engine or a propeller or something.”

Chiao explained that his first thought was that they were part of a “secret military program.”

“But what the hell are they doing flying it where aeroplanes are operating, especially under instrument flight rules?,” he said.

“Why wouldn’t they be in military airspace?”

He further detailed the terrifying ordeal while speaking to The Hill on NewsNation last month.

He said: “I was flying back from Colorado and I just refuelled in the panhandle of Texas in my small aeroplane and I was flying back to Houston,

“Clear air and I was about 9,000 feet and suddenly, out of nowhere, these two big, metallic, spherical orbs, one on top of the other about three feet in diameter each, went zipping by the left side of my aeroplane, right underneath, about twenty feet away.”

Neither of the objects had shown up on his radar and air traffic control did not mention them to the experienced pilot in his Grumman AA5BTiger.

Chiao admitted that with no time to be scared, he was quickly relieved that the orbs did not make contact with his aircraft which he just called “dumb luck.”

“It could’ve been a bad result if they had actually hit me,” he said.

“They were moving about the same speed as I was in the opposite direction. About 100-150 mph,” Chiao told the Post.

He joked that if they had hit him, “no one would have known what happened to me. They probably would attribute it to a bird strike or running into a big turkey buzzard or something.”

The spacewalker repeated his military theory to The Hill but admitted “It’s hard to say.”

“Frankly, I think whoever was operating the drone wasn’t aware that I was there.”

Chiao spoke out about his thoughts regarding the spate of drones seen flying over New Jersey recently, saying it is “hard to believe” the government does not know what is happening.

He called for more transparency saying, “They could tell us what they know.”

“If they really don’t know, that’s a little more disconcerting,” he said of the objects spotted over New Jersey and various sensitive US sites.

Metallic orbs like those seen by Chiao are the most commonly reported sighting logged by US military witnesses, according to the director of the Pentagon‘s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

Dr Sean Kirkpatrick told NASA‘s UFO advisory group last year that these orbs have been seen “all over the world” adding, “we see these making very interesting apparent manoeuvres.”

“In all my years of flying, nobody’s ever saw a UFO or something weird,” Chiao told The Post, later adding, “If I had been looking the other way I wouldn’t have seen ‘em. Wouldn’t have felt anything.”

CHINESE SPY BOTS?

Meanwhile, a top US congressman has claimed that the mystery drones that swarmed over New Jersey are likely spy bots from China.

Michael McCaul said he believes that at least some of the droves are malicious surveillance from the eastern superpower.

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee blasted Joe Biden‘s administration over the lack of information about the unusual activity.

“We want answers but the response I’m getting is – we don’t know what these drones are,” the Republican fumed.

McCaul added that Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator had reports saying that the drones were the size of SUVs flying over “military sites and bases” suggesting they are “adversarial” rather than “friendly.”

McCaul concluded: “I believe they’re spy drones and the PRC [People’s Republic of China] is very good at this stuff.

“We know they bought land around military bases.

“This would be very consistent with their policy over the past couple years.”

“We’re not getting answers and I think it’s because our government does not know who is behind them and that is very disturbing to me,” he added.

China has not publicly commented on the accusations.