Most people board a plane hoping for a quiet trip where everything runs on schedule and the only surprise is an extra cookie. From the cabin, flying can feel mysterious because passengers rarely see what the crew sees beyond the windshield. That curiosity is exactly why one pilot decided to answer the questions people constantly ask about what it is really like in the cockpit. In the process, he shared a few moments that viewers found equal parts fascinating and unsettling.
The pilot is known online as Captain Steve, and he hosted a question and answer session on social media after noticing how many myths surround his job. He addressed everything from how pilots manage long flights to what they look for when weather turns ugly. What grabbed the most attention, though, was when he started describing the oddest sights he has encountered while flying. He made it clear that “weird” does not automatically mean supernatural, even if that is what some people secretly want.
One viewer asked him directly, “Have you ever seen anything weird or unexplainable while flying?” Steve said he could tell where the question was headed, and he admitted he has seen what people might label a UFO. He quickly added that it was not in the way most people imagine. Instead of leaning into sci fi stories, he steered the conversation toward realistic explanations pilots deal with all the time.
As he put it, “Well, yeah, kind of. Sometimes weather formations are a little weird.” He explained that people often mean the classic “Have you ever seen a UFO?” and his answer is complicated. “Not in the traditional sense of a UFO,” he said, describing moments when something “will zip by you,” and it is usually something ordinary. One of his most common examples was a balloon drifting far higher than you might expect, like “a helium balloon” that ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Then he mentioned something far more troubling for anyone who cares about aviation safety. “I’ve seen drones go by. That’s unsettling,” he said. A small drone might look harmless from the ground, but at cruising speeds even a minor impact can be a serious hazard. Pilots train for bird strikes and other unexpected encounters, yet drones introduce a new kind of risk because they are man made and often flown where they should not be.
Steve also talked about strange lights in the sky that can confuse even experienced travelers staring out a window at night. He said he has “often seen ‘weird’ lights” and believes many of them are caused by satellites. The effect can be especially noticeable on certain routes, including flights over Canada. That is where he says the sky can put on a show that looks eerie until you remember what is really happening above the atmosphere.
He described it like this: “Also, when you’re flying through Canada, there are a lot of those satellites and sometimes the sun hits them just right and they all kind of light up.” He added, “And that looks weird,” especially because you might be flying in darkness while sunlight is still striking objects overhead. “And again, at night it can be dark where you are, but the sun is shining on them from everywhere even though you can’t see the sun,” he explained. In those moments, the lights can seem to shift, even if the objects themselves are steady.
Stories like Steve’s highlight a simple truth about flying that many passengers forget. A commercial jet typically cruises around 35,000 feet, and from that height the world behaves differently than it does on the ground. Weather systems can stack into unfamiliar shapes, distant storms can flash silently on the horizon, and reflections can turn a tiny point of light into something that looks like it is moving. Your brain wants a neat narrative, so it is easy to jump to conclusions when you do not have the context pilots build over thousands of hours.
@captainsteeeve Ask The Captain – Have you ever seen anything weird while flying? #foryoupage #travel #pilot #aviation #fyp ♬ original sound – CaptainSteeeve
The drone issue is also a reminder that modern aviation is not only about engines and runways. It is increasingly about airspace management, responsibility, and technology that is now cheap enough for almost anyone to buy. Even when a drone operator thinks they are far from an airport, a high climbing device can still end up where planes travel. That is why pilots react strongly to sightings, and why so many aviation authorities emphasize strict rules around where drones can be flown.
For readers who want a bit of background beyond the viral story, it helps to know how pilots actually identify objects in flight. They rely on instruments, communication with air traffic control, and constant scanning for traffic and hazards, even when autopilot is doing routine work. Satellites can create bright glints when their surfaces reflect sunlight, and those reflections can appear dramatic against a dark sky. Weather can also produce optical effects, including unusual cloud shapes and layers that look almost solid from above.
There is also the term UFO itself, which sounds loaded but is often just a placeholder. It simply means an unidentified flying object in the moment, not proof of aliens. In many cases, what is unidentified at first becomes identified later as a balloon, a drone, an aircraft at an odd angle, or a satellite flare. Captain Steve’s point was not to dismiss people’s curiosity, but to show how often the cockpit view has a practical explanation that still feels incredible when you are up in the thin air.
What do you think is the most unsettling thing a pilot could spot outside the cockpit during a routine flight, and what would you want them to tell passengers about it in the comments?
