Pilots Swerve After Mysterious White Object Nears Plane Over Hawaii

A strange white shape suddenly appeared and forced pilots to swerve midair after popping through the clouds over Hawaii. Passengers on a Mokulele Airlines flight from Molokai to Maui were left panicking when the object nearly caused a collision as the plane exited a cloud bank on July 9. Tami Dixon, who lives in Molokai, described the terrifying moment with one blunt phrase: Literally scared the hell out of me. She watched both pilots look at each other before they sharply veered to the right to avoid disaster.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board could not confirm that another plane or craft was actually in the area at that time. Yet Dixon suspected the mysterious object might be a drone, even though experts say drones should never get that close if everyone follows US air safety rules. This incident arrived just one day before the Pentagon released a new batch of declassified UFO files. Those documents included video evidence of another strange white object nearly colliding with a US military aircraft at extreme speed.

Hawaii might not be the biggest hotbed for UFO activity, but nine other sightings have already been submitted to the National UFO Reporting Center this year alone. The US government has maintained for decades that there is no physical proof UFOs or alien life exist. However, public disclosure of once-classified sightings has now revealed many similar incidents to the one reported between Molokai and Maui this month. A Mokulele Airlines flight similar to the plane that swerved avoids an unidentified flying object over Hawaii.

Timo Sullivan of Aloha Aina Drones weighed in after the incident occurred. He stated that if the UFO was indeed a drone, it would have had its own flight lane over Hawaii, making a collision unlikely. The FAA establishes very clear guidelines of where aircraft can fly. These rules are meant to keep skies safe for everyone involved. Why take such risks when protocols exist to prevent near misses?

It works much like driving on a highway where each vehicle sticks to its own lane, said Sullivan speaking to Hawaii News Now. He insisted that cars or aircraft should never touch another car's lane and that one plane must never enter the path of another. Dixon added his own take by saying the mystery object did not look like a bird and was far too small to be another plane in the Mokulele Airlines' way. The passenger, who said he was heading for eye surgery, reported that the small commuter jet had been flying through thick clouds which cut visibility right down to zero. Once the aircraft climbed out of those clouds, Dixon claims the UFO suddenly popped into view and both pilots saw it before taking action to dodge a crash. A spokesperson for Mokulele Airlines told the Daily Mail they have no record of any near-miss involving one of their planes that day.

Meanwhile, the fourth batch of UFO files released on July 10 showed a similar encounter over the eastern United States back in 2015. Like many military videos put out before it, cameras caught a small object moving at missile speed or jet aircraft speed or even faster than human technology can achieve right now. In Hawaii, NUFORC stands as an independent website where everyday folks report and read about UFO sightings from around the globe. Since 1960, they have logged over 700 incidents made public. These range from Americans spotting strange lights in the sky to objects described as orbs, triangles, diamonds and rectangles hovering above the islands. The son of music star Willie Nelson revealed last year that he has had multiple encounters with UFOs while visiting the state. Singer and songwriter Lukas Nelson told the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in July 2025 that he and several other people watched as orb-shaped UFOs streaked over Hawaii in 2006. The group watched an orange orb float less than 200 yards over Maui, which seemed to be watching the onlookers below. Then I swear it seemed like as soon enough people saw it, it went whoosh. And then it went whoosh again. It moved like nothing else I thought possible at the time, said the performer. It flew out of the atmosphere and was crazy fast compared to any drone.