British Airways Pilots Report 50FT Near-Miss With Mysterious Object 'Size of Four Toasters' Over Surrey

A British Airways Boeing 777 passenger airliner narrowly avoided a high-speed collision with an unidentified metallic object over Surrey, according to the UK Airprox Board findings published on 16 September.

The object was described by the flight crew as shiny and silver, about the size of four toasters, passing rapidly in the opposite direction and tracking at an estimated altitude of 50 feet above the right wing before disappearing from sight.

Radar data from air traffic control could not confirm the object; NATS Safety Investigations found no matching radar contact, leaving investigators without electronic confirmation of the object's identity or origin.

The encounter was classified as Category A by the Board, the highest risk category, indicating that chance played a major part in averting disaster, though no collision occurred and no definite identity for the object was established.

At the time, the aircraft was climbing through 5,800 feet approximately four nautical miles northeast of Guildford, and the crew did not have to take evasive action; the flight continued to its planned destination.

The Board noted that this was the sole Category A case among 13 drone, balloon, model aircraft, and unidentified object reports reviewed in September, highlighting concerns about untraced airborne hazards in southern England’s crowded skies.