Case file · Sighting
Taoyuan airport closed by a UFO report
On 22 May 2023 a China Airlines pilot reported an unidentified object over the runways at Taoyuan International Airport, closing it for about 40 minutes.
2023 CE · 25.08, 121.23 · status: unexplained
The account
More than 1,000 passengers were delayed. The airport could not identify the object, seen by only one pilot, and did not rule out a drone.
The sceptical view
A drone is the likely candidate, though none was recorded.
The researched reading
A single pilot report that shut a busy airport for 40 minutes. A drone, of hobby or military origin, is the likely answer.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 40% | A single crew’s report of an object over the runways, with no radar track, is most often a small drone, balloon or bird; Taoyuan has repeated drone intrusions, and airports close as a precaution whatever the object is. |
| Undetermined | 22% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| Secret human technology | 17% | Taiwan faces frequent Chinese drone and balloon probes; a surveillance drone near a major airport is plausible. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 7% | With one observer and no second sensor, an ambiguous glimpse cannot be checked. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 5% | A reflection or light effect seen through the windscreen is possible but less likely for a report of an object over the runway. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 5% | The object stayed unidentified, but the evidence is a single brief report. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 2% | Nothing points to a luminous natural phenomenon. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | A pilot report to ATC is unlikely to be invented. |
Official position: The airport could not identify the object and did not rule out a drone.