U-2 Aircraft Mistaken for UFO

High-altitude U-2 reconnaissance flights conducted at altitudes above 60,000 feet led to widespread UFO reports when the aircraft's silver wings reflected sunlight, appearing as anomalous objects to pilots flying commercial airliners at lower altitudes.

“High-altitude testing of the U-2 soon led to an unexpected side effect—a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). In the mid-1950s, most commercial airliners flew at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet and military aircraft like the B-47s and B-57s operated at altitudes below 40,000 feet. Consequently, once U-2s started flying at altitudes above 60,000 feet, air-traffic controllers began receiving increasing numbers of UFO reports.”

Verbatim from CIA-UAP-003.pdf · View original on war.gov