From the desk of Doug Mager, Editor of Bates County Live
Last Thursday evening a large flying object was seen in the skies over Butler but it was not a UFO. In fact, the object was readily identified as a four engine jet that made a turn to the west somewhere in the vicinity of southwest Butler. It then proceeded westward out of sight, flying at a very low "we could count the passenger windows" altitude.
Many who witnessed the event waited for an earth shattering explosion to follow. But fortunately, that never happened.
So, it remains a mystery. After all, we don't see a lot of jets buzzing in and out of Bates County, making this a very unusual occurrence.
Bates County Live made a call to local pilot/instructor/all around guy Leroy Cook. After all, he should know about this, right? Oddly enough he answered our call with a question- "Do you know why that jet was flying low over Butler last Thursday?" in a rather tounge-in-cheek fashion. "You're the news guys, you know all about it, right?" he chuckled.
While Leroy is very well known in the world of piloting and goings on at the Butler airport, the FAA doesn't feel there's a need to notify him about everything that happens in the skies over Bates County...
Being a pilot myself, Leroy confirmed my suspicions that the aircraft probably was performing a 'missed approach' procedure. Since Butler has a VOR (a navigational aid for airplanes) located near Virginia on 52 highway, the missed approach procedure requires a turn for aircraft towards the VOR (West in this case) so the aircraft can get it's bearings for another approach if desired- as may have been the case last Thursday.
Although there is no record that the plane came back to Butler and landed, it is quite possible they were either training or simply decided to go elsewhere.
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