While soaring thousands of feet above Rhode Island, a private jet pilot stumbled upon a chilling mystery, adding to a series of puzzling aerial encounters that have left both experts and the public scratching their heads.

Newly resurfaced video shared on YouTube in October by the VASAviation channel reveals the head-scratching moment the pilot radioed to the ground team at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport regarding a mysterious small, silver cylinder hovering near the wing of his aircraft, telling Air Traffic Control (ATC), “It appears to be standing still.” 

“We just passed by something peculiar,” the pilot reported to air traffic control (ATC) in a recording. “It looked like a small silver canister. Any idea what that might be?”

According to a recording shared by VASAviation, the pilot was flying at around 3,500 feet when he spotted a mysterious silver, cylindrical object hovering near his aircraft.

ATC responded by indicating that there had been no other sightings of an object in the vicinity and inquired whether it could have been a drone or a balloon.

“There was nothing attached to it,” the pilot replied. “It was just hovering there, and it was astonishing. I have no clue what it could have been.”

The object was reportedly seen floating near the right wing tip of the Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II at an altitude of 3,500 feet, before flying alongside the aircraft and later disappearing from view. 

ATC can be heard wishing the pilot, “Good luck with the aliens,” in the recording, shared by VASAviation. (iStock)

“Creepy,” the ground team can be heard saying on the radio, with ATC joking, “Good luck with the aliens.”

Other pilots quickly took to the radio to join in on the mystery, as one added, “I want to believe him.” 

One potential explanation for the mysterious object could be that it is a weather balloon, which can often carry cylindrical payloads and hover at high altitudes, according to the Daily Mail. (iStock)

“The FAA documents UAP sightings whenever a pilot reports one to an air traffic control facility,” the FAA said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “If supporting information such as radar data corroborates the report, the FAA shares it with the UAP Task Force.” 

“Multiple U.S. government agencies have individual programs or processes to study and document UAP. However, the agencies also work collaboratively on the topic.”