Most Surreal Experience

[noblades]

Ppruners,

i notice a lot of "Best flight" etc posts. But I'm sure there are probably a complete series of "Twilight Zone" experiences too. So my question to the more experienced and lesser is what is "The" most bizarre, surreal or otherwise unquantifiable experience in or around a rotorcraft??

just curious,

NB

[Gray 14]

Lucky!

Intermeshed blades while in tight formation. UH-1s Tam Ky 1970. I was still PP so no punishment came my way but an interesting ride down from 500'.

All came out OK.

Later,

[MightyGem]

Yes, I remember reading about that in Chickenhawk.

[jayteeto]

I was flying a night sortie with an arab CFS student at Chetwynd, near Shawbury. The conditions were perfect and he was doing really well coping with me as an 'argumentative student'. I was really enjoying myself as I turned downwind in the circuit.......... the screen then filled up with a flying 'object', when I say close, I mean close, my student screamed!! I turned and bunted and the shape flew away, no lights, no obvious markings. I called Airmiss on the ATC frequency and flew back to Shawbury.
The incident was very thouroughly investigated, ATC radar tapes from Shawbury and Clee Hill were seized. We stood out on the tapes, as did the other CFS night flyers. A Tornado flew near Clee Hill at the time, nothing else in the area whatsoever. They even suggested that the Tornado 25 miles away might have seemed closer than we thought!! This object was no more than 20 yards away, I actually believe we overlapped at the nearest point. So, twilight zone..... What was it??