On the August 1 broadcast of SBS's "Unanswered Questions," the program tracked an unidentified flying object that appeared at Gimhae Airport last May.
On May 19, a flight departing from Nagoya, Japan, and scheduled to arrive at Busan's Gimhae Airport around 9:30 p.m. suddenly diverted to Incheon International Airport.
The passenger plane headed to Incheon Airport after an incomprehensible commotion, during which takeoffs and landings were completely banned at Gimhae Airport and the runway was closed.
Without an accurate explanation for the sudden diversion, passengers took as long as 10 hours to reach a destination that usually takes just an hour and a half.
An informant, who was serving in a military unit inside the airport at the time, said he witnessed strange lights passing over the living quarters. Three green lights were moving in formation at a height equivalent to about the 10th floor of an apartment building.
Gimhae Airport is a no-fly zone for aviation security and also houses the Air Force, making it a highly security-sensitive area.
Accordingly, the Air Force and police conducted a search for the object. However, they were ultimately unable to identify the unknown flying object and closed the case, calling it an incident where lights were mistaken for an aircraft.
However, another informant played an internal military radio recording from the time, revealing that even command units were mobilized to chase the aircraft. Yet, after moving unpredictably for about two hours, the object disappeared, and its identity was never determined.
Last May, U.S. President Trump released videos of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) collected by the United States from around the world over the past 80 years. Amid growing interest in unidentified flying objects, what on earth was the identity of the aircraft spotted at Gimhae Airport?
Experts said that other objects similar to those seen at Gimhae Airport were communication satellites. However, they agreed that what appeared at Gimhae Airport was different and difficult to identify.
A drone expert raised the possibility that it was a drone, but also pointed out aspects that are hard to explain under the assumption of a drone, stating, "However, if it flew for about two hours, it would have been possible to identify it as a drone."
The broadcast drew attention to a 2023 interview in which Dr. Steven Greer, a prominent figure in the field of UFOs, stated, "After a giant UFO crashed, a building was built on top of it, and that place is South Korea."
And the building he pointed to was the Anyang Aviation Radio Beacon Station. The production team personally visited the Anyang Aviation Radio Beacon Station to investigate. However, contrary to various rumors, there was nothing unusual. They could only confirm that the site was formerly home to a U.S. military base and was built by the U.S. military. As a result, the voltage system is also based on American standards.
The production team requested an interview with Dr. Greer regarding these details, but was ultimately declined.
A video expert stated that the released UAP videos generally have very low resolution and are mostly infrared or thermal camera footage, which naturally makes them seem bizarre. He added that this makes it difficult to identify the aircraft from the footage. However, he noted that most of the objects captured in the videos are presumed to be weather balloons or distorted lights from conventional aircraft.
Following the UAP Tic Tac incident and the enactment of UFO disclosure legislation in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the U.S., global interest in UAP has been rising. An expert pointed out the need for attention toward various unmanned aerial vehicles, stating, "Because we place so much emphasis solely on the threat from North Korea, we lack the will or attention to respond to unknown or unidentified threats. Countries around the world are already paying attention to non-military threats and broader security risks."
He also drew attention by emphasizing, "Rather than dismissing various unmanned aerial vehicles as mere curiosities, a shift in perception is needed to recognize that they can pose a serious threat to national security."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Hyo-jung)