1977.10.27
Major Francesco Zoppi of the 21st Helicopter Group of the Italian Air Corps and his co-pilot Lieutenant Riccardelli released a statement regarding a sighting confirmed by other witnesses including control tower personnel.
During a normal [helicopter] training flight they had encountered a bright, circular, orange-coloured object pacing the helicopters.
The circle disappeared at an amazing speed quite beyond the capabilities of aircraft of the day.
Other helicopters in flight confirmed the sighting and on the ground several people had been watching it through binoculars.
Radar had detected nothing and the official explanation was that the helicopters had encountered “an aircraft operating out of Sardinia in the course of an ordinary flight mission.”