A JET with almost 200 passengers on board had a near miss with a UFO in the skies above Glasgow's East End, it was confirmed today.

Shocked pilots told how they spotted a blue and yellow object pass under the plane as they approached the city's airport.

The incident happened 11 miles east of the airport as the Airbus was flying 3500ft above Baillieston. The stunned A320 pilot told air traffic control: "Er, yeah, we just had something pass underneath us quite close."

But a controller told the pilot: "We've got nothing on, er, radar and we're not talking to any traffic either."

The UK Airprox Board, which probes near misses, revealed the unidentified flying object was first spotted 100m in front of the plane. But it was travelling so fast the pilot and co-pilot could not give a proper description.

Passenger and freight planes are all fitted with transponders which activate traffic collision avoidance systems. However, the UFO failed to activate the system on the Airbus and was not picked up on radar at Glasgow Airport.

But controllers at Prestwick Airport did detect the UFO on their radar screen 28 seconds before the pilot first reported seeing the object when the incident took place in December.

The UK Airprox Board – it's run jointly by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Defence – ruled that the object could not have been another plane, helicopter or "man carrying balloon".

They said it was not a weather balloon and it was "unlikely" to have been a glider, para- motor or hang glider.

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said such incidents were extremely rare and usually occur about twice a year in the skies above the UK.

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk