re: That is a good and rational post, except for
the part where you say:
Pilots are qualified, but they have been known to chase planets, maneuver violently to avoid cockpit reflections, and otherwise react incorrectly when disoriented or under unusual circumstances. They also spend most of their time managing the aircraft and its systems and instruments, not staring out the windows and studying the sky. Very often their night vision is compromised by the cockpit displays and lights. We all make mistakes when we're excited. When you add confusion and disorientation to unusual circumstances and conditions, even the most prosaic phenomena can appear exceptional.
In this type of a situation you are totally dismissing the "unusual."
I would give the pilot the benefit of doubt and investigate the reports thoroughly, such as conducting an experiment that would give others the chance to see what the pilot saw, after all it does not give much confidence to the aircraft industry if "lunatics" (word borrowed from another thread) are allowed to pilot planes.
You said:
I would love to have you prove me wrong, but so far you haven't even come close.
That is true, I do not have "concrete evidence" that would convince you or someone like you of the existence of extraterrestrials, and even if I had pictures, affidavits, or some other such "evidence," you would not believe that they are "genuine."
I suppose if you understood the "physics" of the operation of a saucer shaped airplane, then perhaps that would alleviate your fear of the subject.