Narrative:

I was receiving VFR advisories from new york approach during a VFR flight. Routine timely traffic calls were provided by ATC during flight through the various approach sectors. Tis was effectively displaying traffic alerts on the GNS530W. I noticed a dark shape slightly right of the nose at the same altitude. It had no bearing rate and I initially took it for commercial traffic. The object developed a slight bearing shift to the right and appeared oddly shaped. I determined that it was not very large and was much closer than I originally thought.it passed my right side at exactly 14;500 ft and I got a very good look at it. It did not look at all like a conventional aircraft and I could not see a propeller. I reported it to ATC as a possible uav. My first impression was that it was on the order of an 8-10 ft wing span and the color scheme seemed like that of a toy. As it passed; it appeared to be at a significant angle of bank toward me. On further reflection; the object could well have been some sort of a balloon that was simply oriented in a way that appeared like an aircraft in a bank. From initial sighting until the object passed was on the order of 30 seconds.ATC did not call this traffic and no tis indication was displayed. I found it odd that some toy-like object could be encountered at 14;500 ft. Visibility at altitude was unrestricted as the relative sun angle afforded excellent illumination of the object. In addition to my private flying; I have many hours as a naval flight officer in P-3 aircraft and numerous flight test vehicles.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA28 pilot reported a close encounter with an object at 14;500 FT MSL. It was odd shaped and did not appear to be powered.

Narrative: I was receiving VFR advisories from New York Approach during a VFR flight. Routine timely traffic calls were provided by ATC during flight through the various Approach sectors. TIS was effectively displaying traffic alerts on the GNS530W. I noticed a dark shape slightly right of the nose at the same altitude. It had no bearing rate and I initially took it for commercial traffic. The object developed a slight bearing shift to the right and appeared oddly shaped. I determined that it was not very large and was much closer than I originally thought.It passed my right side at exactly 14;500 FT and I got a very good look at it. It did not look at all like a conventional aircraft and I could not see a propeller. I reported it to ATC as a possible UAV. My first impression was that it was on the order of an 8-10 FT wing span and the color scheme seemed like that of a toy. As it passed; it appeared to be at a significant angle of bank toward me. On further reflection; the object could well have been some sort of a balloon that was simply oriented in a way that appeared like an aircraft in a bank. From initial sighting until the object passed was on the order of 30 seconds.ATC did not call this traffic and no TIS indication was displayed. I found it odd that some toy-like object could be encountered at 14;500 FT. Visibility at altitude was unrestricted as the relative sun angle afforded excellent illumination of the object. In addition to my private flying; I have many hours as a Naval Flight Officer in P-3 aircraft and numerous flight test vehicles.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.