pentagon tour guides

Pentagon Tours: Reservations, Parking, and Visiting Tips

The Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, is one of the world's largest office buildings with about 6,500,000 sq ft. providing office space and amenities for more than 23,000 employees, both military and civilian. The building has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and a total of 17.5 miles of corridors. Guided tours are given by military personnel and are available by reservation only. Pentagon tours last for approximately one hour and provide an overview of the mission of the Department of Defense and the four branches of the military: Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps.

The outdoor Pentagon Memorial that commemorates the 9/11 attacks is open to the public with no reservations required. It is not included in the guided tour.

Arranging a Tour

To take a guided tour of the Pentagon, you must make a reservation in advance . Tours are conducted Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 3 pm and Fridays between 12 pm and 4 pm. Reservations must be booked from 14 to 90 days in advance. U.S. citizens can reserve a tour online, but foreign residents must contact their embassy to reserve a tour. All visitors must pass through a security scanning device and no photography will be allowed on the tour. You must arrive at least 15 minutes before your scheduled tour and bring along your confirmed reservation letter and photo identification.

Getting to the Pentagon

The Pentagon is located off of I-395 on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. The best way to get to the Pentagon is by Metrorail and the Visitor Center is located next to the Pentagon Metro Station.

There is no public parking at the Pentagon, but visitors may park at the Pentagon City Mall and walk to the entrance through a pedestrian tunnel. If you are not familiar with the area, it can be confusing, so be sure to leave plenty of time to find your way to the Visitor Center.

The tunnel is located across the street from Macy’s on the far side of the Reserved Parking Lot. Once through the tunnel, walk to the right until you see signs for the Metro Station and the Visitor Center. (When leaving, note that the tunnel is at the far end of parking Lane 7).

Major Points of Interest on the Pentagon Tour

The Pentagon is a building with a long and significant history with many points of interest you won't find anywhere else in Washington DC.

• The Hall of Heroes: includes the names of all the recipients of the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.
• Overlord Embroidery: 34 tapestries created by Sandra Lawrence depict the story of the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
• Faces of the Fallen Memorial: an exhibit features individual portraits in honor of the service men and women killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• POW-MIA Corridor: the exhibit recognizes United States military personnel taken as prisoners of war (POWs) or listed as missing in action (MIA).
• Soldiers and Signers of the Constitution Corridor: numerous paintings in this corridor commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and portray the founding fathers of our nation.
• 9/11 Memorial and Chapel: commemorates those killed in the terrorist attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The indoor memorial displays the names of the 184 victims. The chapel provides space for prayer and remembrance.
• 9/11 Memorial Quilts: project initiated by Jeannie Ammermann to honor those killed on September 11, 2001 evolved into a multi-quilt project that drew volunteer quilters from all parts of the U.S.
• Pentagon Center Courtyard: 5.5 acres of outdoor space in the interior of the building includes food concessions and casual seating areas.

Visiting Tips

As you get ready for your tour, here are some tips to make sure the experience goes as smoothly as possible and you get the most out of it.

• Although, the Pentagon recommends you arrive 15 minutes before your tour, plan to arrive 30 minutes early to allow time to go through security.
• The best time to take the tour is mid-day when transportation to the Pentagon is less congested.
• The tour includes walking a distance of about one and a half miles through the Pentagon corridors and staircases, so wear comfortable clothing and shoes.
• Be sure to visit the Pentagon Memorial after your guided tour of the Pentagon. It won't be included in your tour.
• Enjoy a casual lunch at the Pentagon City Mall before or after your tour. The mall has one of the nicest food courts in the area and more than 170 specialty shops.

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Can I Tour the Pentagon?

The pentagon memorial is open to all visitors, and public tours inside the pentagon are available to us citizens with advance reservation..

Yes, but public tours inside the Pentagon are available to US citizens only with advance reservations. The Pentagon Memorial is open to all visitors.

How to tour the Pentagon

The Pentagon, located just outside Washington, DC in Arlington, Va., is the headquarters for the United States Department of Defense. It is open for official tours through the  Pentagon Tours program .

Pentagon tours must be reserved at least 14 days in advance and no more than 90 days in advance. Tours are conducted Tuesdays and Thursdays (excluding federal holidays) at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tours fill up quickly and it is highly recommended that you book well in advance of your visit. You can make a tour request online . International visitors must request a tour through their home country’s embassy.

Individuals who have a Pentagon badge and escort privileges are permitted to give a self-guided tours to friends or family. If you are assigned to the Pentagon or if you are visiting a Pentagon staff member, contact the Pentagon Force Protection Agency at (703) 697-1001 to determine escort status.

Nighttime at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Virginia

Touring the Pentagon

Tours are 60 minutes and cover about 1.5 miles inside the Pentagon, which is one of the largest office buildings in the world. Tours include the history of the four branches of the military and the opportunity to see the indoor memorial near the Sept. 11 crash site and the Sept. 11 Memorial chapel, as well as the Hall of Heroes (featuring the names of all the Medal of Honor recipients) and a number of other military displays.

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Parking, security and accessibility

There is no public parking at The Pentagon. The Pentagon can be reached via its own dedicated Metro stop on the Blue and Yellow lines or you may choose to park at Pentagon City Mall and make the five-minute walk to the Pentagon via pedestrian tunnel. Once you’ve arrived, check in at the Pentagon Tours window near the Metro entrance.

Visitors must check-in at least 60 minutes prior to their scheduled tour to allow time for security. You will be asked to present your tour confirmation email and photo ID. All visitors will go through security scanners. All purses are subject to search. Large bags, including backpacks, shopping bags and camera bags are NOT permitted on the tour. Cell phone, cameras, recording devices and other electronic devices cannot be used on the tour and no photography is permitted inside the building.

Ramps are available for visitors with disabilities. Tour visitors in wheelchairs must bring someone who can assist them on the tour.  A signer will be added to tours to assist hearing impaired visitors provided that two weeks' notice is given. Special tours for visually impaired visitors can also be arranged with two weeks' notice.

There are so many great tours and sightseeing opportunities in Washington, DC. Discover  your next tour adventure .

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Ultimate Guide to the Pentagon

One of the largest office buildings in the world, the Pentagon serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. A symbol of American military strength, the concrete and steel building is recognized around the world. Nearly 30,000 military and civilian personnel work inside the Pentagon each day. Covering approximately 6.5 million square feet, the building contains a food court and mini-shopping mall. Because of its size, the Pentagon has six ZIP codes. It uses the place identifier for Washington, DC even though the five-sided building is actually located in Arlington, Virginia .

The Building

The famous edifice has five rings, five floors above ground and two floors below ground. There are almost 18 miles of corridors. Despite its size, the layout of the hallways and interconnecting walkways enables an individual to reach any office in less than seven minutes. The rings are labeled “A” through “E” from the interior courtyard to the outside. Because the E-ring is the only one with exterior views, it is the location for offices of the most senior officials. The five-acre courtyard park is nicknamed Ground Zero. The term was inspired by the belief that the park would be a primary target for Soviet nuclear missiles during the Cold War. The Pentagon is twice the size of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The U.S. Capitol would fit in just one of the building’s five wings.

The Northern Mall Terrace façade features a portico that leads to a 600-foot-long terrace that is used for various official ceremonies. The portico of the River Entrance façade overlooks a lagoon and a landing point. The dock was once used by duty boats that transported service members across the Potomac River to Bolling Air Force Base. The main visitor entrance, the Concourse Entrance façade, is the location of the Pentagon Metro stop. The other two facades are known as the Helipad and South Parking entrances. The site of numerous anti-war protests over the years, the Pentagon was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

History of the Pentagon

During World War I, the War Department was housed in a variety of permanent and temporary buildings in and around Washington, DC. In the late 1930s, a new headquarters was constructed in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. This building soon proved inadequate. It is currently used by the State Department. With the rapid expansion of the War Department during World War II, Secretary of War Henry Stimson lobbied President Franklin Roosevelt for a large permanent office building. In 1941, it was agreed that a new large office building would be constructed in Arlington. The original site selected for construction was the pentagon-shaped Arlington Farms, a temporary housing complex for female civil servants operated by the Department of Agriculture.

When concerns arose that the new building might obstruct views of Washington, DC from Arlington National Cemetery, the construction site was moved to the former Hoover Field Airport. To keep costs down, the building’s pentagon-shape design plans were retained. The configuration was reminiscent of the star-shaped forts built during the gunpowder age. To reduce the amount of steel used, architects incorporated ramps rather than elevators in the building. Steel was in short supply and needed for the war effort. The exterior façade is adorned with Indiana limestone. Architectural, design and construction work were accomplished simultaneously, and the building was constructed in sections to save time. Colonel Leslie Groves who later oversaw the Manhattan Project as a general officer, supervised the work on the Pentagon. The building cost slightly more than $31.1 million to complete in 1943.

During construction, segregation laws in Virginia required separate rest room facilities for blacks and whites. As a result, the Pentagon has a higher ratio of rest rooms for its occupants than most similar size office buildings. It was the only public building in Arlington with segregated rest rooms until 1965. On Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the western side of the Pentagon killing 189 people. Although approximately one-third of the building was damaged, the repairs were completed by the anniversary of the attack. The repairs were incorporated into a larger ongoing renovation program that was completed in 2011, which brought the Pentagon up to standards required for modern office buildings.

Must See Exhibits

More than 100,000 people visit the Pentagon each year. A 60-minute guided tour highlights the history of the building and the Department of Defense. Covering approximately 1.5 miles, the guided tour includes the Hall of Heroes, which honors America’s Medal of Honor recipients, as well as an exhibit dedicated to prisoners of war and those missing in action. You will also see numerous portraits of the country’s founding fathers and a painting depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

While at the Pentagon, guests can also see the National 9-11 Pentagon Memorial. Situated on the west side of the building, the memorial is dedicated to those who lost their lives that fateful day. The 2-acre park features illuminated benches engraved with the names of the victims, memorial pools and a wall ranging from 3 inches to 71 inches in height to represent the ages of the youngest and oldest victims. There are also 85 paperbark maple trees. Open seven days a week, it is the only place on the Pentagon grounds where photography is permitted.

There is also a burial marker in nearby Arlington National Cemetery . It marks the grave of the 184 victims of the attack on the Pentagon. Located in Section 64, the five-sided granite marker lists the names of those who perished on the plane and inside the Pentagon.

The Pentagon parking lots are used as the staging point for a number of annual events. These include Rolling Thunder, a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts showing support for America’s prisoners of war and missing in action, the Army Ten-Miler and the Marine Corps Marathon.

Know Before You Go

You must make reservations for the guided tour at least 14 but not more than 90 days in advance. Tours are offered Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. except on federal holidays. Visitors 18 and older require a valid government-issued photo ID. The tour starts at the visitor center just to the left, inside the Pentagon Metro entrance. Arrive at least an hour before your scheduled tour to pass through security. The Metro stop is on the Blue and Yellow lines. The Pentagon does not have public parking.

Nearby Attractions

Arlington National Cemetery is the location for the Tomb of the Unknowns and the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy along with numerous other monuments and memorials. It is also the burial ground for many famous Americans and war heroes, including Audie Murphy, Abner Doubleday and Joe Louis. There are monuments and memorials to the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia as well as Women in the Military Service, Pan Am Flight 103 and Spanish American War Nurses.

Formerly known as Columbia Island, Lady Bird Johnson Park includes scenic walking and driving paths, colorful plantings and blooming trees that provide vivid Spring and Fall foliage. There are overlooks and picnic areas as well. The park also features the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove and the Navy and Marine Memorial. The Mount Vernon Trail passes through the park.

The Pentagon

• Pentagon • 5 min walk

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After 2-Year Hiatus, Pentagon Reopens for Tours

The seat of national defense is also home to a spectacular display of military history, by eun yang, news4 anchor • published may 19, 2022 • updated on may 19, 2022 at 10:29 am.

The Pentagon has opened again for tours, more than two years after it last offered them. The tour guides are dedicated to informing the public about the many contributions of the country's servicemen and women.

Army Specialist Tyson Weichbrodt imparts the gravity and emotion of Sept. 11, 2001:

"It was at 9:37 in the morning, Sept. 11. Flight 77, a 757 under the control of terrorists, was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon. It killed all 59 people on board and 125 people working here at the building. Their names, in alphabetical order, are listed here...."

The America's Heroes Memorial is located where the plane crashed into the Pentagon, an essential stop on these tours, which recently reopened to the public to tours.

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'We want to impress on the public how seriously we've taken and remind them of the sobriety of that day," Specialist Weichbrodt said, "particularly for the younger generation, who was not born or perhaps very little. It's particularly impactful for them to understand what happened."

For Specialist Weichbrodt, sharing this defining moment in American history has personal meaning.

"It frames so much for me, that event, how I think of myself as an American, and it certainly contributed to my decision to join the military," he said.

Only the best in the building are selected to be tour guides. They have to go through an extensive process for which not even their military training could prepare them.

"So it was a 15-day process, 33 pages of scripts that we had to memorize verbatim, so every day we were learning about page and a half, I would say, front to back, of scripts," said Navy Seaman Ariana Diaz. "At the end of the process, you get three days to test out."

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That final test involves giving your colleagues a tour. It is a distinct honor, one that Seaman Diaz considers a highlight of her time at the Pentagon.

Her favorite section before is dedicated to women in service.

"It wasn't until 1901 with the Army nurses' corps, and 1908 with the Navy nurses' corps, when women were officially allowed to serve, and that was just as nurses," Seaman Diaz said. "Today, we're allowed to serve in every position, that being on submarines, on battleships, things of that nature. Thanks to these women, they were kind of being pioneers for me, specifically women in service."

Now, Seaman Diaz is a role model herself.

"I'm the first woman in my family who served in the military. So being able to work here has definitely shown me what I can do for further generations," she said. "My nieces, I want them to be just as great, if not greater. Maybe one day, they'll be able to be the president or the secretary of defense."

That's just a fraction of what you'll see and learn on the entire guided tour.

Tours are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. You must register online in advance.

For security reasons, you may not bring any electronics on the tour or take videos or photos. You also won't be able to store your electronics on-site, so remember to leave them behind. Prohibited devices include cell phones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops, gaming devices, cameras, storage devices/flash drives, scanners, headphones, virtual reality devices, transmitters and GPS devices.

Take the Metro, because parking is a challenge. And wear comfortable shoes, because you'll be walking about 1.5 miles during the tour.

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Special operations outlook 2019 digital edition is here, touring the pentagon, backward is the way forward.

By Eric Tegler - March 19, 2019

Vietnam veterans Bill Norman, Ray Hildreth, and Joe Kosoglow, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, visit the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, Washington D.C., Aug. 22, 2017. The veterans were visiting the National Capital Region in honor of the 50-year anniversary of the presentation of the Medal of Honor to Gunnery Sgt. Jimmie Howard for actions at the battle of Hill 488 during the Vietnam War. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Shannon Doherty

Series: The Pentagon: 75 Years

• Part 1: A New Home: How the Pentagon Came to Be
• Part 2: The Pentagon in Peace and War
• Part 3: Interview: Secretary Leon Panetta
• Part 4: Interview: Secretary Chuck Hagel
• Part 5: The Pentagon: Building An Icon
• Part 6: Lost and Found in the Pentagon
• Part 7: The Pentagon 9/11 Memorial
• Part 8: Rebuilding the Pentagon
• Part 9: Touring the Pentagon
• Part 10: A United Force
• Part 11: The Five-Sided Neighbor
• Part 12: The Pentagon’s 9/11 First Responders
• Part 13: The Pentagon Force Protection Agency
• Part 14: The Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes

Pentagon tour guides are hearty people. Selected competitively from the ceremonial guards of all five branches of the services, they not only have to know a startling array of facts about the Pentagon, they also have to be able to walk backward without a second thought.

When you take a Pentagon tour, your military guide will face you the entire time, walking backward as you walk forward through the halls of one of the world’s most recognizable buildings. Pentagon tour guides give several tours a day and in the process, walk 2 to 3 miles backward using lighting fixtures and fire extinguishers as guideposts.

All that rearward locomotion is worth it. The Pentagon tour program hosts more than 106,000 visitors annually, and gives seven tours every weekday. Despite the strict security requirements necessary, the popularity of taking a tour of the iconic building is evident not only from the numbers but from their testimony by word of mouth and online. Pentagon tours are among the highest rated on the popular travel site TripAdvisor.com, whose reviews give the visits four out of five stars.

For reference, the Pentagon has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building in New York. The national Capitol Building could fit into any one of its five wedge-shaped sections.

Most reviews single out the tour guides for their professionalism, knowledge, and humor. As the guides walk you though the corridors, relating one interesting tidbit after another, it becomes obvious that their unconventional gait is just another form of progress. As has been the case for 75 years at the Pentagon, the direction is always forward – even if that sometimes means going backward.

The Shape of a Pentagon Tour

If asked what a Pentagon tour is like, you could be snarky and say “pentagonal.” True, the structure is five-sided, but that won’t be your focus as you wend through portions of one of the world’s largest office buildings. Even though you certainly won’t be walking all 17 miles of hallway therein, you’ll get an impression of the immensity of the place.

The Marine Corps Reserve Centennial wall display stands completed at the Pentagon, Sept. 28, 2016. The exhibit was installed at the Pentagon in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Marine Corps Reserve.

For reference, the Pentagon has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building in New York. The national Capitol Building could fit into any one of its five wedge-shaped sections. That doesn’t even convey the impression one gets of the broader Pentagon Reservation. You can arrive via nearly 30 miles of access highways, including express bus lanes. Alternately, one can visit by using the Washington D.C. Metro – one of the most extensive subway systems in the country.

The vista above ground includes 200 acres of lawn and pavement on which approximately 8,770 cars park in 16 parking lots. Then there are the thoroughfares inside the building. Some 131 stairways and 19 escalators link the corridors along which a beehive of offices occupies 3,705,793 square feet.

Size has always struck visitors to our national defense headquarters. Surprisingly, the formal public tours program wasn’t launched until May 17, 1976. A June 1, 1976 article in The New York Times laconically announced that, “with a lack of fanfare, the Pentagon has relaxed its security for the first time in four years to let Bicentennial tourists visit the famous office building.”

About 200 visitors per day were accommodated. It was supposed to be a merely temporary feature, expected to run through July 4 of that year. But prospective tour groups just kept coming. A snippet in the June 1977 edition of the Marine Corps magazine Leatherneck reads:

“Approximately 55,000 American and foreign visitors toured the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., during the 1976 Bicentennial year. As a result of the enthusiastic response from visitors, the tour program will continue.”

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By Eric Tegler

Eric Tegler is a writer/broadcaster from Severna Park, Md. His work appears in a variety...

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Pentagon: Building of temporary harbour in Gaza Strip has begun

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The US military has started helping to build a temporary harbour off the coast of the Gaza Strip to bring food, water and medicine to the territory, a spokesman said on Thursday, amid fears of famine in the territory.

US ships are involved, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters, adding that "I think, indications now are realistically, early May" for the harbour to be ready.

In the meantime, work is continuing with the international community to bring aid supplies to the Gaza Strip via other routes, Ryder said.

The US government announced at the beginning of March that it intended to help set up a temporary harbour to bring food, water and medicine to the war zone in view of the humanitarian emergency in the Palestinian territory.

The US plan was to build a floating pier off the coast where commercial ships carrying relief supplies could dock. The goods would then be transferred to other ships and taken to a floating dam. They would then be unloaded there.

The US recently called on its ally Israel to rapidly expand aid deliveries for the civilian population, amid a risk of famine in Gaza.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that militants from the Palestinian Hamas movement and other Islamist groups carried out in Israel on October 7.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive, leading to a soaring number of civilian casualties and catastrophic conditions.

That has led to growing criticism of Israel internationally and pressure to let more humanitarian aid enter Gaza, where the situation is catastrophic. Aid groups say more than a million people are at risk of starvation.

According to Israeli reports, unknown assailants fired mortar shells at the temporary harbour site during a visit by UN employees. Palestinian Islamist militants were suspected.

Ryder spoke of reports that a few shells had been fired at the site but said this had no influence on the construction plans and happened before the US military had started work.

Ryder again made it clear there are no plans for US forces to enter the Gaza Strip itself, which has been under siege from Israel for months following a terrorist attack inside the Jewish state.

Israel's COGAT agency for coordinating government activity in the Palestinian territories said "terrorists" had been behind the attack, which occurred as UN personnel were at the site on Wednesday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops had ushered the UN personnel into safe spaces, it said. Who was behind the attack could not immediately be established.

Meanwhile as Israel prepares for a military operation in Rafah by Gaza's border with Egypt, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi rejected the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Cairo is worried that a planned push into the southern border city, the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza after months of Israeli raids in the north and centre of the coastal strip, would trigger a mass exodus into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

"Egypt has adopted a clear stance since the first minute [of the war] totally rejecting the forced migration of Palestinians from their lands to Sinai or any other place in order to preserve the Palestinian cause from liquidation and safeguard Egypt's national security," al-Sissi said in a televised address.

Israel launching an offensive on Rafah will have "catastrophic consequences" on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and on regional peace and security, according to an Egyptian presidential statement.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, but Israel's Gaza military campaign has inflamed popular feelings in the world's biggest Arab nation.

Rafah is the last holdout for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the ongoing war, in which almost 35,000 Palestinians have died.

Some 150,000 to 200,000 Palestinian civilians have left Rafah since April 7, the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday, citing the army.

An Israeli military operation in Rafah will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave according to aid agencies.

But Israel's Kan radio reported on Thursday that the Jewish state is making arrangements to try to limit the loss of life after widespread Western pressure.

The assault will begin with an evacuation of civilians that could last up to five weeks. In this first phase of the ground operation, civilians in Rafah will be moved to safer locations, the report said.

Israel's allies and critics have for months implored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off the invasion of Rafah, fearing mass civilian casualties.

More than 1 million displaced Palestinians from other parts of the Gaza Strip have taken shelter there. Rafah also is the site of the main crossing through which aid enters the territory.

Despite the pressure being piled on Israel, the government argues it must move ahead with the ground operation in order to achieve its goal of crushing Hamas.

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Jason Fitz is joined by Senior NFL Reporter Charles Robinson and former NFL running back Damien Harris to give their initial thoughts and takeaways from a wild first night of the 2024 NFL Draft. The trio dive into a few standout selections, including plenty of time analyzing what the Atlanta Falcons could possibly be thinking by taking Michael Penix Jr, J.J. McCarthy and Drake Maye and their respective fits with the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots, why Tennessee Titans fans should be ecstatic about the J.C. Latham pick, Xavier Worthy's instant impact potential with the Kansas City Chiefs and why the Las Vegas Raiders took a tight end in the first round two years in a row.

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Woman claims to have filmed possible ufo from airplane above nyc, possible ufo caught on camera from plane window but is it real.

A UFO seems to have been caught on camera whizzing across the sky above NYC -- at least if you buy what this woman is selling ... which amounts to a nanosecond of proof.

Michelle Reyes was recently flying over LaGuardia Airport and filming the landscape outside her window -- when she captured something zip across the sky at lightning-quick speed ... which, when slowed down, certainly looks like something out of this world.

Watch ... a dark, cylinder object flies by Michelle's plane window as she films the city's skyline. And, according to Michelle, she isn't the only passenger to spot the possible UFO.

Michelle went on NewsNation, revealing everything she knows about the odd occurrence. Per the passenger, she alerted the FAA to what she filmed ... but has yet to hear back from them.

Michelle said she had her dad -- a former member of the Navy -- take a look at the video, too ... and he was equally baffled. Although, he theorized the object was simply a drone ... but noted it was unusually close to the aircraft.

UFO expert Ben Hansen joined Michelle on NewsNation ... where he said there's no reason to believe this incident is a hoax.

This sighting feels eerily similar to the one from 2020 ... where a Long Beach, CA resident filmed a UFO-like object bolting across the sky. At the time, the photog told us the footage wasn't doctored in any way ... but again it could've easily been a drone.

Still, don't get too excited by this footage ... as the Pentagon released a study in March, in which they took a closer look at alleged UFO sightings -- and found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence.

So, according to Uncle Sam ... you won't be beamed up any time soon.

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Chicago Bears select quarterback Caleb Williams of Southern California with No. 1 pick in NFL draft

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Chicago Bears select quarterback Caleb Williams of Southern California with No. 1 pick in NFL draft.

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