Federal and local authorities are investigating what a witness said looked like a missile that hurtled across the sky above Chambers and Liberty County and barely missed hitting a commuter airliner in flight Friday.

That witness was the pilot of the airliner and his co-pilot saw the object as well, according to Liberty County Sheriff Department's Chief Deputy Ken DeFoor.

FBI Special Agent Shauna Dunlop verified the story and said that the FBI, FAA and Liberty County officials were involved in the investigation.

"We're trying to determine just what was observed," she said.

Thus far, she added, the FBI has no information to indicate that the incident was a criminal act and declined to comment further on the specific incident, other than referring questions to the FAA and the Liberty County Sheriff's Department.

She did say that the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigate numerous reports of unidentified objects each year and almost all turn out to be not of a criminal nature.

Liberty County officials got involved shortly after the incident, DeFoor said. The pilot made a report to the FAA and someone from that agency determined that Liberty County was in close proximity to where the near collision took place, DeFoor explained.

"About 8:15 p.m. (Friday) our dispatcher got a call from the FAA saying that a pilot saw an object coming at his plane," he said. "The object went under the belly of the plane and disappeared."

DeFoor said he had learned that the plane had taken off from Bush Intercontinental Airport and was en route to Greenville, S. C. It was flying at about 13,000 feet when the object, which the pilot described as looking like a missile, seemed to be coming on a course for a head-on collision until it passed about 100 feet beneath the plane. DeFoor said he believed passengers on the plane were unaware anything unusual had happened, but that the pilot was clear about what he believed he had seen.

"Airline pilots are pretty stable, level headed people," DeFoor said. "We have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"We did a search Friday night until about 2 a.m. Saturday," said DeFoor. "We were trying to find out the source of the object."

That search didn't turn up anything but it won't be the last one, he said.

Agents with the FBI and the FAA met with the pilot and co-pilot on Tuesday for a debriefing, DeFoor said.

"They are trying to best determine the exact track and description of the object so they can deter the origin and who was responsible," he said, adding that when more information is gathered, another search will be launched.

Meanwhile, DeFoor is hoping for help from the public in Liberty and Chambers counties.

"If anyone saw anything unusual about 8 p.m. Friday night, I hope they will give us a call," he said.

The Liberty County Sheriff's Department can be reached at (936) 336-4500.