An unmarked Boeing 757 caught some attention at the Whitehorse airport on Wednesday as it became in essence a UFO.

A variety of sources were unable to identify who the plane belongs to, where it came from or where it was headed.

The all-white aircraft had no markings beyond a tail number of 09001 and a small American flag depicted on the fuselage.

John Rogers, the airport's manager, said in an interview Wednesday he had no idea who the plane belongs to. As long as the aircraft followed the ground rules of the airport, he added, he didn't have any problems with it being there.

NAV Canada is responsible for monitoring flight plans and traffic in and out of airports.

A representative at NAV Canada's Whitehorse office said the people on the flight were remaining 'pretty tight-lipped.'

Passengers who got out of the plane as it was refuelling were wearing what appeared to American Air Force jumpsuits, he added.

'It was some sort of military flight,' he said.

The representative said he thought the plane's destination was Fairbanks. However, when later called back with a follow-up question, he indicated he was no longer sure where the flight was headed and said the Star should contact NAV Canada's head office in Ottawa.

Ron Singer, in NAV Canada's media relations office there, indicated it's against policy to discuss specifics on aircraft, and wasn't able to provide further information about the plane.

The Boeing 757 was a similar model to four planes used by the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air base in Maryland.

Those particular planes are considered 'Air Force Two' , and are used to carry the U.S. vice-president and members of the cabinet and Congress on official government business.

There were some rumours at the Whitehorse airport that 'some big shot' was onboard, but no one the Star spoke to was able to confirm those suggestions.

Boeing 757s used by the American military are a medium- to long-range jetliner that carry up to 45 passengers and 16 crew members and take off and land on short runways like the one at the Whitehorse airport.

Capt. Clare Reed in the public relations office at Andrews told the Star there were no records of a plane with the tail number 09001 at the base and no flights from the base were scheduled to land in the Yukon on Wednesday.

Reed said air force planes are generally painted grey if they are unmarked. She said she was unable to specify what branch of the American military the plane might belong to.

Further research on the plane showed it hasn't only created a mystery in Whitehorse; there are websites online that follow the plane and label it as an aircraft of 'questions and mysteries.'

The aircraft has attracted attention in Stuttgart, Athens, Naples, Helsinki, central Asia and South Africa in the past. The most recent recorded spotting on the Internet was in Brisbane, Australia.

The plane may be used by the Foreign Emergency Support Team, one website claimed.

According to the State Department's home page, the support team responds to 'terrorist' situations in the United States and abroad where affected Americans and the host nation require a rapid and co-ordinated response to the problem.

Another plane spotter website suggested the Boeing 757 is in fact part of the fleet at Andrews and had been repainted.

The site said the Andrews aircraft with the tail number 99-0004 had not been spotted by plane watchers since Feb. 23, 2003, around the time the unmarked aircraft began to be seen.

However, Reed said that was not the case.

'Per our command post, 99-0004 is on the ground here at Andrews and it flew a mission earlier this week,' she added.