C172 pilot reported an near midair collision during cruise.

Attributes
ACN	1697834
Time
Date	201911
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZFW.ARTCC
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Airway V194 571
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft
Flight Phase	Cruise
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 32 Flight Crew Total 938 Flight Crew Type 224
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict
Miss Distance	Horizontal 500 Vertical 300

Narrative:

I was at 5;500 feet MSL and on flight following. Opposing aircraft (low wing; type unknown) appeared on adsb-in at my 7:00 position and less than 5 miles showing +300 feet and was closing. I purposely descended to 5;300 feet as I was trying to visually locate the other aircraft. I visually located the other aircraft in front of my right wing as it passed on approximately the same heading as me and a few hundred feet above me. As it was coming through my 2:00; the other aircraft made an approximately 0 degree turn to the left and crossed just in front and above me. I identified it as a low wing about the same size as a cirrus SR22; though I do not know what it was. At this time the controller asked me what my altitude was. I responded '5;300 feet for 5;500 feet.' he asked me if I had the traffic in sight and I replied yes. We briefly discussed the other aircraft and the conflict. The other aircraft was not as in contact with ATC and continued to the northwest. I continued my flight with no other abnormalities.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot reported an NMAC during cruise.

Narrative: I was at 5;500 feet MSL and on flight following. Opposing aircraft (low wing; type unknown) appeared on ADSB-IN at my 7:00 position and less than 5 miles showing +300 feet and was closing. I purposely descended to 5;300 feet as I was trying to visually locate the other aircraft. I visually located the other aircraft in front of my right wing as it passed on approximately the same heading as me and a few hundred feet above me. As it was coming through my 2:00; the other aircraft made an approximately 0 degree turn to the left and crossed just in front and above me. I identified it as a low wing about the same size as a Cirrus SR22; though I do not know what it was. At this time the controller asked me what my altitude was. I responded '5;300 feet for 5;500 feet.' He asked me if I had the traffic in sight and I replied yes. We briefly discussed the other aircraft and the conflict. The other aircraft was not as in contact with ATC and continued to the northwest. I continued my flight with no other abnormalities.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.