MoD reveal the number of reported UFO sightings in the UK has risen
The number of reported sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in the UK has soared in the last year with people calling the Ministry of Defence with concerns about bright white lights, strange triangular-shaped objects and even alien abduction.
The MoD took details of 135 events in which mysterious objects were seen in our skies by witnesses including three pilots. Just 97 were reported in 2006.
In the last year, there have been reports of a flying saucer in Staffordshire, small stationary aircraft in Derbyshire and a fast moving triangular shaped object in West Yorkshire.
In the West Midlands in December, a woman was terrified when a UFO shone a light into her window. She said the UFO then "shot off fast at first to the North East and then started to move at a slow pace".
Meanwhile in Duxford, Cambridgeshire, on April 12, a witness reported seeing fifty objects, each with an orange light, assembling in the sky before ascending.
On another occasion, two pilots in different planes flying over Alderney in the Channel Islands reported seeing two bright orange aircrafts and another pilot reported seeing a strange "balloon-like" object when in the air.
Hilary Porter, from the British Earth and Aerial Mysteries Society (BEAMS) said she is not surprised by the rise in the number of UFOs reported to the MoD, as they have been inundated with similar reports.
"We have had call after call, from business people right down to ordinary folk in their cars. There have been some very close encounters that have been quite unnerving for the people involved. We have had other people reporting orb sightings."
One of the largest UFOs ever seen has been observed by the crew and passengers of an airliner over the Channel Islands.
An official air-miss report on the incident several weeks ago appears in Pilot magazine. Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer, 50, flying close to Alderney first spotted the object, described as "a cigar-shaped brilliant white light".
Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer, 50, described what he thought to be a UFO as 'a cigar-shaped brilliant white light'.
As the plane got closer the captain viewed it through binoculars and said: "It was a very sharp, thin yellow object with a green area.
"It was 2,000ft up and stationary. I thought it was about 10 miles away, although I later realised it was approximately 40 miles from us. At first, I thought it was the size of a [Boeing] 737.
"But it must have been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could have been as much as a mile wide."
Continuing his approach to Guernsey, Bowyer then spied a "second identical object further to the west".
He said: "It was exactly the same but looked smaller because it was further away. It was closer to Guernsey. I can't explain it. This was clearly visual for about nine minutes.
"I'm certainly not saying that it was something of another world. All I'm saying is that I have never seen anything like it before in all my years of flying."
The sightings were confirmed by passengers Kate and John Russell. John, 74, said: "I saw an orange light. It was like an elongated oval."
The sightings were also confirmed by an unnamed pilot with the Blue Islands airline.
The Civil Aviation Authority safety notice states that a Tri-Lander aircraft flying close to Alderney spotted the object.
Two experienced airline pilots on separate flights saw something up to a mile wide off the coast of Alderney on Monday afternoon. Surprisingly, Jersey radar equipment did not pick up the object, although an air traffic controller said he had received simultaneous reports from the Aurigny and Blue Islands pilots.
Aurigny’s Captain Ray Bowyer, 50, said he saw the strange object during a flight from Southampton.
He spotted a bright-yellow light 10 miles west of Alderney while his plane was about 30 miles from the island and at 4,000ft.
‘It was a very sharp, thin yellow object with a green area. It was 2,000ft up and stationary,’ he said.
‘I thought it was about 10 miles away, although I later realised it was approximately 40 miles from us. At first, I thought it was the size of a 737.’ A 737 is slightly smaller than a jumbo jet.
‘But it must have been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could have been as much as a mile wide.’
As he continued his approach to Alderney, Capt. Bowyer saw a second identical object further to the west.
‘It was exactly the same but looked smaller because it was further away. It was closer to Guernsey.’
The sightings happened at about 3pm. Capt. Bowyer, who has flown commercial planes for about 20 years, said he had described the objects to air traffic control and filled in an incident report.
Paul Kelly, 31, the air traffic controller who was on duty, said the Blue Islands pilot had made a similar report, but nothing had appeared on his radar.
‘The pilot from Blue Islands was en route to Jersey at the same time and as he went past Sark he described an object behind him to his left,’ he said.
‘The description was very similar to Captain Bowyer’s and they described it as being in exactly the same place. But they were looking at it from opposite sides.’ The pilot told him the object had been 1,500ft beneath his plane.
‘The Blue Islands plane was at 3,500ft at the time so, again, both pilots placed it at the same altitude.
‘If the object was stationary, our equipment would not have picked it up because the radar would have screened it out.’
Xerpi