UFO News Blog - Current Sightings - Latest News

Possible UFO caught on video

2009-06-17T12:29:00.001-06:00

Denna Smith and her family video saw what they believe was a UFO in the sky over a Virginia theme park.

UK ministers were alerted to Perthshire sighting of UFO

2009-03-28T09:32:00.001-06:00

Photographs taken of a UFO hovering next to an RAF jet over Perthshire were treated seriously by military investigators, just-released Ministry of Defence files show.

Witnesses saw the mysterious, large diamond-shaped object hanging over the A9 at Calvine, north of Pitlochry, in August 1990. The object remained in position for about 10 minutes next to an RAF Harrier before the UFO ascended vertically at high speed.

UFOs are no stranger to Scotland. Bonnybridge and West Kilbride have a history of unusual sightings dating back decades. At the start of this year a man from Banknock recorded an apparent UFO sighting (pictured) that remains unexplained.

In the 1990 incident, two members of the public took colour photos and provided them to the Daily Record, which in turn passed six negatives to the MoD for comment. The military responded by drawing up guidelines for responding to media questions about the incident.

Military experts could not identify the UFO despite apparently commissioning detailed line drawings of the object.

Fearing there could be significant media interest, the MoD took the unusual step of briefing ministers about the sighting.

An official wrote in a memo: "Such stories are not normally drawn to the attention of ministers, and the MoD press office invariably responds to questions along well-established lines emphasising our limited interest in the UFO phenomenon and explaining that we therefore do not have the resources to undertake any in-depth investigations into particular sightings.

"On this occasion, however, the MoD has been provided with six photographic negatives of an alleged UFO by the Scottish Daily Record and has been asked for comments almost certainly for inclusion in a forthcoming story."

And in late 1991 the MoD apparently commissioned line drawings of the UFO, noting that the "sensitivity of (the) material suggests very special handling".

The incident also discloses that British military intelligence officers tasked with investigating UFO reports took a close interest in claims the US was developing a top secret spy-plane.

The sighting is included in military UFO documents made available online from Sunday by the National Archives.

Greece: Amazing UFO incident involving Air Force and airline

2009-02-10T18:00:00.001-07:00

A remarkable UFO incident that occurred in the skies over Athens over a year ago but was kept secret by the Greek Aviation Authority and the Greek Air Force has recently come to light and is receiving extensive media coverage in Greece.

On 11 November 2007 at 3:20am the captain of Olympic Airways flight 266 from Athens to London noticed an extremely unusual object moving erratically to the west of Athens. The object was somewhat star like in appearance however much brighter and larger with a constantly shifting shape.

Meanwhile the captains of Olympic Airways flights 730 to Kos and 700 to Rhodes reported the same thing. The sighting was then confirmed by Athens Airport control tower, whose employees observed the object moving towards Karystos, a small town on the Greek island of Euboea. At this point the Greek Air Force was contacted.

The Greek Air Force confirmed that they too were visually monitoring the object from their radar station at the top of Parintha Mountain near Athens and had observed that it was travelling at incredible speed and did not fit the description of any terrestrial craft. The staff at the Air Force radar station later described the UFO as large, of an unusual shape and very bright. Air force staff were requested to photograph the craft and did so (no pictures have come to light yet).

At this point two F-16�s were sent up too intercept the UFO, while the various control towers monitored the object from earth. The object then shot off at incredible speed skyward and the Jets failed to indentify anything. While both staff at the Athens Airport and the Parintha Mountain Air Force Radar Unit confirmed that they clearly observed the object their radars picked up nothing.

Below is the recording and an unconfirmed translation of the pilots conversation with the airport control tower as well as the aviation authority document:

Narrator: Nov 11th 2007, Flight 266 London to Athens, during the flight the Olympic Airways pilot communicates with flight control at Eleftherios Venizelos airport (Athens International), listen to the conversation:

Pilot: Olympic 266, tower are you receiving me?

Tower: Go ahead

Pilot: Is another airplane flying near me?

Tower: Negative, why?

Pilot: I see on my right, at approximately the same altitude, an unknown target flying from the South to the East

Tower: No, there's nothing there, is it bothering you (in your way)?

Pilot: For the moment no, but its altitude and heading are not stable.

Tower: What exactly do you mean because I have no target on radar.

Pilot: It is increasing speed and its headings are erratic.

Tower: Olympic, continue on your present heading and altitude according to plan and we are staying in contact.

Click here to hear the recording in Greek, and to read the full report.

Danish UFO files released

2009-02-10T17:38:00.001-07:00

The Danish Air Force has followed the example of the US and UK and declassified secret archives on UFO sightings occurring over the last 25 yearsAt just 329 pages the newly-released �X-Files�, detailing previously secret unexplained UFO sightings in Denmark, might...

At just 329 pages the newly-released �X-Files�, detailing previously secret unexplained UFO sightings in Denmark, might not at first glance seem to offer much in the way of sustenance for the legions of hopeful stargazers out there. But detailed within the slender volume are over 200 unsolved UFO sightings which provide plenty of food for thought for the old question: are we alone?

One of the unsolved cases concerns an incident that happened on Funen in 1982. A 15-year-old boy was cycling through the countryside early in the morning one summer�s day when he noticed something unusual in a field. Dismounting his bike, he walked towards what appeared to be a large, brightly-lit object that resembled two discs placed on top of one another. Intrigued, the boy walked closer and was amazed to see five humanoid figures next to the object.

The files state that the figures were about 60cm tall, and had large heads and chests in relation to their puny legs. Whether the boy was making it up or not we can't be sure, but his story is one of the more detailed examples contained in the dossier.

�We decided to publish the archives because frankly there is nothing really secret in them,� says Thomas Pedersen, a captain in the Danish Air Force who said they had become tired of journalists requesting to see them. �The Air Force has no interest in keeping unusual sightings a secret. Our job is to maintain national security, not investigate UFOs.�

The archives cover unexplained events occurring between 1978 and 2002. The files reveal that most cases have never been solved, but also that many are precise and detailed enough to be explained by other phenomena. Military aircraft, weather balloons, bright planets and, in particular, Chinese lanterns can explain away the bulk of reports by worried observers. After 2002 the job of chronicling UFO sightings was taken over by the group Scandinavian UFO Information (SUFOI).

But not all sightings can be readily explained. In August 1991 two police officers on a night patrol in the northern Copenhagen suburb of Ordrup had an unusual experience. Sitting in their patrol car at 2:30am they suddenly saw a strange object hovering about 75-150 metres in the air above the car. The officers thought it looked like the underside of an airplane and they noticed that their communication systems had ceased to function. Intrigued, the officers followed it as it moved slowly away, eventually disappearing behind some tall trees a few minutes later.

UFO poll

2009-01-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Results pf poll at:
http://news.aol.com/article/northern-englands-ufo-mystery-solved/292830

Have you ever seen a UFO?
No - 67%
Yes - 33%

Do you think Earth has ever been visited by aliens?
Yes - 68%
No - 32%

Mystery Lights Over The Midlands

2008-12-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

A "spectacular" display of dozens of UFOs has been reported in the skies over the West Midlands.

Eyewitnesses told Sky News that up to 70 bright circular objects could be seen near Halesowen.

Stunned residents watched in disbelief, convinced they were viewing an extra-terrestrial spectacle.

Each object was encircled with lights and had lights in the middle, according to witness Steven Randall who lives in Halesowen with is wife and three children.

He said: "This was incredible and so spectacular. The lights seem to climb into the sky to the north of us, just before 8pm last night.

"A neighbour had shouted for us to come and look. There were so many objects. From a distance they looked like bubbles rising in a fizzy drink.

The objects were absolutely silent and travelling at probably twice the speed of a normal aircraft.

"Then they came towards us and flew right over the top. Some were so close they were almost touching and were only a hundred feet or so above us.

"The objects were absolutely silent and travelling at probably twice the speed of a normal aircraft.

"They were all circular and had 13 to 15 lights around the rim. Each had lights in the centre which were flashing on and off. They went south at a terrific speed."

Birmingham International airport is to the east of the sightings, but according to Mr Randall, the flight path comes nowhere near the houses.

"Aircraft are not allowed to fly over this area. We regularly see air traffic in the distance and I can assure you that this was something very different," he said.

Air traffic control at Birmingham International airport had nothing on their radar to suggest anything out of the ordinary.

See Footage Of UFOs Over West Midlands

Video of UFO shooting beams at the ground

2008-11-21T22:48:00.001-07:00

A SHINING beam blasts earthwards from what looks like a hovering UFO, in another astounding sighting.

A clip handed to The Sun shows the white dot hanging motionless in the air before a shot of white light emits from the orb, hitting the earth.

Just a few seconds later a red beam comes firing from the object before the silent orb disappears.

Zoe Salthouse, 20, captured this incredible footage a couple of weeks ago while sitting in a friend�s back garden.

The student nurse from New Moston, Manchester, was sitting with friends in nearby Alcrington when she saw the light.

Click here to see video

UFO photographed over Filton

2008-11-21T18:19:00.001-07:00

An unidentified flying object has been photographed over Filton.

Taxi driver Paul Matthews spotted the object in the air near the Royal Mail depot on 2pm on Friday afternoon soon after he had driven into the Airbus site.

He quickly pulled over his car and watched as what he described as a disc-shaped object hovered in the air before disappearing as swiftly as it had appeared.

Now the Bristol Evening Post is calling on readers who believe they know what the object is to get in touch.

Mr Matthews said that at first he thought it was an aeroplane, microlite or parachute, but it wasn't behaving like anything he had seen before.

"It was very weird. It was so strange. I have been a lorry driver in my time and seen some strange things, but this is something else," said Mr Matthews, 45, from Patchway.

"I had never ever seen something like this before. I was really surprised how other people had not noticed it. I thought they would be stopping in their droves, but that was not the case at all."

Did you see the mysterious object in the sky over Filton on Friday � or do you think you know what it was? Contact the newsdesk on 0117 934 3333 or e-mail us.

Click here to see pictures

New UFO sightings investigated in Erath County

2008-11-21T17:19:00.001-07:00

Reports of UFOs sighted over North Central Texas last week are the latest in an apparent sequel to the Stephenville sightings in January, which made headlines nationwide.

Dozens of residents in and around Erath County reported seeing strange lights in the sky the evening of Oct. 23, according to the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, which also reported that the military has confirmed the presence of F-16s in the area at that time.

"I think more people are willing to come forward now that more people are talking about this," said Whitney White-Ashley, a reporter for the paper.

CNN reported last week�s sightings, interviewing Dublin resident Andy Monroe, who caught a 30-second video of a line of red lights he says encircled an oval shape floating in the sky.

Most of the descriptions are of an oval shape with lights around the outside, said Alejandro Rojas with the Mutual UFO Network, a nationwide organization created in 1969 to scientifically study UFO sightings. A MUFON investigator is interviewing witnesses, and the group has already sent requests for radar data from the F-16s.

"These are descriptions that were sent into our Web site the night of the sighting, so they could not have been something just copied from media coverage," Rojas said.

January sightings

In or around Jan. 8, dozens of people around Dublin and Stephenville � about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth � reported seeing something that did not move like conventional aircraft.

Descriptions varied. Some told of objects up to a mile long and hundreds of yards high. Others reported seeing two to eight lights that flew in formation, changed color and shone with intensity greater than a welding flame. Some witnesses said the objects were accompanied or followed by military jets.

U.S. pilot was ordered to shoot down UFO

2008-10-22T16:37:00.000-06:00

Two U.S. fighter planes were scrambled and ordered to shoot down an unidentified flying object (UFO) over the English countryside during the Cold War, according to secret files made public on Monday.

One pilot said he was seconds away from firing 24 rockets at the object, which moved erratically and gave a radar reading like "a flying aircraft carrier."

The pilot, Milton Torres, now 77 and living in Miami, said it spent periods motionless in the sky before reaching estimated speeds of more than 7,600 mph (12,000 kph).

After the alert, a shadowy figure told Torres he must never talk about the incident and he duly kept silent for more than 30 years.

His story was among dozens of UFO sightings in defence ministry files released at the National Archives in London.

In a written account, Torres described how he scrambled his F-86 D Sabre jet in calm weather from the Royal Air Force base at Manston, Kent in May 1957.

"The order came to fire a salvo of rockets at the UFO. The authentication was valid and I selected 24 rockets," he said.

"I had a lock-on that had the proportions of a flying aircraft carrier," he added. "The larger the airplane, the easier the lock-on. This blip almost locked itself."

At the last moment, the object disappeared from the radar screen and the high-speed chase was called off.

He returned to base and was debriefed the next day by an unnamed man who "looked like a well-dressed IBM salesman."

"He threatened me with a national security breach if I breathed a word about it to anyone," he said.

The documents contain no official explanation for the incident, which came at a time of heightened tension between the West and the Soviet Union. Planes were on constant stand-by at British bases for a possible Soviet attack.

The files blame other UFO sightings on weather balloons, clouds or normal aircraft. Torres said he had been waiting 50 years for an explanation.

"I shall never forget it," he told the Times. "On that night I was ordered to open fire even before I had taken off. That had never happened before."

UFO expert David Clarke said the sighting may have been part of a secret U.S. project to create phantom aircraft on radar screens to test Soviet air defences.

"Perhaps what this pilot had seen was some kind of experiment in electronic warfare or maybe it was a UFO," he said. "Something very unusual happened."

The files are online at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos

Airliner had near miss with UFO

2008-10-20T08:33:00.000-06:00

Dr David Clarke talks about this incident and other UFO sightings (includes library footage)

A passenger jet bound for Heathrow Airport had a near miss with a UFO, Ministry of Defence files reveal.

The captain of the Alitalia airliner shouted "Look out" to his co-pilot at the sight of a brown missile-shaped object shooting past them overhead.

Civil Aviation Authority and military investigations could not explain the 1991 incident near Lydd in Kent.

Click here to see video

Kumburgaz/Istanbul UFO film

2008-10-16T07:41:00.001-06:00

This extraordinary incident took place in a compound in Kumburgaz/Istanbul was witnessed by many residents and filmed by the same night guard Yalcin Yalman as it was in 2007,

The images captured are expected to have a tremendous impact throughout the world and be listed as "the most important UFO/extraterrestrial images ever filmed in all the World"

During the 4 months, between May and September 2008, many nationwide UFO sightings were reported from different parts of Turkey, while some of them were filmed and photographed and aired. Within the same period of time, these objects also witnessed by the residents of Kumburgaz/Yeni Kent Compound, caught on video several times by a night guard named Yalcin Yalman and these footages are considered as the closest and the most significant images ever filmed around the world.

In these amazing UFO video footages which would likely have major repercussions around the world and be listed as the most significant UFO videos ever, physical forms of UFOs and their metallic structures are clearly noticeable. Whats more important is that in the close-up of some footages of the objects, entities in them can be distinctly made out.

For the 2008 new footages :

http://www.siriusufo.org/tr/?fx=sayfa_ac&url=html/english/kumburgaz_2008.asp

RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar mystery

2008-09-23T08:42:00.000-06:00

RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar mystery

IT IS a close encounter of the official kind. A former RAF officer has claimed that UFOs are real and may have invaded UK airspace, branding official resistance to such theories as "stupid and arrogant".

Wing Commander Alan Turner MBE was sworn to secrecy after he tracked a series of unidentified objects soaring over southern England at incredible speeds.

Turner, 64, a former head of air traffic control at RAF Lossiemouth, insists it is "stupid and arrogant" to rule out the existence of extra-terrestrials and is open to the suggestion that he witnessed craft from another world.

The incident, which has baffled and haunted Turner for decades, took place at RAF Sopley on the south-west coast of England in the summer of 1971.

At the time he was Duty Military Supervisor and had the responsibility of monitoring the skies on radar screens for potential Soviet incursions.

On the day in question, Turner and his 13 colleagues were alarmed by a sudden and unexpected development.

He said: "I can clearly remember people shouting: 'What the hell is that?' I got to a console and people were loudly telling me to look to the east of Salisbury Plain.

"Twenty miles east of the eastern extremity was a series of returns, or radar blips, which were appearing in that position. There were five of them initially. Then six and then seven all following the same track.

"They were tracking south-east, each exactly six to seven miles apart and moving at exactly the same speed. At about 40 miles from the point they appeared on radar, they disappeared, to be followed almost immediately by a replacement at the point of origin.

"The objects were about 3,000ft above ground level when they first appeared and climbed so rapidly that, by the time they disappeared from radar they were in excess of 60,000ft.

"To climb to such a height in only 40 miles was beyond the ability of almost any fighter aircraft at that time."

In a bid to solve the mystery Turner diverted an RAF Canberra jet, which was returning from West Germany, to intercept the intruders.

"When the pilot got within a mile or so of one particular blip, he reported, in a very agitated voice, that his radar had picked up something on his port side that was 'climbing like the clappers'. Neither the pilot nor his navigator made any visual contact with whatever it was."

Within days, Turner was summoned into the Squadron Leader's office and questioned by two men, who wore civilian clothes and were not identified, about the incident.

"I, along with all the others who were in the room on that day, were told in no uncertain terms not to relate what we had seen until cleared to do so."

Turner, who was awarded the MBE in 1984 and retired from the force in 1995, has been assured that there were no training operations, classified or otherwise, going on at the time and there were no weather balloons or probes in the area.

"I have no idea what they were, but I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility that they were UFOs. There is certainly a chance that we have been visited by extra-terrestrials," he said. "It is terribly arrogant and silly to think that we are alone in the universe."

"I have spoken to three ex-Air Force mates, who held senior positions, and they have seen similar things, but did not report them as they felt their personal integrity would be questioned. That is why I kept quiet for so long, but I know what I saw."

---

He said that the craft were equally spaced and shot from 3,000ft to 60,000ft at almost 300mph.

He revealed that every UFO would suddenly vanish from radar after a few seconds, and be replaced by an identical vessel moments later.

According to him, six military radars and operators at Heathrow spotted the UFOs east of Salisbury Plain, and filed reports on the unexplained phenomenon in 1971.

The RAF chief even drew a map charting their flight in between key sites like RAF Lyneham, Wilts, and the aircraft navigation transmitter at Brookmans Park, Herts.

However, staff members were instructed to �never speak about the incident again�, when the Ministry of Defence visited the RAF three days later.

Turner, who was a radar supervisor at the now disused RAF Sopley base, Dorset, in 1971, further said: �I instantly knew this wasn�t a convoy of military planes. The only craft with that rate of climb were supersonic lightning aircraft but they wouldn�t have been able to hold such a perfect formation. They also make a lot of noise. No one heard a thing on the night in question.�

UFO sightings connected to Large Hadron Collider experiment?

2008-09-23T07:40:00.000-06:00

MORE responses to sightings of 'orange lights' UFOs near Louth � with some wondering if recent UFO activity is connected to the Large Hadron Collider experiment in Geneva.

A man called Anthony from Wales emailed a similar account of what he saw: "I was having a cigarette outside my front door on Saturday at around 9pm and I looked over the roof tops and saw two orange-red glowing lights coming from over the hill where I live.

"I called my wife and daughter to come and have a look, then a third light followed the other two. My wife phoned her father who lives not far away and he saw them too. I then went to get my camera but by the time I got it out the lights just vanished. Not knowing what they were I decided to search the net to see if any one has seen the same as us and I came across your picture which is exactly what we saw.

"We live in a little village in Swansea and after 47 years of looking up at night this is the first UFO I have ever seen."

He added: "Could it be something to do with that experiment they are doing under ground in Geneva letting out pockets of energy or something?"

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, intended to smash protons together in the hope of learning more about the Big Bang theory. It was turned on to much international press interest last week despite some scientists calling for the experiment to be stopped, in fear it could lead to the formation of mini black holes, which could expand and swallow the Earth.

Rachel Rijsdijk emailing from The Netherlands said she also saw similar orange lights last Saturday: "On Saturday night a week ago I was driving on the highway, past a city called Eindhoven, and I saw three orange round lights high in the sky. They were not moving, but hanging in a triangle form."

Reg Lambert from Rugby emailed to tell us about his own recent experience: "I and three others saw an orange light travelling south-west to north-east over Rugby at about 8pm.

"It was travelling quite fast and was above the height of a few clouds around at an estimated height of 5000ft. A few minutes after disappearing from view it reappeared travelling in the opposite direction."

He added: "There was no flicker or variation, or colour change, and it was in a straight line."

* Have you seen any UFOs in the Louth or Mablethorpe areas? Email gemma.gadd@jpress.co.uk

Click here to see picture

Latest Sighting Amazing! Aliens spotted by over thirty random witnesses in Serbia!

2008-08-14T07:21:00.000-06:00

Serbian Radio Stations have been flooded by calls from the town of Zenta-where a cluster of cars leaving the town westward have been halted on the road as two craft identical one to the other land on the road-one was hazy completely and blue light covered it, the other was more clear and cone shape with flat top.

One hovered and a being described as grey-green four foot with large black eyes a small mouth and no ears?? floated to earth from a mere height of one meter then quickly returned to the craft and both sped off.
Witnesses included two truck drivers, a town GP, two nurses, and other labourers.
The authorities came to the scene and dispersed the crowd that gathered.

Local police are claiming what was seen was a set of party balloons-however all witnesses say this is out of the question-the crafts were sophisticated, humming, glowing-and shot off upwards. the alien life-like and moving as a human.

One witness Alexander Petrovic says " this was the strangest thing I ever saw and cannot accept it was a balloon."

Moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell Claims Alien Contact Cover-up

2008-07-25T20:26:00.001-06:00

Edgar Mitchell UFO interview on Kerrang Radio 23 july 2008

'Sceptic' politician saw UFO

2008-07-20T16:27:00.000-06:00

A TERRITORY politician has added weight to growing claims there are UFOs flying around in Darwin's rural area.

Independent MLA Gerry Wood said he saw a strange object fly across the sky above Howard Springs early Wednesday morning.

"It was a dark grey object and it was flying parallel to the ground - it lit up white at the front for a short period, maybe one or two seconds, and then the light disappeared and the object melted with the sky," he said.

Mr Wood, a self-confessed sceptic, said the object moved across the sky at a tremendous rate, but he didn't believe it was a plane.

"There wasn't a sound, not even a whisper," he said.

"There was no trail of sparks like you see with a shooting star, it was just a white glow at the front and underneath. I know that people won't believe this because, for starters, I'm a politician ... that puts me in the category of 'what a load of crap'.

"I'm also a sceptic, but I saw this thing, clear as day."

Mr Wood's report is the second sighting of an unknown object in the skies above Darwin's rural area.

Do you believe? Canadian UFO sightings climb in 2007

2008-07-20T13:55:00.001-06:00

Canadians in four provinces reported seeing a record number of unidentified flying objects in 2007, according to an annual report released by a Winnipeg-based non-profit organization that has recorded UFO sightings since 1989.

The UFOlogy Research Institute, which compiles data from sources including Transport Canada and the Department of National Defence, said researchers examined 836 alleged UFO sightings in 2007, an increase of almost 12 per cent over 2006.

While B.C. typically has the highest number of reported sightings, the 2007 compilation found that New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec all pulled in all-time high numbers of UFO reports.

The reports were filed by witnesses with government and military agencies, police and several online UFO websites. Witnesses ranged from farmhands to airline pilots and included teachers and police officers.

Chris Rutkowski, the lead researcher of the study, said that, of the hundreds of reports, only a fraction - about 16 per cent - were labelled as unexplained after review by his investigators. But he cautioned that while some UFO sightings can't be rationally explained, there is still no evidence to suggest extraterrestrial contact.

Some of the more bizarre cases from 2007 - those to which researchers gave a "strangeness rating" of six or more out of 10 - include one in Hammonds Plain, N.S., on March 10, when several witnesses saw a structured object with lights moving slowly over a lake. The object was also "humming," according to the witnesses.

In Halifax on Dec. 21, a helicopter pilot reported seeing a bright object flying overhead and curving around.

For reasons unknown, the highest number of UFO sightings is usually reported in British Columbia. On May 27 last year, a silent object was observed "manoeuvering oddly" over Chilliwack, B.C., while residents in the northern village of Granisle, B.C. saw a "black-light-coloured" object moving across the sky on Nov. 11 near an "odd looking" cloud.

In another instance, residents in North Tryon, P.E.I., saw a small, shiny object spiralling in the sky last Boxing Day. They reported the strange craft flew in a corkscrew manner, leaving behind it a mysterious dark smoke trail.

"This one really caught our attention," recalls Rutkowski, an astronomer who leads the research along with several engineers, journalists and pilots. "It happened during the day and two individuals saw it and they had enough time because it was visible for half an hour and they took video. The trail persisted for quite some time."

So what caused the phenomenon?

"At this time it is still unexplained," he conceded in an interview from Winnipeg, "but we are open to the possibilities."

British UFO sightings at 'bizarre' levels

2008-07-09T16:52:00.000-06:00

Whether alien activity or natural phenomena, reports of UFOs have flooded in this summer from across the country.

Plotted on a map of Britain, the sightings can be seen to stretch from Liverpool to Dover and from Llanelli to Derby

Whatever the explanation, experts agree that the number of suspected flying saucers has hit unusual highs this summer.

Malcolm Robinson, who studies the phenomenon, said: "Something very bizarre is happening in the skies over the UK."

The founder member of Strange Phenomena Investigations, added: "There has been an unusual number of sightings recently.

"Some experts believe it could be linked to global warming and craft from outer space are appearing because they are concerned about what man is doing to this planet."

Among mysterious flying objects spotted in recent months was a 'glowing' disc spotted above the M5 motorway.

Royal Navy aircraft engineer Michael Madden said he watched the UFO for three minutes before it 'zoomed off' near Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.

Earlier, in Basingstoke, witnesses claimed to have seen a fleet of 12 orange objects in the night sky for half an hour.

And in St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan a police helicopter crew gave chase to another UFO after it appeared to veer at speed towards their aircraft.

Police chase UFO over Cardiff

2008-06-25T17:00:00.000-06:00

A police helicopter crew gave chase to a UFO after it almost collided with their aircraft near a military base.

The pilot was forced to bank sharply to avoid being hit by the mystery aircraft as the helicopter was returning to the Ministry of Defence base of St Athan, near Cardiff.

The three crew, who described the UFO as 'flying saucer-shaped', then gave chase, getting as far as the North Devon coast before they ran low on fuel, it was reported.

The police aircraft was hovering at 500ft and waiting clearance to land on June 7, when those onboard spotted the other craft hurtling towards them from below.

A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "We can confirm the Air Support Unit sighted an unusual aircraft. This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation."

It was reported that the aircraft closed in at great speed, aiming straight for the helicopter which swerved sharply.

"They are convinced it was a UFO. It sounds far-fetched, but they know what they saw."

The helicopter crew are said to have crossed the Bristol channel in pursuit of the UFO, but lost sight of it and had to turn back due to a fuel shortage.

Military see UFO in UK

2008-06-25T16:36:00.002-06:00

A SHAKEN soldier told last night how he saw THIRTEEN UFOs spinning in the skies above his military barracks.

Corporal Mark Proctor was among three squaddies who spotted the objects while out on night patrol.

He filmed them on his mobile phone and reported the close encounter to Army top brass.

Ministry of Defence experts were studying his report and video yesterday � after ordering Mark and his pals NOT to say anything else about the incident.

The sighting, at Tern Hill barracks near Market Drayton, Shrops, came two hours before helicopter police officers reported an encounter with a huge craft 80 miles away near Cardiff.

And three hours before a couple claimed they were followed by a strange light in the sky along the A5 near Shrewsbury.

Cpl Proctor, 38, of the 1st Battalion Irish Regiment, recalled how he saw the amazing �craft� just after 11pm on Saturday, June 7.

He said: �I was on duty in the guard room when the other boys outside began shouting. I went out to see what the commotion was about and could see thirteen craft in the skies.

�They were zig-zagging, but I filmed two before they disappeared. They were like rotating cubes with multiple colours.

�I made a full report to my commanding officers and gave them my footage. The other lads were as amazed by it as I was.�

A 19-year-old private on patrol said he also saw the �fleet�.

The soldier, who asked not to be named, said: �I saw these things flying in the sky and I told my guard commander.

�There were about 30 lights passing over for a few minutes, very high but not at a great speed. They were bright red. Another soldier saw them too.�

An MoD spokesman said: �We deal with any UFO sightings to see if there was a military threat.�

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt video: RAF Woodbridge

2008-05-29T21:15:00.001-06:00

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt was deputy base commander at RAF Woodbridge in December 1980 when patrolmen from the United States Air Force (USAF) claimed they saw a small, triangular shaped craft moving backwards through the woods before taking off. The incident has been dubbed Britain's Roswell and was documented by the Ministry of Defence.

Larry King talks to Nick Pope, Bob Rosamond, Peter Davenport, Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Halt

2008-05-29T20:52:00.000-06:00

KING: Welcome back.

Britain's Ministry of Defense has just released secret UFO files on sightings dating from 1978 through 1987. They include live, eyewitness accounts and the government's response. More files dating from the 1950s and recent events will be released over the next four years.

Joining us to discuss this in London is Nick Pope. He ran the British government's UFO project at the Ministry of Defense from 1985 to 2006.

Also in London is Bob Rosamond, chairman of the British UFO Research Association.

In Spokane, Washington, Peter Davenport, director National UFO Reporting Center.

And in Washington, Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Halt, retired from the Air force. He sited a UFO in 1980 while he was deputy base commander at Brent Waters Woodbridge Base in Suffolk, England.

Nick, what do you make of all of this? What's in these files?

NICK POPE, FORMER OFFICIAL, UK MINISTRY OF DEFENSE: Well, this is extremely exciting news here in the UK. It is a massive story. What we've seen is the first step in a three to four-year program to release the government's entire archive of UFO files. Now, some of the material in there and what we have got just in this first batch of about 2,00 pages of documentation -- some of it's quite mundane.

But in amongst those reports, we have got some absolutely fascinating cases. A lot of UFOs seen by police officers. We have got some cases where pilots have seen UFO. And we have got a really amazing case where a UFO was tracked on military radar traveling 10 nautical miles in 12 seconds.

KING: Bob, why did the government release these files? The French government, I know, they released some documents last year. Governments have always kept it secret, the United States included. Why now do you think now, Bob?

BOB ROSAMOND, CHAIRMAN, BRITISH UFO RESEARCH ASSN.: I don't really know. Perhaps from a cynical point of view, it is a good PR exercise. It's the Ministry's opportunity of showing the world, hey, we have got nothing to hide. Here's all of our files on UFOs. The motive, the reason could be anything, to be honest. Why now, I really don't know.

KING: Peter Davenport, will this tend to put naysayers away?

PETER DAVENPORT, UFO EXPERT: It's still heresy evidence. I find it interesting that the release follows hot on the heels of the Vatican just yesterday, I think it was, stating that they felt it was OK to believe in aliens and UFOs and life elsewhere in our galaxy. This is an interesting one-two punch.

KING: Lieutenant Chuck Halt, the only one of our panel, I guess, who's seen one. What do you make of it?

CHUCK HALT, RETIRED UNITED STATES AIR FORCE: I find it quite puzzling. Why is this being spread over four years? It doesn't really make sense to me, unless the volume is so great it takes that long to preview it.

KING: What do you think, Nick? Why four years?

POPE: Well, yes, that's the point. Under the Freedom of Information act -- and by the way, that's one of the reasons why the Ministry of Defense have decided to release this. The MOD get more FOI requests on UFOs than any other subject. So the administrative burden of dealing with that has been so big that the government decided it's better to just take all the files and put them in the National Archives, so that in future people can be referred there.

But, of course, there are all sorts of exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. Personal information of witnesses, classified information such as, for example, the capabilities of military radar systems. And some poor desk officer has to go through all of this material -- and there are tens of thousands of pages of this. I mean, it is an absolutely massive job. So we're going to get maybe half of a dozen files every month for the next three or four years.

I mean, I know it's taking a long time. But of course, as you would expect in the Ministry of Defense, there are all sorts of competing priorities.

KING: Bob Rosamond, has the British UFO Research Association had many, many, many reports over the years about sightings?

ROSAMOND: We have a substantial archive, actually. We have somewhere in the region of 12,000 to 15,000 case files going back as far as 1925. So it's quite a substantial amount of documentation, quite possibly more than the Ministry itself has.

KING: Peter, why has this been in the United States and prior to this in Great Britain some dark secret? Why won't the United States release anything it knows?

DAVENPORT: Yes, a lot of people conjecture on that, Larry. None of us even serious-minded UFO investigators knows the answer to that question. But it is an intriguing question. Of course, Belgium and Chile and France and now England, to a degree the Soviet Union, and now Russia have all to one degree or another opened their files on this subject.

I would look to the United States government now to do the same. And what I would like to see somebody senior in the U.S. government, in the military and intelligence communities, say to its people, if you know anything about the UFO phenomenon, you are free to talk to the press and to the American public. That would solve the problem in a hurry.

KING: Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Halt retired from the Air Force, sighted a UFO in 1980. We'll hear one of his tapes when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Colonel Halt, as you know, made an on the scene sighting when he was a lieutenant colonel in service in the United States. He made a tape while he was investigating the scene. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALT: There was no doubt about it, there's some type of strange flashing red light here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a yellow tangent in two.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Weird.

HALT: It appears to be making movement a little bit this way. It's brighter than it has been. It's coming this way.

It is definitely coming this way.

Now we've an object about ten degrees directly south, ten degrees off the horizon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One's moving away from us.

It's moving out fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Colonel halt, how were you treated by the powers that be after this report was filed?

HALT: Well, I was treated with respect, but everybody kept me at arm's length. Nobody wanted to get too close or too deeply involved.

KING: Why?

WHY: Well, let's face it, there's a stigma that comes with this. Very few people are willing to speak out and tell the truth. It's just too awkward, you're criticized.

KING: Do you think the British government's actions might lead to somebody in the United States?

HALT: I would certainly hope so, but the situation here is a little different. Keep in mind, there are at least half a dozen or more intelligence agencies that have their own -- how should I say -- files, programs, whatever. They share when convenient. They trade when convenient. And they withhold from each other.

KING: Do you look in the sky a lot?

HALT: Do I look in the sky a lot?

KING: Yes, now.

HALT: No, no. I don't belong to any organization or any magazine or whatever.

KING: But you are convinced you saw something that wasn't an airplane.

HALT: I definitely saw something that can't be explained. Excuse me.

KING: Nick Pope, give me an example of a report you have seen in Great Britain.

POPE: Well, we had -- this is a report that's been in the public domain for a while, but just to show the sorts of spectacular cases we do get, we had a sighting from a commercial airline pilot who saw two UFOs estimated as being almost a mile long. And this thing was actually tracked on radar. There was a primary radar return.

Then a few years before that, we had a case with a UFO flying over two military bases in England, seen by numerous police and military witnesses. One of the Air Force officers described this thing as vast triangular-shape, moving from a virtual hover to a speed several times that of a fast jet, just in seconds. And this is an Air Force officer with eight years' experience talking to me.

KING: We have a question from a caller in Mobile, Alabama. Hello.

CALLER: Hi, Larry.

KING: Hi. CALLER: I was wondering if there's any data in the files relating to alien life forms or is it all the data strictly regarding unidentified flying objects?

KING: Good question. Bob Rosamond, in your files, do you have anything relating to alien forms?

ROSAMOND: In our files, yes. Before we have vast number of files with reports of encounters of alleged alien beings, entities and alleged abduction experiences.

KING: Do you believe them?

ROSAMOND: Pardon?

KING: Do you believe them?

ROSAMOND: Before our strictly objective organization, it's not about belief. It's where the facts and the evidence takes you.

KING: Peter, do you think the events in Great Britain will open up things in other places?

DAVENPORT: It's an encouraging sign, Larry. It may suggest that there's a movement afoot to mete out information piecemeal, maybe to prepare us for something that the government knows and would like to have us know more about. But that's pure conjecture. We have been saying the same thing for now well on 61 years that it's just around the corner. So it's an encouraging note, I would say, but I'll wait to see if the U.S. government responds to this at all. It will be interest to see what the Vatican has to say about it, too.

KING: Do you think their reasons would be national security?

DAVENPORT: It's hard to know. That's what everybody gravitates to. Everybody says, well the government is not feeding this information to the American public because they're afraid we'd panic. That doesn't make an ounce of sense to me, frankly. I don't think we would panic. If you look at cartoons every Saturday morning, to my eye about 90 percent of them have to do with alien life and spaceships and so on and so forth. There may be some other reason they're doing that.

KING: More on the UFO files. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back. Chuck Halt, do you think we'll ever know the whole story?

HALT: I rather doubt it. I think we have gone too far down the road and we're not going to get the story.

KING: So we'll -- we'll never know it?

HALT: I won't say never know it. If something strange lands in Times Square and the White House lawn, I suspect we'll find out something.

KING: That would be nice. Nick Pope, we hear that the Pope's astronomer said today that alien beings are a product of god's creation. Did that surprise you? Is that news?

POPE: Yes, it is made quite an impact over here in the UK. I mean, I welcome statements like that and I think it is interesting that the two things have happened so close together. I mean, just picking up on the idea of cover-ups and conspiracies, I should say that if people are expecting in these ministry of defense files to find definitive proof of extra terrestrials, they'll be disappointed. But they can find, I think, whether they're skeptics or believers this -- they'll find things which raise important defense, national security and flight safety issues.

By the way, I should say to anyone who wants to actually look into these files, it's on the UK National Archives Web site, which is NationalArchives.gov.uk/UFOS. They have set up a dedicated Web site for this. And this whole subject, I think, this move, I greatly welcome this move. It's going to propel this subject really into the mainstream.

KING: Want to repeat that Web site again, Nick?

POPE: It's NationalArchives.Gov.Uk/UFOS.

KING: Bob, when you get reports, what do you do with, you just file them? Look into them? What do you do?

ROSAMOND: No, we conduct a thorough investigation. Initially, we receive e-mail communication, sometimes a phone call from a witness with an experience or a sighting. We get them to file an initial report, which gives us solid data work from. And from there, we go into a detailed investigation, uncovering as many possible stones to get to the answer.

KING: Peter, same thing I asked Chuck. Do you think we'll ever know the whole story?

DAVENPORT: I think we will, Larry. In fact, I published an article about four years ago with regard to the use of passive radar for detecting UFOs. It is the answer to resolving the UFO issue. As soon as we get one of those system built, I think we'll be in a very good position to take the monopoly away from the U.S. government on UFO information. And if people would like to share their sighting reports with the National UFO Reporting Center, I'd invite to them to write out just a paragraph or two describing their sighting of a suspected UFO and submit it at UFOCenter.com.

We're a service organization to the American people. We provide a place for them to call. And when they send us information, we post it publicly, so everybody may know what information we've received. Anonymously, of course.

KING: Chuck Halt, you mentioned landing in Time Square. I guess it might have to take that that for it to happen. If it does happen, we'll have it on first, OK, Chuck? And you'll be on with us that night.

HALT: Sounds great to me, Larry.

KING: In fact, we'll fly you to Times Square to interview the first alien landing there.

HALT: Great.

KING: And fly in the Pope's astronomer, too. Thank you all very much for enlightening segments on this extraordinary story out of London today. .

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

2008-05-13T23:21:00.000-06:00

The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures.

The interview was headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother." Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.

Air controllers reported UFO: British papers

2008-05-13T22:17:00.000-06:00

The men were air traffic controllers. Experienced, calm professionals. Nobody was drinking. But they were so worried about losing their jobs that they demanded their names be kept off the official report.

No one, they knew, would believe their claim an unidentified flying object landed at the airport they were overseeing in the east of England, touched down briefly, then took off again at tremendous speed. Yet that�s what they reported happened at 4 p.m. on April 19, 1984.

The incident is one of hundreds of reported sightings contained in more than 1,000 pages of formerly secret UFO documents being released Wednesday by Britain�s National Archives. It is one of the few that was never explained.

The air traffic controllers� ��Report of Unusual Aerial Phenomenon�� was filed from an unspecified small airport near the eastern coast of England.

The men, each with more than eight years on the job, described how they were helping guide a small plane to a landing on runway 22 when they were distracted by a brightly lit object approaching a different runway without clearance.

��Everyone became aware that the object was unidentified,�� their report said. ��SATCO (code name for a controller with 14 years experience) reports that the object came in �at speed,� made a touch and go on runway 27, then departed at �terrific speed� in a �near vertical� climb.��

The incident is one of the more credible in the newly public files because it was reported by air traffic controllers, said David Clarke, a UFO expert who worked with the National Archives on the document release.

��They were absolutely astonished,�� he said. ��It was a bright, circular object, flashing different colors, and after it touched down it disappeared at fantastic speed. The report comes from very qualified people, and it�s one of the few that remained unexplained.��