Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 18/10/2009
Introduction
With many UFO sightings, the object or objects seen are indiscriminate lights, or seen at such a distance that no clear picture can be made of them. However occasionally a sighting occurs where a great amount of detail can be made out. It is this type of sighting which Pete Sutton was lucky enough to witness in April 2009. Little did he know as he set out to walk the dog that he would see something which would change his views on UFOs for ever – what can only be described as two extremely unusual flying craft! Soon afterwards we would also discover that a possible sighting of one of these craft had also taken place two days before Pete's sighting.
But this would not be the end of his UFO encounters. Since April, Pete has had a number of other sightings, of both the same craft and other unexplained objects. This report will cover each incident in seperate sections.
UFO witness Peter Sutton:
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4th APRIL 2009 UFO SIGHTING
Pete lives in the village of Sedgley to the north of Birmingham. Late evening on the 4th April 2009 he decided to take his pet dog Jake out for a walk to the pub which lies on the far side of Sedgley Hall Park. It was around 10.35pm when he set out. The moon was clearly visible in the night sky, and the weather was very clear and still. There was nobody else around so it was very peaceful. The entrance to the park lies just around the corner from Padarn Close where Peter lives. As he walked along the path he glanced to his right at the moon above the tree tops. It is then that he noticed an orange glowing light to the right of it, hovering in the sky. He assumed at the time that it must be a police helicopter or the air ambulance which regularly can be seen flying between RAF Cosford and Birmingham Accident Hospital. After a few seconds he lost sight of it behind the trees.
Photograph in direction where Pete saw the orange light:
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Continuing along the path he entered the park and began heading up the gentle slope. It was quite dark with the moon giving the only light. The park is split into two grass fields. As he was half way along the upper field of the park, he happened to glance around to take a look at the night sky. Due to the height of the park it is possible to see towards the west between the trees.
Satellite map of Sedgley Hall Park showing location where sighting took place:
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It is then that he noticed two brightly glowing large orange lights in the sky to the North West West. The lights were slowly coming towards him. He estimated they were travelling at around 35mph and around 200 feet in the sky, climbing slightly. Peter is a pilot so is adept at determining relative distance, height, speed and size of objects. At a distance the lights looked like they were next to each other.
Photograph at sighting location in direction where UFOs came from:
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He continued to stare at the objects. As they approached he realised they were like nothing he had ever seen before. They were now about 300 feet above ground level. He could see now that one object was about 300 metres behind the other and to one side. They were illuminated by the moonlight and looked metallic medium grey in colour. He describes them as being wedge-shaped with a curved top which was split into separate segments akin to a barrel. All the corners and edges on them were rounded. He estimated they were around 30-40 feet long by 15-25 feet wide. He immediately believed them to be craft, more than likely extraterrestrial in origin, as they were so unlike anything he had seen before. They were approaching slightly to the south of his position, and from the edges that he could see, vivid orange and red coloured light was being emitted. This light was in alternating red and orange squares and appeared to be flowing out of the side of the objects continuously and falling down for quite a distance before fading. He believes this was a form of waste energy being dismissed. They had a wide orange light running along the front of them. He feels that the reason for this could have been to create negative energy to slow down the craft. They were completely silent even when relatively close to his position.
Witness drawing of one of the objects, showing light being emitted:
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Sketch showing object shape from a side on angle:
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Pete was completely astounded by what he was witnessing but felt no fear. He held his arms apart in awe as the objects flew close by past his position. The dog did not appear bothered at all by the craft. As they past they began to change direction until they were heading in a North Easterly direction. He kept watching them above the trees and could now make out the backs of the craft which were “cut off” and flat. Each had a row of four red lights on the back. Suddenly the light being emitted from the side of the object faded and then both dramatically increased in acceleration. Peter estimates they must have accelerated to hundreds of miles an hour. Within seconds they had completely vanished from sight.
Looking back in the direction which he had seen the objects come from, he saw a large fireworks display going on in the distance. He assumed it was taking place out near Lloyd Hall Farm a couple of miles to the NWW. It was so far from him that he could not hear the explosions, he could just see the show.
Satellite map showing estimated area of fireworks display, location of witness and path the UFOs took:
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About 10 seconds later he heard the distant noise of jet afterburners being fired. Staring to the north he could make out the red flashing navigation lights of at least two military jets. He estimates they were about 10 miles North East of Wolverhampton. These lights were moving towards the direction the objects had been seen to go in.
Photograph at sighting location in direction UFOs flew away:
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Pete was absolutely amazed at what he had just witnessed. He felt certain that he craft were extraterrestrial and that the military had known about their presence and attempted to intercept them. He excitedly walked home and told his wife all about what he had seen.
The middle of the following day, Pete decided to ring West Midlands News. They informed him that there had been a number of other sightings which had been reported, and that someone from Sutton Coldfield also had a photograph. He also contacted the Express & Star newspaper.
Pete checked the news on television and radio for the next couple of days but there was nothing about any UFOs. He rang West Midlands News back on Tuesday afternoon to enquire as to what had happened. They informed him that all reports and information they had received on the UFOs had been erased from their computer. They could not understand this at all and did not know who to blame.
Sedgley and the surrounding area is in the restricted flight area for Birmingham Airport. So Peter decided he would next ring Birmingham Approach Flight Control Tower to enquire about the UFOs. He got through to a young man. Below is the transcript of the call:
P: I want to talk to someone about the inurnment in your restricted area in your North Western sector on Saturday evening. M: It wasn’t you was it? It caused loads of trouble here. P: Definitely not. M: If you want to speak to my manager ring back in 30 minutes.
Pete rang back after half an hour and got on the phone to the manager. He said the same thing to him but the manager completely denied that anything had taken place.
After driving out to meet Pete to discuss his sighting, I too decided to contact air traffic control at Birmingham Airport. The person I spoke with informed me that there had been no incursions into their air space on the evening of 4th April. I also contacted West Midlads News to see if I could obtain any details on the other reported sightings which had been mentioned. Unfortunately as Peter did not get a name when he rang up, they could not locate the same individual for me.
On Friday 17th April, Pete’s sighting appeared in the Express & Star newspaper, alongside another sighting which took place at West Midlands Safari Park. This other sighting does not appear related to what Peter saw.
Express & Star Newspaper Article
Saucer in skies to join pasties
Friday, April 17, 2009
Builders working at West Midlands Safari Park were shocked to see a flying saucer soaring above them. Duane Woodhouse says he and three workmates saw a UFO passing overhead at 7.30am yesterday.
The 25-year-old, of Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton said: "There were four of us on the building site when we saw this thing in the sky. It was like a flying saucer, a disc shape. We were all totally shocked, we didn't know what it was. I've never seen anything like it before."
A spokesman for Birmingham International Airport said they were not aware of any reported sightings and did not have any aircraft flying over the park near Bewdley at that time.
On April 4, two UFOs shaped like Cornish pasties were spotted flying over Sedgley. Peter Sutton saw the bright orange objects moving in the sky near his home in Padarn Close. The Royal Mail driver says he is convinced they "were not of this earth". They were travelling from the direction of Wombourne and he watched them make their way towards Wolverhampton at 10.35pm. The 59-year-old said he could clearly see the orange surfaces of the pastie-shaped objects.
Pete also paid for an advert and sent in a letter to the paper. Both appealed for other UFO witnesses from the local area to come forward. Two previous witnesses did contact BUFOG as a direct result of reading Pete's letter (See later).
MOD Freedom Of Information Request
Shortly after speaking to Pete about his sighting, I sent the following request to Freedom Of Information at the Ministry Of Defense:
"I would like to request any information you have on military jet operations or training exercises (To include the reason for these operations or exercises) which took place on Saturday 4th April 2009 around 10.45pm in the airspace North East of Wolverhampton / North of Sedgley, Birmingham. I have heard from a contact that it is unusual for military jets to be flown in this area at this time of night due to the noise levels."
I received a reply on 1st June 2009 stating the following:
"From available records held at Headquarters Air Command for Saturday 4 April 2009, I have been unable to trace records of any RAF jet operations around 10:45pm in the airspace North East of Wolverhampton/North of Sedgley, Birmingham. For completeness I have approached the Royal Navy, who informed me that none of their jet aircraft were in the area you asked about at the time you mentioned. I have also confirmed that the Army do not have any jet aircraft.
It is possible that there were civilian aircraft movements around 10.45pm on 4 April in the areas you mentioned. Airspace policy for civilian aircraft is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)."
As you can see from this reply, the MOD have stated that there were no military jets in the area at the time of Pete's sighting. Does this mean that he mistook one or more civilian aircraft for military jets? Or is it yet more evidence that a cover up regarding this incident has taken place? Pete is adamant that he heard afterburners being fired, which would not have occured if the aircraft were civilian.
A Previous Sighting?
A sighting of a UFO which I believe was possibly the same as what Pete saw occurred in Sedgley two days prior to his sighting. It was 5.40pm on Thursday 2nd April 2009. The two witnesses, Steve and Hayley, were driving to the shopsthrough Upper Gornal towards Sedgley. It was a clear sunny day with a bit of cloud cover. Hayley first spotted the object in the distance ahead of them off to their left. It was metallic grey in colour, and had an elongated shape with curved edges. From their position there appeared to be no lights, wings or markings on the object. It was stationary and hovering in the sky. Due to the distance they cannot say whether or not the object was silent.
Hayley exclaimed “What’s that up there? What is it?” and Steve who was driving then also sighted the object. About ten seconds later it suddenly accelerated and rapidly moved across the sky to the right, descending slightly until it disappeared behind a row of houses. The witnesses said this was much too fast to be a normal aircraft or something drifting in the wind.
Witness drawing of the UFO and its path on top of a photograph of the sighting location:
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They continued driving, and as they passed the houses, Hayley caught sight of it between them. The object had stopped moving and was once again hovering still in the sky. Unfortunately they were in traffic so could not stop the car and once again lost sight of the object. Hayley did try to look for it again half an hour later on their return journey but could not see it anywhere.
As you can see this sighting has numerous similarities with what Pete Sutton witnessed. The colour and smooth curved shape of the object both fit with his description. Hayley and Steve did not see any lights on the object, however it was daylight so maybe the lights were switched off, or were not visible due to the sunlight. The sudden controlled acceleration of the object matches what Pete witnessed towards the end of his sighting. Hayley and Steve did not see any flowing light/energy coming from the object, however Pete himself mentioned that before the two craft he saw picked up speed and flew away this flowing light/energy actually stopped, it was only when they were travelling slower that it was visible.
Due to the movement pattern observed it is very unlikely to have been an airship, balloon or other inflatable. It moved from a stationary position extremely fast and then became completely stationary again. This suggests it was under intelligent control. Its appearance confirms that it was not a conventional aircraft or helicopter. The fact that this object was seen in the same local area and only two days prior to Pete’s sighting suggests that this was an initial sighting of either the same or a similar craft, and that they were present in the area for a number of days (or at least returned to the area).
Other Newspaper Article
Express & Star, 10th September 2009:
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Although the objects seen in this sighting moved towards Sedgley, I do not believe they are the same craft that Pete saw. From the limited information available I believe the objects could well have been Chinese lanterns. These appear as orange orbs of light, are often launched simultaneously and can move around randomly in the sky depending on whether they are caught in gusts of wind or not.
31ST MAY 2009 UFO SIGHTING
Late evening on Sunday 31st May, Pete decided to walk to Sedgley for a drink at his local pub. It was a clear and dry night and the stars were out. He decided to walk through Sedgley Hall Park, along the public footpath amd past the location where he had seen the two unusual craft back in April. On many evenings since that incredible night he had come to the park to skywatch, in the hope of having another sighting. Towards the top of the park is a grass-covered track which leads to the village. He reached this and decided to stop and stare at the sky for a number of minutes.
Overhead view of park showing location of grass track:
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Suddenly he noticed an object coming in from the West and heading in an Easterly direction. It looked different to the craft he had seen in April. It looked like a black delta-shaped object which blocked out the stars. As it got closer to his position he could see it was shaped like an elongated triangle. The back of the object was curved inwards like a half-moon. Despite looking different in appearance to the craft back in April, it again had reddish-orange energy falling out of the left side of it. Pete estimates the object was 80-100 foot wide. It was flying at low altitude, around 500 feet high. It was moving at roughly 50mph. He tried taking a photograph of it on his mobile phone but sadly due to the darkness only got a red glow, which he believed was the energy coming from it.
As he watched, the object turned and altered its course to head in a Southerly direction. When it did this he could no longer see the energy coming from it. Either the energy had stopped falling from the object or it could not be seen due to the angle he was now viewing it at. As it continued on it’s course away from his position, Pete could now see a row of five white strobe lights on the rear of the object. These flashed roughly every few seconds, in much the same way that wingtip lights on an aeroplane strobe on and off. He continued to watch until it flew out of sight behind the lie of the land.
Pete was astounded that he had experienced another UFO sighting, and believes that this could possibly have been a sighting of the infamous “Dudley Dorrito” – a triangular shaped craft seen numerous times in the area. However the fact that it had similar electrical energy pouring from it tends to suggest it was in some way related to his previous sighting in April. At least to my knowledge, none of the other sightings of the "Dudley Dorrito" have described this falling energy. As you will find out later in this report, this would not be the last time he would see this particular object, which Pete again believes was certainly an extraterrestrial craft.
31ST AUGUST 2009 UFO SIGHTING
Pete and his wife own some horses that they keep in some local stables, half a mile to the West of their home in Sedgley. The stables are next to some open fields. About 5pm on 31st August 2009 (which was a bank holiday) they decided to go and check up on the horses. They both walked out to the stables. When they reached them, they met up with the owner of the stables. While his wife chatted with the stables owner under a tree, Pete stood out in the open next to the stables, looking up at the sky and watching a flock of sparrows. It was a nice evening, dry with patchy cloud, through which he could see blue sky.
As he watched the birds flying through the air, an unusual object caught his attention. He saw what looked like a black disc-shaped object flying at very high altitude. He estimates the object was at least 20000 feet high and was within a mile of his position. It was moving in a South-Westerly direction on a straight flight path. If it was at the altitude it appeared to be, Pete estimates that it was moving over 600 mph, and was at least the size of an airliner.
The object appeared to be tipping back and forth on it’s axis, diagonally one way then diagonally the other way roughly every couple of seconds. When it tipped one direction it appeared to almost go invisible, Pete believes because of the angle he was looking at it. This made the object appear to continuously vanish then reappear. He believes it was possibly doing this to avoid being detected on radar.
It was moving at a fast speed across the sky. He watched it for 10 seconds before calling his wife so she could see it too. However by the time she had walked over to him, the object had disappeared into the distance.
This is an interesting and unusual sighting. Pete is very good at judging distances and relative sizes due to his piloting skills. Therefore we must assume that the object really was very high up, large in size and moving at a very fast speed. This means it is unlikely to have been debris or an inflatable object drifting in the wind. Pete says the tipping motion of the object looked very controlled, and feels certain it was doing this on purpose. It is unlikely the object was space debris re-entering the atmosphere as this would descend rather than fly on a horizontal course, and would also glow as it burnt up. These facts means that the object will currently remain unidentified, but has the possibility of being an unusual craft of some kind.
26TH SEPTEMBER 2009 UFO SIGHTINGS
On this particular evening, Pete would have three sightings of craft/objects he had seen before on previous occassions, as well as a fourth unidentified sighting! The weather was again clear and dry, so Pete thought it would be an ideal evening to go for a skywatch at Sedgley Hall Park. At 9pm he decided to drive up to the top of the park, and parked his car on the grass track. He took two of his pet dogs with him and let them run around as he stood by the car and watched for activity in the sky. He also had with him a two-way radio, which he used to send out a communication in the hope that any ET craft in the area would hear it and approach his position.
At approximately 9.15pm he saw one of the same objects he had seen back in April coming in from the West. It was between 1000-1500 feet high and moving at at least 50 mph. When he first spotted it, it was at least a mile from his position. Again he could see the orange and red “waste energy” falling from the left side of the object. The energy appeared to be drifting like material would, and for the first time Pete got the impression that perhaps it was running down material of some kind rather than free falling from the craft. The object followed the same course as his previous sightings – first heading to the East then shifting its course and flying out of sight to the South. Pete tried taking a photograph of the craft on his phone but it was too dark and nothing came out. He watched the craft for about one and a half minutes before it was lost from view.
Half an hour later, he watched another object of the same appearance approach, again moving on the same course. Pete wonders if it was the same craft and it had circled around. This certainly seems a good possibility due to the fact the identical path it flew on. Again like before it flew away to the South out of sight, and did not appear to communicate with him in any way.
At about 10pm Pete noticed a very bright white light coming from the South West at a very high altitude. He wondered if it was a normal aircraft. He continued to watch it for a couple of minutes as it got much closer to his position. Suddenly the light went out, and he could see absolutely nothing where it had been. If it was a normal aircraft there would have been some other lights still visible but whatever it was had either completely vanished or had no other lights on it and was too dark to see against the sky.
Soon after the sighting of the white light, Pete decided to drive the car back to his house, and then head out again on foot through the park on his way to Sedgley for a drink. As he walked back through the lower part of the park and reached a bend in the footpath, he noticed something in the sky, flying away from his position towards the East. He immediately recognised it as the delta-shaped craft he had seen back in May. It had the familiar row of five white strobe lights on its rear. It was at a low altitude, no more than 500 feet. It remained visible for about 30 seconds, during which it gradually turned towards the South, before it was lost from sight.
Overhead view of park showing approximate location of witness:
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Pete wonders if ths craft was investigating him personally, and if this sighting, and the earlier ones in the evening, had anything to do with the radio message he had broadcast.
Conclusion
Pete's sightings are absolutely stunning, and after speaking with him numerous times I am convinced that he is not making up these incidents. Pete owns his own light aircraft and is a pilot, so he is certainly experienced at identifying conventional aircraft of different types. The description of the craft he has seen obviously differ wildly from any form of known aircraft, military or otherwise. Peter is not trying to make any money out of his stories, he just feels it is important that people know about them. He comes across as a very level-headed and honest individual. The amount of follow up work that he did to try and find out whether anyone else saw the craft back in April is another sign that he is telling the truth.
Some of the objects Pete has seen clearly appear to be unknown craft of some kind. Their appearance, size and speed that they accelerated to clearly means that they were not radio controlled objects, balloons or any conventional aircraft. I am certain that the witness did not imagine the objects and that they do not have any natural or atmospheric explanation. It seems extremely unlikely that they were top secret military craft in development – why would they fly them at such low altitude over a populated area?
As far as I am aware there have been no other documented cases reporting the type of craft that Pete saw initially (Although I’m sure there are some which have some similar aspects). So what are we dealing with here? Is this perhaps a brand new craft type that has not been witnessed before? Could the pilots be of a new species that have never been encountered? Why do the objects seem to be repeatedly visiting the same area? Pete believes that the craft were flying at such a low altitude to attempt to hide from radar. He also thinks that the reason they were in the area back in April was that they were drawn to or observing the fireworks display, as this was in the direction they came from.
There is evidence that there has been an attempt to cover up aspects of the initial incident. When Pete first contacted air traffic control the individual he spoke to certainly reacted like they had detected some unexplained activity in the area. However when he called back the manager 30 minutes later, he denied that anything had taken place and said that nothing had shown up on radar. This time between the two calls would have given ample time to come up with a cover story. Also were the reports that West Midlands News had taken on UFO sightings in the area removed from their computer on purpose to prevent the release of certain information? It could of course have just been an accident, but it is still an interesting aspect of the case.
It looks like there was military involvement and that they were aware of the objects. Pete says that although military jets are seen in the area, they usually fly during the day and would never fire their afterburners during night time hours as they are extremely loud. The jets that he saw to the north of his position flew off in the direction that the UFOs headed in. Could they have been attempting to intercept them?
There are of course outstanding questions regarding these incidents, questions which may one day be answered. What I can say is that these are some of the most impressive sightings I have looked into so far, and I hope that if they continue, Pete will be able to get some decent photographic or video evidence, as at the moment we only really have his word to go on.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009
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