04/11/1974 to Summer 2022 – Stourbridge, Stourton, Halesowen – Orb, Disc & Cigar Sightings
Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Year: 2023
Last Updated: 29/09/2026
Nigel first got in touch with BUFOG in January 2023. He wanted to report numerous UFO sightings he had experienced right back to his childhood. I arranged a Facebook Messenger chat with him to go over everything in depth.
04/11/1974 – White Orbs
In his younger years Nigel used to live on Bells Lane, Wordsley, Stourbridge. He had his first sighting in the mid 1970s when he was 10 years old. When he reported the incident to me he believed it took place in October/November of 1973. However, I have good reason to believe the incident actually occurred on 4th November 1974 (see later).
Nigel has always had an interest in astronomy. Previous he had always used binoculars to stare at the sky. He was very familiar with how satellites and distant aircraft looked after dark. He recalls seeing white orbs of light which suddenly shot away or performed right angle turns on numerous occasions.
In 1973 his parents bought him a telescope. One evening around 7pm he and his friend Dale (now sadly deceased) headed into the back garden to sky watch. It was a cool but clear evening and the stars were fully visible. After they had been out there about an hour Nigel noticed a bright white orb of light slowly ascending in the sky to the East/South East. It seemed to have come up from the ground Suddenly at an elevation of about 40 degrees it came to a halt. He pointed it out to Dale.
Initially the boys thought it was a helicopter. They stared at it for about 15 seconds. Suddenly two smaller orbs of light seemed to emerge from either side of the main orb. They began rapidly flying around it in arcs like ping pong balls! They were totally amazed at what they were witnessing.
After about 15 seconds they then seemed to re-enter the larger orb. It then suddenly sped up to a fast speed and ascended at a sharp angle until it had vanished from sight. Nigel felt that the object had been under intelligent non-human control, and that they had put on this display directly for them.
Soon after the sighting Nigel walked Dale back home. Dale lived in a dark cul-de-sac so was afraid to walk back by himself at night. On his return walk a sense of calm came over him, he felt there was no need to be frightened. When he got back home he told his parents about what he and his friend had witnessed. They just stared at him without saying a word. He then headed back outside to see if the object would reappear but it did not.
The following evening he was sitting in the living room watching TV. The news show Midlands Today was on. The presenter mentioned that if you were looking to the East the previous night and saw something unusual this was very likely a rocket that had been launched from China. However, this did not seem to correspond to what he and his friend had witnessed. He turned to his father and said “That was no rocket!”
I asked Google AI whether China had any rocket launches in the autumn of 1973 to see if I could determine the precise date of this sighting. It confirmed that there were no Chinese rocket launches around this time:
However, as you can see, it does mention that there was a failed satellite launch on 5th November 1974. It’s very likely that this is the incident which Nigel saw reported on the news, meaning that he probably has the date wrong and the sighting occurred on 4th November 1974.
While the incident could easily be dismissed as the failed launch viewed from many miles away, there are aspects which don’t fit with this. The movement of the small orbs is obviously bizarre, while these could have been debris or flames moving around the rocket as it failed, the swooping arcing manoeuvres sound unusual. However, the main issue is that Nigel states the main orb came to a halt while the smaller orbs emerged from it for a good 15 seconds, and also then proceeded to ascend at a rapid rate. Logically the failed rocket would not have done this it would have either exploded or fallen back down to the ground. Therefore, I am inclined to agree with Nigel on this one – the failed rocket does not explain what was witnessed.
It was not an aeroplane as these need to move continuously, the object halted for long enough to rule this out. It was clearly not a distant helicopter due to the smaller orbs that seemingly emerged, and the speed it ascended at the end of the sighting. The sighting occurred decades before drones were available, and the movements observed were far too controlled to be down to lit inflatables being buffeted around in air currents. Although the incident occurred close to bonfire night, the fact that the main orb halted before ascending rapidly also rules out fireworks or flares.
Spring Mid 1970s - Grey Disc
The back of Nigel’s house faced South, with a view of the sky between two neighbouring houses. One early spring day within two years of the white orbs sighting Nigel was in the kitchen with his parents around mid-day. They were looking out of the window when they suddenly called him over saying “Nige look! There’s something here!”
He looked out of the window to see what they were observing. In the gap between the two neighbouring houses he could see a silvery-grey coloured disc-shaped object. It was positioned vertically and quite low down, probably only about 300 feet up.
The object was slowly rotating. After about 3 seconds it suddenly completely vanished. His parents exclaimed “I can’t believe that! It’s just disappeared!” They continued to watch to see if it would re-appear but it did not.
This is an intriguing sighting due to the appearance of the object and the way in which it vanished. It was clearly close enough for the witnesses to observe its shape and body colour. While distant objects reflecting light can suddenly seem to vanish when they change angle and no longer catch the light, this is not what was described by Nigel. It also did not move position in the sky so is unlikely to have been hidden by a cloud. It did not have the appearance of a distant aircraft. Clearly his parents thought it was something unusual.
Mid 1970s – Grey Cigar & Dark Spheres
Again between the age of 10-12 Nigel had a third sighting. One day he was visiting his friend Mick. They were both out in the back garden around mid-day. It was a pleasant day with patchy cloud in the sky.
Mick suddenly noticed a number of objects in the sky overhead. He pointed them out to Nigel. There was a cigar-shaped object, silver-grey in colour with no visible wings or tail. Positioned around it were a number of small circular dark coloured objects. The objects appeared to be several thousand feet up in the low cloud layer.
The boys watched as the objects moved towards a cloud and vanish from sight. As the main object moved forward on a straight course the circular objects slowly moved away from it in different directions. They expected the objects to reappear out of the other side but they did not.
Again the appearance of these objects rules out normal mundane explanations. While distant aircraft can sometimes appear as cigars, it is usually possible to make out the wings. Especially when viewed from below. And this does not explain the other smaller circular objects around it, or the way that all the objects vanished and did not re-emerge from the cloud travelling on the same trajectories.
1983 – White Orb
This particular sighting involved the parents of Nigel’s partner Joanne, both now deceased. In the early 1980s they lived in Kidderminster. One day in 1983 they had been out to the Black Country. It was after midnight and they were on the A449 driving home. They were close to the vicinity of a pub called the Stewponey in Stourton, which has now been replaced with apartments. Due to the time of night there were no other vehicles on the road.
Suddenly they notice a large bright white orb of light in the sky. It approached their location, and as it passed over the car both the engine and the radio cut out! They slowed down to a halt on the road. The orb seemed to have stopped in the air over the car. Nigel is unsure whether they looked up at it at all.
After a period of time the light seemed to vanish and at the same time the engine and radio in the car came back on. It had seemingly only been there for a short time, and the witnesses had no indication that anything else had taken place.
This incident has all the hallmarks of a genuine UFO experience. The fact that the car engine and radio cut out as the orb got within close proximity, then came back on after it had disappeared is compelling. It is extremely likely that the electrical interference was coming from the object rather than it simply being a coincidence. This also rules out mundane explanations for the light such as a helicopter with a searchlight or lit inflatable. It is unknown whether any contact took place. The witnesses did not feel that they had experienced any missing time, but as they did not confirm this by checking a clock both before and after the incident this possibility remains.
March-June 2020 – Silver Disc
Some point on a sunny day during the UK Covid 19 lockdown (which occurred between March and June 2020) Nigel was sitting in the back garden of his house relaxing. He looked up and noticed a disc-shaped object in the sky travelling in a Western direction. It was silver in colour and brightly reflecting sunlight. It did not appear particularly big in size, perhaps 10 feet across.
The object moved on a straight and level course and seemed to be flying directly and under control. After several seconds as it moved away from his location it suddenly seemed to shrink down in size and completely vanish!
Regarding this sighting, I do wonder if the object was some kind of novelty inflatable. Nigel does not believe this was the case but this cannot be completely ruled out. It was not very large and did not perform any advanced manoeuvres. There was no drift detected but if it was caught in an air current it could have travelled on quite a straight course. The way in which it seemed to shrink down and vanish is interesting, but what isn’t clear is how far away it was when it appeared to do this. If it had bright light shining on it but then moved into an angle where this reflection stopped this could easily give the impression of it suddenly disappearing.
Summer 2022 – White Orb
Not much is known at present about this particular incident. It occurred in Romsley, Halesowen. One evening in summer time Nigel’s sister had gone out to a pub there for a meal with some friends.
As she walked from the car park towards the pub entrance she saw a bright orb of light above the nearby trees. She pointed it out to her friends but a moment later before they got to see it the light vanished without trace.
This is obviously not a particularly impressive incident. It is unlikely it was a satellite as these move continuously and it sounds like this was something within the atmosphere. However, it could have potentially been a distant aircraft, drone or white coloured LED balloon which then moved out of sight or got hidden from view behind a cloud. If Nigel or his sister confirms more details in due course, I may be able to rule out some or all of these explanations.
Summer 2022 – Light Yellow Orbs
One night in the same summer Nigel and Joanne saw dim light yellow orbs of light travelling across the sky in a South Easterly direction. The objects seemingly arrived from different directions but then formed a loose formation and started to follow along after one another. They appeared to be at very high altitude similar to a jet airliner.
After travelling South East a while they then seemed to fade out one at a time in the same area of sky. They were moving slower that meteorites but all travelled at the same speed.
There are several possibilities for what was observed on this occasion. Firstly it is possible that Nigel and Joanne were witnessing the launch of a number of Starlink satellites. When launched these generally follow the same route but also get moved around using jets to position them, which could have been responsible for the movements observed. Maybe they faded out due to moving to a position where they were not reflecting the sunlight. Sadly we do not know the precise date of this incident at present, but there were numerous Starlink launches in July and August 2022, so its certainly plausible.
Sky lanterns are usually amber orange in colour so can be ruled out, but a number of LED balloons or drones flying to a drone show cannot be entirely ruled out. However I feel a Starlink launch is probably what was seen.
Summer 2022 – Thin Grey UFO
Later in the summer Nigel was sitting in the back garden with Joanne’s father. It was a bright and still day. Nigel looked to the west and noticed a grey coloured object in the sky. It looked like a flattened sheet of some kind. It appeared to be about the size of a hot air balloon (60 feet).
The object gradually approached from the North East and slowly flew over the garden and roof of the house.
From the sound of things, this object could well have been a floating thin sheet of plastic drifting on a slow air current. Nigel does not rule this out as a possibility as the wind often moves in a South Westerly direction where he lives.
Conclusions
Nigel has had a number of fascinating UFO sightings throughout his life, sometimes also witnessed by others. Sadly these other witnesses are either deceased or are not interested in speaking with me currently, so we only have his testimony to go on. However I have no reason to doubt that these incidents have taken place as he has reported them.
While some of the sightings may have been of mundane objects including inflatables and Starlink satellites, others are more intriguing and have aspects harder to explain in mundane terms. If he gets back in touch some additional details may be added to the report.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2026
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