12th December 2013 – Selly Oak, Birmingham – Glowing Orange Disc Sighting

Chairman Dave
Jun 10
3 min read

Birmingham UFO Group Report

Author: Dave Hodrien

Release Date: 08/01/2014

Last Updated: 10/06/2025

Note: For reasons of anonymity pseudonyms have been used

Sighting Details

At 4.30pm on the 12th December 2013, Karen and her friend were leaving the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. They were on the New Fosse Way which leads to Selly Oak.

Aerial map of New Fosse Way indicating the position of the witnesses

Due to the time of year it was already getting dark and the moon was visible in the sky. Karen looked out of the window to her right and noticed an unusual object in the sky. To the right of the moon at about the same height as it was what looked like a long flattened disc shaped object. It was glowing an orange-gold colour, which Karen assumed was due to it catching the light of the setting sun.

*Photograph from New Fosse Way in the direction the disc was seen*

At first she thought it was a cloud, but it had a very regular shape and there were no other clouds in the sky. She then wondered if it was a plane reflecting sunlight. But the strangest thing was that it was tilted at an angle of approximately 15 degrees rather than completely horizontal. Its length appeared twice the width of the moon in the night sky.

Karen and her friend observed the object for about 90 seconds as they drove along the road towards Selly Oak. The object did not move or change shape for the duration of the sighting. After this it was lost from sight behind buildings.

Sighting Analysis

I am convinced that Karen saw what she described. In her initial E-Mail to me she wanted to make it clear she was a retired professional and semi-sceptical of the UFO subject, not someone who would just believe anything at face value. But she cannot think of a mundane explanation for what she and her friend saw.

I do not believe it was a reflection of light in the window of the car due to the length of the sighting, it was observed for over a minute. It could not have been a sliver of the setting sun as there were no clouds surrounding it. Could the object really have been a large disc-shaped craft hovering in the sky? If so surely other people would have also seen and reported it, or even taken photographs or video footage of it.

There are numerous mundane possibilities for what was observed. The first of these is a lenticular cloud reflecting the setting sun. These are often similar in shape to what was described, and usually appear separately from other clouds, sometimes in a clear sky. This can make them look very unusual, especially if sunlight is reflecting off them. Below is an example of a lenticular cloud caught in the setting sun:

The slight angle in the above photograph is just a result of the angle of viewing. So perhaps this is precisely what Karen and her friend witnessed. Another possibility is that it was a mirage in the sky caused by the lighting conditions, although the lenticular cloud seems more probable.

It is unknown at present if there were any other witnesses to the object. Perhaps there are some who have yet to report their sighting. If you feel you may have seen this object too, please get in touch.

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