14/11/2019 and February/March 2021 - Cofton Hackett - White Orb Sightings
Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Ian Jones
Release Date: 03/02/2022
Russell Myers contacted Bufog to report two sightings he has had near to where he has lived for nearly 4 years in Cofton Hackett.
Cofton Hackett is a village 10.3 miles (16.6 km) southwest of the city centre of Birmingham and 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Worcester. The Lickey Hills are close by to the west and southwest and Cofton Park is to the north. The Lickey Hills include: Beacon Hill 298m, Rose Hill 285m, Rednal Hill 268m, Cofton Hill 263m and Bilberry Hill 260m. With an average elevation of 190m, the area is generally higher than the surrounding urban area, giving good views.
14th November 2019 Sighting
Russell reports the first sighting he had was on Thursday, 14th November 2019 at about 5.10 am. As usual at this early time of day, he was on his way to his job as a chef in Birmingham, walking to the bus stop. The historical weather records suggest it was partly cloudy/rainy after midnight and all morning, with cool temperatures. Russell is certain it was not raining. The wind was from the northeast at about 12-16 mph. Sunrise was at 7.26am that day.
As he walked to the bus stop, Russell describes seeing a huge, round, bright, white light in the sky. He was not able to estimate it’s actual size, or height, but thinks it looked about the size of a 10p coin held at arm’s length. A 10p coin does look fairly big at that distance. It was above the tree-line, and below any clouds, directly over Cofton Park. During the short time he saw it, it remained stationary and made no noise.
The line of streetlights was clearly visible below this object, but after he had walked about 50 metres, constantly observing it, it suddenly “blinked out”. This was not because it had been obscured by a cloud, which would have happened more gradually. He reports he felt shaken after this event. It happened so quickly and unexpectedly that he wasn’t able to get a photo of it.
Russell does not think it was an aircraft, or helicopter, because it made no noise and at that time of day, with little traffic about, it would have been audible. Also, the light was not flashing on and off with the usual navigation lights of an aircraft, or helicopter, and it was so bright that he could not make out any shape behind it. Then it just blinked out, without changing size, as he was observing it, which is not how an aircraft, or helicopter, disappears from view.
He does not think it was any sort of balloon, because it was such a brightly lit object and Sky lanterns/LED balloons are usually not so intensely bright or white in colour. Also, it did not move, despite there being a distinct breeze.
It is possible that it was a drone, but he thinks it looked too big, they do not usually have very bright white lights on them that obscure their shape and they make a noise. At such an early time in the morning, it is also a bit unlikely that someone would be operating one.
Nor does he think it was a star, or planet, because it was too big and bright and how it disappeared was so odd. Consulting the In the Sky website, none of the planets were visible in the sky at that time.
Was it the Moon? On this day the Moon was in a Waning Gibbous phase, which happens straight after the Full Moon, so it was almost full size. It rises later each night and can be seen in the early daylight hours setting towards the western horizon. At the time Russell had this sighting the Moon was at about 97% illumination. It set low in the north-western sky at about 9.12am, so it could have been clearly visible at about 5am. Russell reports that he didn’t notice the Moon, he was just focused on the odd light. He was regularly out at that time of day, so is familiar with the Moon and it’s phases and changes in appearance due to it’s brightness.
CONCLUSION
This is a “light in the sky” sighting. It appeared to be a self-luminescent object. How it disappeared was odd. Either it flew away incredibly quickly, or it became invisible in some way, which means it vanished from the visible spectrum. Either of these would mean it was certainly not anything conventional, therefore it would be in the highly strange category.
It is impossible to be certain what it was, given the relatively brief details we have, and the possibility that it was a drone of some sort cannot be ruled out. It was certainly unusual and worth reporting.
Since this first sighting Russell says that he started looking up at the sky more often when he is out walking, in case he sees anything else.
February/March 2021 Sighting
NOTE: This next sighting happened when there was a Stage 4 lockdown because of the pandemic, so there were hardly any flights happening and people were expected to stay indoors as much as possible.