Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 12/09/2021
In July 2021 an elderly gentleman named John Harwood got in touch with me via Facebook after reading one of my other case reports to discuss a sighting he had of numerous UFOs back in the 1960s.
Sighting Details
John thinks the incident took place in 1965, although he cannot remember the time of year. At the time he and his wife owned a small clothing shop in Colchester. One morning they drove to Colchester to pick up some dresses. John’s wife drove, John was in the passenger seat. It was a clear, sunny and still morning with barely a cloud in the sky.
They were on their way back to Ipswich travelling North East along London Road and just about to drive over the railway bridge. There were a few other cars on the road but it wasn’t particularly busy.
Suddenly John noticed a glowing oval-shaped object in the sky off to the the left of the car in the North North East. It appeared to be motionless and was at an angle of 45 degrees elevation. Thinking it looked unusual he got his wife to pull over the car so he could get out and take a better look.
The object appeared to be about 1000 feet up and approximately 100 feet across. Initially he thought it must be a weather balloon catching the suns rays, but it appeared to be too still in the sky for this, too bright and seemingly too large. It looked like it was self-luminescent and had clearly defined edges. John’s wife got out and also started watching the object.
They observed it for about 3-4 minutes, expecting it to start to move in a direction. Sadly they did not have a camera on them so were unable to attempt to photograph or video the UFO. They then noticed two smaller glowing oval shaped objects off to the right of the main one and slightly below it. John estimates each of them was 20 feet across.
Over the next 8-10 seconds they watched as the two smaller ones headed towards the larger object at a steady speed and straight course. They seemed to converge into the base of the main object and disappeared from view.
Next they noticed another individual smaller object, this time off to the left! Again it flew towards the main object and seemed to enter or converge with it.
They continued to watch the main object for another minute. There was a flicker of light, then the main object seemed to shrink in size before vanishing from sight. The couple could barely believe what they had just witnessed! They got back into the car and continued their drive home.
Afterwards they did not tell their family or work colleagues about the incident as they felt that they would not believe them. However many years later John and his father happened to be standing on the bridge where the incident had taken place. John’s father worked for Samford council. He mentioned what had happened, expecting his father to laugh. However instead he seemed to believe him, and informed him that it was a known corridor for sightings of UFOs!
Sighting Analysis
This is a very interesting sighting involving multiple unexplained objects. They could not have been normal aeroplanes reflecting the sunlight due to the length of time the main object remained stationary for. Helicopters also seem unlikely. John says that at the altitude they were at he would have seen some structure to them if they were helicopters. The manouveres of the smaller objects seemingly merging or entering the larger one is not something which helicopters would do. Also 360 Radar confirms that the area does not lie within any air corridors:
This incident took place back in the 1960s, way before drones, solar airships and Chinese lanterns.
It was a bright sunny day, so the objects cannot have been ball lightning. Earth lights tend to only occur over rural areas, so seem very unlikely. There is the possibility that the objects were multiple balloons or other inflatables reflecting the sunlight. There were no dramatic manoeuvres such as instant changes in direction, and perhaps when the main object seemed to vanish it had moved to a position where it was no longer catching the light. Maybe the objects were closer and smaller than they appeared to be.
However there are many aspects which point away from this explanation. Firstly the fact that the main object hovered motionless for a good number of minutes while other objects around it approached from different directions does not sound like a naturally drifting inflatable. If the smaller objects were inflatables being lead towards it on air currents then it is very probable one of those currents would have caused the main object to drift too.
The manoeuvres observed throughout the sighting appeared deliberate and under control. All three of the smaller objects ended up converging into the base of the main object, seeming to enter it. Their flight paths were straight and direct, there was no random drift or change in speed.
There is also the fact that the main object seemingly vanished in a clear sky. There were very few clouds for it to have hidden behind. If it really was self-luminescent as it appeared to be then why would it have suddenly disappeared? This aspect suggests that it either flew away extremely quickly, or disappeared out of the visible spectrum. Either of these would point away from it being a large inflatable.
Looking into the facts of what occurred, I certainly feel there is the possibility that this was a genuine sighting of multiple craft, perhaps numerous smaller craft which docked with a larger craft before leaving the area. The witness has no reason to fabricate this incident and came across extremely trustworthy in the details he shared with me. It is good to get this historical sighing on record.
Unfortunately John’s wife has since passed away so I am unable to speak with her about her recollection of events. As this was a daylight sighing for a number of minutes there is the chance that there were other witnesses elsewhere who have yet to come forward.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2021