Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Year: 2011
Last Updated 28/11/2024
On 21st January 2011 BUFOG was contacted by an anonymous individual who reported that he and a number of other witnesses had observed a lit triangular shaped UFO while waiting in traffic caused by a recent car crash. This report covers the incident and follow up investigation. The witness did not get back in touch so we only have the initial details provided by them.
Incident Details
At 11.55pm on Thursday 20th January 2011 the key witness was driving South along Albert Road in Quinton, Birmingham, travelling back home from his mother’s house with three passengers in the car. As they approached the crossroads between Albert Road and Castle Road West they found that an accident had recently occurred ahead of them and the road was blocked off.
They turned the car around, drove back up North, then headed South East along Wolverhampton Road before turning onto and heading West along Castle Road West.
Unfortunately when they reached the crossroads they found that they were once again blocked as the crash had occurred on the crossroads itself. While waiting in the traffic the key witness grabbed his mobile phone and took a short video.
Soon after stopping the recording he and the three passengers in the car observed a large triangular shaped craft travelling in a South East East direction towards Weoley Castle. It had a white light at each corner, and a pulsing red light at the centre of the base.
A short time after the police arrived at the scene of the crash, the craft greatly increased in speed and departed from the area in an instant!
Video Analysis
The key witness provided a short phone recorded video of the car crash from their position in the traffic. The witness believes that this video may have captured the UFO prior to it being spotted by him and the others in the car.
Below is a link the video footage the witness provided:
At both 2 and 7 seconds into the video a small orb of light can be made out in the sky at the upper right corner. Below are stills of these two moments, with the orb ringed:
However I believe that in both cases the “orb” can be explained as lens flare. The orb at 2 seconds is likely to be a lens flare from a nearby car headlight on the right which can briefly be viewed through the driver side window. It appears only when this light is most visible in the footage when not being shielded by the frame of the windscreen:
The orb at 7 seconds appears at the same moment that one of the blue police lights ahead starts to flash, and then gets brighter and dimmer several times at the same speed as the change in brightness of this light:
Therefore I do not believe the video footage shows the object the key witness described seeing.
Police Contact
I decided to get in touch with West Midlands Police via the net to see if anyone present at the crash reported seeing the same object as the key witness. Below is my message to them which I sent at 6.41pm on 21st January 2011:
Good evening,
Not sure what my rights are regarding information from the police but I think this is the right address to send this to - if not please forward. I am the Chairman of the Birmingham UFO Group (BUFOG). We investigate UFO reports from around the Birmingham area as well as further afield. At around 11.55pm on Thursday 20th January I was sent some information via our group's website from an anonymous individual. They informed me that at around 7.30pm there was a bad car accident at the cross over of Castle Rd West and Albert Rd, Quinton, Birmingham. They were nearby and moments later they (and 3 other witnesses) saw a large black triangular shaped craft with white lights and a pulsing red light underneath moving in the direction of Weoley Castle. As the police reached the scene of the crash, the craft apparently accelerated at massive speed and flew away from the area. I am wondering if the police had any calls reporting this object, or if the drivers involved in the crash also saw it (Was this the reason behind the crash in the first place?) I know you probably can't give me contact details of anyone, but has anyone reported this object to you or did any of the police who turned up at the scene of the crash see it? If so please can you send whatever details you are allowed to share? If you wish to forward my details on to anyone so they can get in touch directly then this is absolutely fine. Thanks for any assistance on this matter.
I received an official response from Sandwell Policing Unit at 7:49am on 22nd January 2011:
David,
Thank you for the email to West Midlands Police due to data protection police are not able to give you any information reference your email sent on Friday 21 Jan 2011. Please view our website www.west-midlands.pnn.police it explains how to obtain information under freedom of information. Thank you Sandwell Local Policing Unit
Incident Conclusions
The object described by the key witness certainly sounds like a “Flying Triangle”, one of the more commonly reported types of craft. I have investigated other cases of objects with identical shape and lighting configurations before, and this lighting does not fit with any known civilian or military aircraft. The majority of aircraft have white, red and green static lights and a white strobing light, as shown by the below diagram:
Unfortunately at this time of my investigative life I did not have access to Flight Radar 24, which could have confirmed whether there were any aircraft with transponders in the vicinity at the time. However the speed at which the object apparently left the area is another fascinating aspect which makes it highly unlikely to have been a normal aircraft.
This incident occurred before drones were commercially available so I do not believe a drone could have been responsible. The fact that the object had numerous lights on which remained in formation with one another even when it shot away suggests it was not a number of LED balloons drifting on an air current.
It is a shame that the video footage the key witness took did not show the object, as footage of it moving across the sky and then suddenly greatly accelerating away would have been fascinating to watch. However I would like to thank the witness for reaching out and providing this information.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2024
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