Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 26/06/2023
Note: For reasons of anonymity a pseudonym has been used for second witness and precise location details have been omitted
In late June 2023 I was contacted by a lady named Charlotte B. by telephone. She wished to report a sighting of numerous unidentified objects she had seen over Great Barr in Birmingham back in July 2021. At the time of the sighting she did not really know who to report the incident to, but after recently discovering the existence of Birmingham UFO Group she decided to get in touch.
Sighting Details
On Saturday 24th July 2021 Charlotte had gone round to visit a friend who I shall call “Steve”. He lives in a second floor apartment with a South East facing balcony.
It was between 5-7pm and Steve was out on the balcony while Charlotte and her two sons were inside watching TV. It was a very pleasant and clear evening, with only light cloud. Due to the time of year it was still fully light outside.
Charlotte was half dozing off on the couch when Steve suddenly called her to quickly come and take a look at something outside. She got up off the couch and popped her head out to see what he was looking at.
Looking up at around 45 degrees elevation to the South East she could see a V shaped formation of 7 objects. They appeared to be around the height of the cloud layer, approximately 10000 feet. They were slowly moving right across the sky to the South West. Initially they looked black and she assumed they were a flock of birds.
However as she looked more closely she realised that the objects were silver in colour and appeared to be diamond shaped. Charlotte estimates that if they were at the height they seemed to be they would each have been at least 20 feet across. They appeared to be completely silent, but were of course quite high up.
After a number of seconds the formation seemed to separate. Four continued to the right while three at the left seemed to briefly halt. The four on the right approached a singular large cloud. As they did they suddenly started to rotate. At this point she realised they were quite flat in shape, as when they were viewed side on they looked thin and more disc-like. She also noted that on one side of them only was a circular shape. This looked clear, almost like a hole right through them, with clear sky visible behind. However they were only visible on the one side.
After rotating completely several times the four objects on the right then seemed to blink out one by one and completely disappear!
One of the three remaining objects seemed to move back to the left a short distance, then reversed and all three started moving to the right. Once again as they neared the same cloud they started to rotate and then vanished, just as the previous four objects had done!
In total the sighting lasted for about 30 seconds, although Steve had clearly watched the objects for longer. Charlotte had her smart phone with her, but was so transfixed on what was going on she did not think to attempt to record the objects. After they had gone she was annoyed she had not managed to capture them on camera.
While observing the objects she also called out to her sons to come and see too, but they did not react fast enough and by the time they’d got up and walked over to the window the objects had all disappeared from view.
Soon after the sighting Charlotte drew a sketch of what she’d seen with brief accompanying notes. You have already seen the sketch of one of the objects, but here is the complete diary page for reference (with name of second witness removed):
A couple of days later she informed her father about what she had seen. She looked online to see if anyone else had reported seeing the objects but found nothing.
Sighting Analysis
Although this is quite a distant sighting, it is still an intriguing one for a number of reasons. It seems very unlikely that the objects were a formation of civilian or military aircraft due to their appearance, the manoeuvres they performed and way in which they suddenly seemed to vanish one by one.
360 Radar confirms that the area does not fall within any airways, again lowering the possibility that the objects were normal aircraft:
Although birds can sometimes brightly reflect sunlight making them appear like silverish orbs of light, it seems unlikely that the objects were birds as Charlotte could see them clearly enough to make out their diamond shape and the circular shape on one side.
Charlotte stated that this circular shape appeared like a round hole through which sky and cloud could be seen. I suggested that it may have been highly reflective and instead of being an actual hole just clearly reflecting the sky within it. Charlotte agreed that this was certainly plausible, and this would also explain why it could only be seen on one side of the objects.
The shape of the objects and way in which they suddenly started to rotate I feel also rules out a formation of drones. However a mundane explanation which cannot be fully ruled out is that the objects were a launch of multiple novelty balloons from a nearby celebration or event. The shape of them does seem unusual, however balloons can of course start to roll over when caught in air currents.
The way in which the objects all seemed to vanish close to a particular cloud is an interesting aspect of the incident. I asked Charlotte whether the objects could simply have entered the cloud and been lost from sight, but she says they disappeared before they reached it. Also she and Steve continued to watch the sky for a period of time afterwards and none of the objects made a reappearance. Charlotte even wonders if there was a craft of some kind hiding within the cloud, and the objects were smaller craft which were docking with it.
While this possibility cannot be entirely ruled out, sometimes distant reflective objects can seem to suddenly vanish simply because they move to a position in the sky where they are no longer brightly reflecting the sunlight. It is also possible for objects to move out of visual range, again making it look like they have disappeared.
Unfortunately Charlotte has lost contact with Steve, so I am unable to reach out to him for a testimonial statement about the incident. After speaking with her about this I have no issue with this. Also she comes across as extremely trustworthy and I am certain that the incident took place as reported. As the sighting took place on a clear and sunny evening, she wonders if there are other witnesses out there who have yet to come forward.
Due to the fact that none of the objects performed any extreme manoeuvres, I feel that despite their unusual shape it is still possible that the objects seen were novelty balloons drifting across the sky. However I cannot categorically confirm this at present, so technically they remain unidentified unless any further information comes to light.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023
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