27th June 2015 – Essington – Dark Brown Cigar Sighting
- Chairman Dave
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Year: 2015
Last Updated: 25/06/2025
Sighting Details
Around 6pm on the evening of 27th June 2015 John was out in the back garden of his house on Bursnips Road. It was a pleasant and clear evening, and due to the time of year the sun was still high in the sky.

He happened to look up into the sky to the North and noticed an unusual object. It was long and cylindrical, and appeared to be dark brown in colour. The surface appeared non-reflective and there were no markings visible. There was no trail behind it and no audible sound. John estimates it was about 8-10000 feet up, about the same height that a mid-level plane would fly at. If it was at this height then it was about the size of a jumbo jet (250 feet).
The UFO/UAP seemed to be moving very fast, much quicker than a plane would fly at. It travelled on a straight and level course heading South, and was only visible for 8-10 seconds.
When he spotted the object he called his brother to come outside. By the time he was joined by him it was almost out of sight, but his brother still observed it for several seconds.
Later on John looked online but found no other reports of the object.
Sighting Analysis
This is an interesting sighting due to the unusual appearance of the object, apparent speed of movement and lack of sound. Sometimes at very high altitude aircraft reflecting sunlight can appear as glowing white cigar shaped objects. However this was not reflective and was a dark brown colour. If it had wings or a tail these would have been visible.
John says he is used to seeing aircraft in the sky travelling to or from Birmingham International Airport. However this object appeared to be moving much faster. He says it’s the “fastest thing he’s ever seen!”
However it is unknown whether it really was as distant as John believed it to be. Sometimes it is hard to accurately judge the height of objects seen in the sky where there is no point of reference. If it was closer then this would have made it appear larger and move faster than it in fact was.
If it was smaller and slower then a dark brown coloured solar airship may have been responsible. These are long cylindrical balloons which can be launched on sunny days and drift up into the sky. They are usually tethered but could potentially be launched untethered or break off and start drifting on air currents.

To counteract this argument, solar airships are usually black in colour. They also tend to rock/rotate while drifting, where as this remained horizontal for the duration of the sighting.
Although the object did not perform any advanced manoeuvres there is still the possibility it was an advanced cigar-shaped craft.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2025
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