Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 08/12/2020
Last Updated: 09/12/2020
In November 2020 UFO witness Russel Newland mentioned his sightings on the UK UFO Sightings Facebook group. Intrigued by his comments, I decided to get in touch to discuss them in more depth. Russel has had three very different experiences over the years, all of which have been in the presence of other witnesses.
Autumn 1983 – Flying Triangle Sighting
Back in 1983 Russel was 22 years old. He used to spend time with his friend Matthew, who lived on Green Lane in Hazlemere. Just South of Green Road is a recreation ground with flood-lit tennis courts. Russell and Matthew would regularly walk across this as it lay between Green Road and the main town centre.
One evening in the autumn around 8pm they were making their way across the ground heading towards the town. Due to the time of year the sun was starting to set. It was also misty and drizzly that evening, but there was some light coming from the nearby flood lights so it was bright enough to see the surroundings.
They were talking amongst themselves and about half way across the ground. Suddenly there was a loud whooshing sound similar to a fast jet of water. They both stopped walking, wondering where the sound was coming from. Looking around and over their heads they could not see anything. All of a sudden a massive black triangular shaped object flew right past them from right to left, no more than 20 feet away from their location! Russel estimates it was about 30 feet across. It was so close they could feel the rush of air currents coming from it.
The object was only a few feet off the ground and flew on a straight and level course. It was only seen for a second as it went by so fast, but both witnesses observed it. Russel says that it appeared to have depth to it and was equilateral in shape. There were no markings or lighting observed on it.
Both witnesses stood there in shock and disbelief at what had just happened. They then quickly ran across the remainder of the ground to reach Amersham Road as fast as possible. That evening they ended up going to a local pub and sat there discussing what they had witnessed.
The following day Russel went to the library to see if he could find out anything particular about the recreation ground, for example something which had been built there in the past, but was not able to find anything of interest.
The shape and colour of the object seen fits in with it being a Flying Triangle, one of the more commonly reported ET craft. Due to its large size and speed of movement it is very unlikely to have been something mundane such as a kite or novelty-shaped balloon, and it was quite clearly present as it was witnessed by both of the men.
One of the fascinating aspects of this sighting is how close the UFO was to the ground considering it was on the move. Usually when craft descend to this sort of altitude this is done for the purpose of landing.
Unfortunately Russel has not kept in touch with David and has no current way of getting hold of him, so I am unable to speak with him regarding the incident.
Spring 2005/06 – Glowing Sphere Sighting
By 2005 Russel had now moved to Watford, London and worked as a gardener. He lived quite close to the Warner Bros Studios. One day in either April or May of 2005 or 2006 he was on his way home in his van at about 3pm. It was a bright sunny day with a clear blue sky.
He came off the M25 motorway at Junction 19 and travelled along the slip road heading towards the roundabout which would enable him to get on to the A41. As he drove he noticed a bright glowing light hovering in the sky to the North East seemingly over the Studios.
As he approached the roundabout he saw that there were a couple of cars stopped there. He pulled up behind them and got out. One of the other drivers was standing next to his car and looking up at the sky, clearly also observing the light. He said to Russel “Look!” and pointed up at the object. Now that he was stopped he could get a better look at it.
The object appeared to be spherical in shape and glowing extremely brightly. It was at an angle of 50 degrees in the sky from their position, and appeared to be at quite high altitude, perhaps a mile up. If it was indeed at this height then Russel estimates it was about 30 feet in diameter.
“Yeah I see it. What is it?” Russel asked the other driver. He responded “I don’t know.” He then confirmed that he had been looking at it for about 2 minutes. Another car pulled up behind them. There were now four witnesses all looking at the UFO.
After about a minute without warning the object suddenly massively accelerated and shot vertically up into the sky out of sight! Russel and the other man were amazed at what they’d just witnessed. There was nothing more they could do than just shrug at each other, get back in their vehicles and continue on their way.
Russel says that about a week after the incident there was an article in the Watford Post which said that about 20 other people had also witnessed the object.
11th March 2020 – Unexplained Lights
Russel now lives on Chadwick Street in High Wycombe. He used to work in a charity shop. Occasionally people would hand things in which they were not allowed to sell on for safety reasons. Someone had handed in a laser pen and Russel had kept it.
Around 11pm on 11th March 2020 he was just saying goodbye to the house cleaner. Before leaving the cleaner mentioned seeing some coloured lights reflected on the fire place wall. She assumed that this must have been from a fibre optic lamp which Rusell owns. However he was in the process of packing up his belongings at the time and had this already boxed up, a fact which she realised at the front door. The laser pen then came up in conversation and Russel got it out of the drawer to show them how I worked. He stepped outside on to the front drive and shone the laser at a fence on the far side of the road. He then turned to his left and shone it into the sky in the distance to the South East.
Immediately the laser went off. He tried to switch it on again but it didn’t come back on. Then the house cleaner noticed some strange lights seemingly coming from inside or behind the clouds in the direction Russel had shone the laser in. She exclaimed “Oh my god what’s that?” which drew Russel's attention to them.
The lights were green, mauve and orange colours. They didn’t appear static but seemed to blend and with one another. From their position they were at an angle of about 35 degrees in the sky. They were moving slowly in a straight line to the North East in the direction of Amersham. There was no sound heard, although they were of course distant. Both Russel and the cleaner attempted to take pictures of the lights on their phones. Russel says his photograph did not come out well so he did not keep it. Below is the photograph the cleaner took:
As you can see this is not really show anything definite, but according to Russel the dark blue colours seen towards the lower centre of the image are linked with it.
The witnesses watched the lights for about 40 seconds as they slowly moved across the sky. They then entered an area of denser cloud and were lost from sight. When Russel went back inside the house the laser pen started working again. He returned outside a second time and again it went off. He went back in and it again was fine.
Russel got in touch with the house cleaner and asked her to get in touch with me. She provided the following written statement about the incident:
"I was visiting with Mr Newland on the evening of 11th March 2020 to drop off some shopping. While talking I noticed flashing lights of various colours behind him on the wall (opposite the front room window). I initially thought it was an ornamental display that had been there previously. I was rather taken/distracted by the colours and mentioned it at the time (he was packing up to move at the time, all of the display had been packed away in boxes so no ornaments were present). As this was rather a strange thing we joked about it and I left.
As I left the property we noticed in the sky above, just to the left a UV blue/purple haze hovering. Quick to react Russ grabbed a green lazer pen from just inside the door, and joked and waved it at the hazey light. Both lights flickered, the green lazer pen then stopped working and the UV haze started to move away and dim. The lazer light then resumed the beam. Spooked at what was once a bit of fun, I took a picture of it before it faded then I left and went home."
It's worth noting that there are a few discrepancies between her recollections and Russel's. Firstly she describes the lights as being purple and blue in colour, as opposed to the green, mauve and orange lights that Russel remembers. Also the cleaner suggests that Russel grabbed the lazer pen to shine at the lights on purpose, as opposed to him shining it randomly at the sky before noticing the lights. I queried Russel on these discrepancies and he confirms that her recollection of events is a little different to his own. This can often happen in multiple witness cases and is nothing to be concerned about. It is clear that both witnesses are describing the same event and that it took place. But what could be the explanation?
Sometimes glowing areas of light seen in the sky can be the result of British Rail detector trains which shine a light upwards after dark to look for damage on electrical wires. The light is always electric blue in colour, similar to the colour recollected by the house cleaner. However the section of railway line around High Wycombe is not electrified. Also the lights were moving to the North East whereas the railway line runs in a South East East direction. These points mean that a detector train is unlikely to be responsible.
Another explanation in some cases for lights seen on clouds are light displays from night clubs. However Russel has confirmed that there is no night club with lights like that in High Wycombe. Also this took place at the start of the first Covid-19 lock down, so therefore any night clubs would have been closed at the time.
With these two explanations both very improbable, the cause of the lights remains a mystery. It is unlikely that the laser pen switching off had anything to do with them, due to the distance. It is possible there was some local interference at the time which was causing this to occur, or it may just have been coincidental and due to a fault.
Conclusion
As you can see, Russel has had three very different experiences, two of which clearly involved physical objects displaying incredible movement capabilities. It is great that all of his sightings were witnessed by others, as this goes some way towards confirming that they took place. Unfortunately as previously mentioned I am unable to speak with the second witness of the Flying Triangle as Russel lost touch with him, and he did not take any contact details down of the other drivers who witnessed the glowing sphere over Watford. I have asked to speak with the house cleaner who also witnessed the coloured lights but so far she has not got back in touch. If she does then a statement from her will be added to this report.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2020
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