Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 21/03/2012
Occasionally at BUFOG we receive details of things that don’t really involve sightings of actual aerial objects, but are just as mysterious. This report covers details of an unexplained yellow coloured beam of light that crossed the sky one early morning in 1987.
Incident Details
Back in 1987 Ruggerio (name changed for privacy reasons) worked as a post man in the area of Rowley Regis. One morning in either January or February he was on his way to work at 4.45am. He was on his bicycle so was pleased that it was a pleasant clear morning. He rode past the Rowley Regis railway station and began cycling down Avenue Road. He happened looked up into the star-filled sky to try and locate the stars that make up Orion. Suddenly without warning a beam of sharply defined yellow light appeared in the sky. It covered his entire view of the sky and went across the road at a diagonal angle. The beam appeared to be at a height of about 200-300 yards and was completely parallel to the ground. It was not pencil thin like a laser, nor was it large in diameter like the beam of a search light. Ruggerio estimates it was about 1/3 the diameter of a search light beam but this is hard to judge.
Aerial map of the incident location, with the beam drawn on top:
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After cycling past the junction of Cardale Street, he stopped at the edge of the road and continued to stare up at the beam. He blinked his eyes several times just to make sure it was actually present. Looking to his right he notice that the beam seemed to terminate in a blip of light to the North, although this could have been an optical illusion. There was no sound whatsoever and the beam did not move at all.
Photograph of Avenue Road in the location where the witness stopped:
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After about 15 seconds, Ruggerio had the spontaneous thought that the beam was about to vanish. At that precice moment it did! It was almost as if he had been made aware of its departure. There was nothing else he could do other than continue his route to work. When he got there he did tell one of the other postmen, but he was never asked about it again.
Incident Analysis
This is an absolutely bizarre experience and one which is very hard to explain. There are only a few possible mundane explanations for such a sight. The most obvious mundane explanation for the light was that it was some kind of laser beam from somewhere nearby, perhaps a night club. However if it was from somewhere permanent like this, then it would have been seen on other occasions by Ruggerio. It is unlikely night clubs would have had such lighting back in 1987, and even if they did this lighting would usually be aimed up into the sky not horizontally. If it were coming from something on the ground then you would expect the beam to be sloped downwards however it was not it was running parallel. Yellow lasers are also quite rare to begin with, and have only really become available in the last few years – they are usually green, red or blue.
If we discount the idea that it was coming from a building, what are we left with? The beam seemed much too strong to have been from a portable device, so it is unlikely it was shone from a window high up in the air out of view. It also seemed far too defined and thin to be shone from a search light, and why would a search light have even been on at that time of the morning? Again the angle of the beam would have been going up into the sky not horizontal.
It was clearly artificially created and not caused by strange atmospheric conditions. If it was from a helicopter then surely it would have moved not just shone for a good number of seconds then suddenly switched off. Also if it was as visible as Ruggerio claims, then the helicopter would have had to have been very close, at which point he would have heard the noise of its rotor blades, especially considering how early in the morning it was.
Was the beam coming from the blip of light visible in the sky to the North of his location? Or was that just an optical illusion or the beam reflecting off something in the distance? And what are we to make of the fact that he suddenly had the thought that the beam would go, and then immediately afterwards it did? Was this just a strange coincidence or did something more unusual take place?
This is a truly fascinating incident, and although we cannot state whether or not a UFO was involved, the beam of light seen was certainly unexplainable. If you have any further details on this or feel you may have seen the same thing yourself, either in Rowley Regis or elsewhere, please get in touch.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2012
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