Spring / Summer 1972 – Tividale, Dudley – Black Cigar UFO Sighting

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report

Author: Dave Hodrien

Release Date: 05/08/2025

Witness Malcolm Ratcliffe reached out to me via Facebook Messenger in June 2025. He wanted to cover a number of incidents with me – a sighting he had in Dudley right back in the early 1970s, and two more recent sightings of a silver coloured triangular UFO by both himself and his wife. This report covers the sighting from Dudley, the other sightings are covered in a separate report (Link towards the end).

Sighting Details

Back in 1972 Malcolm was only 10 years old. One day in either Spring or Summer he and his 6 year old brother Chris were on their way to the shops on City Road, Tividale, Dudley by themselves.

Aerial map of City Road indicating the position of the shops

 It was between 12-2pm. The weather was cloudy, but with some gaps through which the sunlight shone. The boys were walking along the cut through at the North Western end of West Avenue. It was quite quiet and there were no other pedestrians around at the time. This location is at the summit of one of the hills of Dudley, and back then it gave a clear view over the surrounding area to the North West (since then new housing has been built partially obscuring this view).

Aerial map of the cut through at the top of West Avenue

Modern photograph of the cut through

Suddenly something compelled him to turn around. When he did so he immediately saw a large object hovering over Dudley Castle two miles to the North West. It appeared to be about 50 feet long and 10 foot tall and was black in colour. The ends of the object were rounded. There were no visible markings or windows. From the sunlight reflecting off its surface it was possible to tell that it was curved rather than flat.

Aerial map indicating the position of West Avenue (A) and Dudley Castle (B)

Witness drawing of the UFO/UAP

The UFO/UAP was completely motionless in the sky. Malcolm pointed it out to Chris and they both stood there looking at it. It remained present for about 5 minutes. Then suddenly without warning it shot away to the North North West, heading away from them. Within a second it had disappeared into the distance!

Photograph of Dudley Castle

 They both continued their walk to the shops, but once they got home Malcolm told his parents what they’d seen. According to him his parents checked the newspaper and TV in the days following the incident but nothing was ever reported.

Sighting Analysis

Due to the appearance of the object and the manoeuvre it performed this is a fascinating daylight sighting. If it wasn’t for the fact that it suddenly shot away into the distance I would have suggested that what Malcolm and Chris witnessed was a large balloon/blimp. However the speed it departed puts this explanation out of the question.

It could not have been an aeroplane due to the fact that it remained stationary for 5 minutes. It was the wrong appearance for a helicopter, at two miles away the shape of this would have been obvious. Also it seemingly accelerated too quickly for this possibility.

This was of course a childhood sighting, but Malcolm is adamant about what he saw and is certain it was highly unusual. It has remained with him all these years and even led to an interest in the UFO/UAP subject. He says that his brother does not really remember the incident due to his younger age.

This is not the only time Malcolm has seen a UFO/UAP. Much more recently he has observed a triangular shaped object, which was also seen at a later date by his wife. Click here for the report on these two sightings.

Copyright Dave Hodrien 2025