Summer 1952 – Wooperton – Silver Cigar Sighting

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report

Author: Dave Hodrien

Release Date: 30/07/2025

Several years ago I spoke with Ian while giving a talk at Probe Conference. We discussed a childhood sighting he had of a cigar-shaped object which was witnessed by him and his parents. In May 2025 Ian decided to get back in touch to get the incident officially down on record.

Sighting Details

Back in the summer of 1952 when Ian was 10 years old his father worked for British Rail at Wooperton Train Station, Alnwick, Northumberland. The line is no longer in operation, and the station officially closed in December 1954.

Map indicating the position where Wooperton Train Station used to be

Historic photograph of Wooperton Train Station

Ian lived with his family in the Station House. His father also ran the local Post Office from the same address. Even though the train line has been demolished, the house still stands.

Aerial map of Station House

Modern photograph of Station House

 It was a pleasant sunny evening in June or July. It was quite warm and still, with patchy clouds in the sky. His father was sitting at the living room table doing a crossword. He happened to glance up out of the living room window and noticed an object in the sky. He called out to Ian and his mother “Hey look at that!”

They rushed over to the window and saw an enormous cigar-shaped object moving silent over the roof of the house. It appeared to be metallic silver in colour. Ian cannot recall it possessing any markings, lights or windows.

 The three witnesses rushed outside to get a better view. The object was travelling to the West and was not making any audible sound. Ian estimates it was 500-1000 feet up and moving at around 120 mph. He believes it was about 200 feet in length.

Witness drawing of the UFO as it passed overhead

As it moved away from them it was occasionally hidden from view by clouds in the sky. They watched the huge object for about 5-6 minutes as it gradually made its way to the West. Ian says that his parents did own a camera which they used for holiday photographs. He does not know where this was at the time but does know that his parents did not attempt to find it and take any photos.

A bank of darker clouds obscured the summit of the Cheviot 12 miles away. It moved behind these and was lost from sight.

Aerial map showing location of Wooperton Station House (A) and Cheviot (B)

Witness drawing of the UFO moving towards the dark clouds

In the following days many locals visited the Post Office and conversed with his father. Ian found out from him that other people in the area had also witnessed it, but nothing was reported in the local newspaper to his knowledge.

If it was travelling on a straight course before the witnesses observed it then it would have come in from the North Sea around Craster, three miles North of Boulmer where an RAF base was situated at the time.

Estimated route of the UFO, with the location of RAF Boulmer indicated

Sighting Analysis

My first thought when Ian described this historic sighting is that he and his parents may have witnessed a silver-coloured airship/blimp crossing over the house and away into the distance. The shape, large size, colour, straight level course and speed would all fit this possible explanation.

According to online sources, airships and blimps saw a decline in popularity post World War II because of safety concerns brought on by previous accidents, such as the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, combined with the superior speed, range and payload of aeroplanes.

However, there were still some in operation. Here is an overview of a number of different types of airships/blimps which were flying over the UK in the 1950s:

Goodyear Blimps

Sometimes utilised for advertising at special events. One could potentially have been flown over Wooperton on its way to an event to the West. As the witnesses were viewing it from underneath and then from the rear, they would not have seen the wording on the sides.

However these blimps had clearly visible tail fins, and a cabin hanging underneath them, both of which would have been visible to the witnesses as it passed overhead and moved away into the distance. Even if Ian himself could conceivably have viewed one of these blimps as something more exotic due to his young age at the time, surely his parents and other local residents would have realised it was a blimp? For these reasons I find it improbable that this is what was observed.

The Bournemouth Airship

A non-rigid airship (blimp) supported by Bournemouth as part of the Festival of Britain. Based at RAF Cardington where a number of test flights were performed. Its first flight took place in 1951. It was meant to be tethered outdoors for public viewing, however a number of design issues prevented it from being used regularly.

Aerial map showing location of Wooperton Station (A) and RAF Cardington (Now Cardington Airfield)

 As you can see Wooperton is a completely different area of the United Kingdom to Cardington, and is also situated to the North of it. Test flights of the Bournemouth Airship would have only been performed in the local vicinity of the RAF base, they would not have flown it hundreds of miles up the United Kingdom. Therefore I find it extremely unlikely that what Ian and his parents witnessed was this.

Barrage Balloons

In World War II barrage balloons were utilised to defend ground targets from attacks from the air by raising steel cables. Post WWII some were still utilised as targets for nuclear tests or for parachute tests. However they completely the wrong shape for what the witness describes, quite rounded with large tail fins. Also they are not flown, but tethered, so cannot have been what was seen.

I asked Ian for his thoughts on the blimp/airship theory. He stated the following:

“I checked out some blimp pictures on the internet they were not the same as I saw. This object was long and shaped like a thick pencil. It had no wings or fins that could be seen and its power source was silent.”

The points he makes are all valid. He feels that the object he and his parents witnessed was thinner and had no visible tail fins. Also if it was a blimp then when he and his parents went outside to continue observing it they would have heard the sound of the propellers.

If the object was not a blimp or airship, what could it have been? It was clearly the wrong shape for an aircraft, as the wings would have been visible. A novelty hot air balloon seems improbable back in the 1950s, and surely the basket would have been visible underneath? The metallic colour of the object means an unusual cloud, such as a lenticular cloud can be ruled out. The incident took place decades before solar airships were commercially available, and the object sounds far too large to have been one of these.

Although the object did not perform any advanced manoeuvres there is still the possibility it was an advanced craft of some kind, possibly non-human in origin. However the idea that it was a blimp cannot be completely ruled out, despite the points described above.

Copyright Dave Hodrien 2025