top of page

Summer 1966 – West Heath – Rectangular UFOs Sighting

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report

Author: Dave Hodrien

Release Date: 04/04/2022


In late March 2022 Sheila Winnall, an elderly lady from Knowle, got in touch with me via Facebook Messenger about an impressive UFO sighting she had back in the 1960s. As she lived in the local area I decided to drive over to visit her to discuss the incident face-to-face. This report is based on her detailed recollection of the incident.


Sighting Details


Back in 1966 Sheila was 24 years old and lived in Kings Norton. On a day in late summer she and her 3 year old son had gone round to stay at her parent’s house on Pitclose Road in West Heath.


It was between 7-8pm. Her parents were downstairs at the time. Sheila had just put her son to bed. As it was a pleasant and dry evening outside she decided to look out of the front bedroom window (something she would do regularly). When she did so she immediately became aware of two objects hovering in the sky to the South East.


Aerial map of Pitclose Road indicating the house and direction the objects were seen in

The sun was low in the sky but due to the time of year it had not set. The house lay on a corner of the road, with a view to the houses on the opposite side of the street. In the sky visible beyond these houses she was amazed to see two rectangular shaped objects. They were positioned one above the other. They had a similar appearance, but the lower object looked significantly larger than the other. It was impossible to tell whether this was because it was closer or actually bigger in size.


The main body of the objects was dark in colouration, possibly dark grey. Along both of the objects was a line of brightly glowing round white lights or windows, giving them the appearance of two floating train carriages. They appeared to be at quite low altitude, approximately 50 feet off the ground. Sheila thinks they were quite close, within ¼ mile of her position. If they were indeed at this distance she estimated that the lower object was about 25 feet across by 7 feet in height.


Witness drawing of the UFOs over the rooftops

Sheila had previously looked into the UFO subject and immediately felt that these objects were alien craft. With this realisation she felt that they were aware she was looking at them. She began to back away from the window, calling out for her parents at the same time. There was a camera in the house, but sadly she did not have it to hand, and she was too amazed by the presence of the objects to think about taking a photograph in the first place.


Ground level photograph of the sighting location in the direction the UFOs were situated

Sheila stared at the objects for at least several seconds, which felt much longer at the time. Then without warning they both instantly accelerated and shot away into the distance to the South East! They had vanished from sight in less than a second. This extreme manoeuvre confirmed to her that what she had just witnessed was highly unusual.