Summer 1979/80 – Olton, Birmingham – Silver Cigar UFO Formation Sighting
Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Release Date: 14/03/2023
Author: Dave Hodrien
In January 2023 I was contacted by a lady named Nina Scott via Facebook messenger. She wanted to discuss a couple of sightings she had experienced previously in her life. This report documents the first of these sightings, which took place in Olton, Birmingham.
Sighting Details
The incident happened on a bright and sunny afternoon in the summer of either 1979 or 1980 when Nina was 8 or 9 years old. At the time her mother worked at Olton Hollow, a line of shops which leads to the edge of Acocks Green. She and her mother had been doing some shopping in the area, and were now walking South East along Warwick Road towards where they lived.
Nina happened to look up into the sky and noticed a number of unusual objects. At a sharp angle of about 70 degrees, there were 7 identical looking disc-shaped objects lined up in a row. Each one was reflective silver in colour and cigar-shaped (at least from the angle they were viewing them). They appeared to be at very high altitude and were completely static. There was only wispy cloud at the time so they could be seen quite clearly.
She pointed the objects out to her mother, and they both started to glance at them as they continued walking up Warwick Road. The objects certainly looked unusual and Nina is certain that they were solid objects in the sky, and were not a formation of aeroplanes or helicopters.
After watching them on and off for a number of minutes the objects were hidden from view behind a cloud. After the cloud passed by the witnesses expected the UFOs to still be present by they had vanished without trace.
Nina says that the memories of the incident have remained with her for over 40 years. It certainly seems to have made a lasting impression.
Sighting Analysis
This is an intriguing sighting due to the appearance and positioning of the objects. It seems improbable that they were an optical illusion in the sky caused by reflection of sunlight. The incident happened decades before drones were commercially available, so this cannot have been the explanation.