Summer 1981/82 - Bentilee, Stoke-On-Trent – Cone-Shaped UFO Intercept
- Chairman Dave
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 04/08/2026
Sometimes speaking with one experiencer leads to further cases coming to light. In July 2026 I spoke with a man named Shaun about his UFO and contact experiences (Click here to view his report). During the investigation he mentioned that his close friend Paul had also had a fascinating sighting of a possible military intercept of a UFO back in the early 1980s. I arranged for a video call with Paul in early August to discuss.
Incident Details
In the summer of 1981/82 when Paul was 11-12 years old his father decided to build a pond in their back garden of their house in Bentilee, Stoke-On-Trent. He was a fisherman and decided he would catch some fish to populate the pond. Situated between Bentilee and Fenton Industrial Estate is an area of open grass-covered fields known as Berryhill Fields. Half way across the fields is a pond known as Tiddler’s Fishing Pond.
One clear and still evening his father decided to head out to the pond, accompanied by Paul and his younger brother Matt. It was a very pleasant, warm and still evening. They began walking across the fields from the North Eastern side.
Paul says that they had only been walking for about a minute when they suddenly heard the roar of jet engines. Looking up and to their right they saw two dark grey coloured military fighter jets travelling in a South East direction. But the jets were not alone.
Ahead of them moving in the same direction was what appeared to be a tall cone-shaped object with a rounded base. It was dark grey in colour similar to the jets, and appeared to be about twice the size of them. Coming from it was brightly flashing multi-coloured lights. Paul says “all the colours were coming from it, it was phenomenal! Reds, blues, greens, yellows, whites, the whole bloody shebang!”
The object was rotating anti-clockwise, not particularly fast but at a constant speed. It was moving the same speed as the jets, giving Paul the distinct impression that they were intentionally tailing it rather than trying to catch up.
He exclaimed “Hey dad! What’s that? What’s that?” However his father appeared completely in denial, looking down at the ground. He said “They’re fighter jets.” Paul responded “No – What they’re chasing. What they’re flying after.” Matt said "I see it! I see it as well!" But his father continued to act like there was nothing unusual going on.
They watched as the object and the jets flew on a level and straight course to the South East passing from right to left in front of them. Paul says the jets were not flying at full speed, he estimates about 150 mph. They seemed quite low down, perhaps 1000 feet up.
After a couple of minutes both the UFO and jets were lost from sight behind Park Hall Gas Holder situated at the edge of Park Hall Country Park on the junction between Dividy Road and Anchor Road. The Gas Holder was demolished in 2018, and has now been replaced with Top Gear Stoke used car dealer.
Paul says that he told Shaun about what happened soon afterwards, and that the incident has remained clear in his mind, almost like it happened yesterday.
Incident Analysis
This fascinating sighting represents a potential military intercept of a UFO. The object was clearly not a normal aircraft or helicopter of any kind. The incident happened decades before drones were in commercial use.
If it wasn’t for the speed of movement I would have suggested that it was a novelty balloon potentially brightly reflecting the sunlight making it appear to be flashing multiple colours, and tumbling as it drifted on an air current. Paul is convinced that the colours were coming from definite lights on the object rather than reflections but it is important to remember that he was only 11/12 years old at the time. This possibility cannot be entirely ruled out.
However, the object was being tailed by the two jets, and all three flew right across the sky. Even if the jets were flying particularly slow they would of course easily catch up with a drifting balloon. The fact that they did not meant that the object was moving the same speed as them, far too quickly for it to have been a balloon. It also seemed very sizeable, about twice as big as them, meaning it was likely about 120-150 feet in length.
Regarding the way that Paul’s father acted during the sighting, Paul says that he has always been this way and actively ignores things he cannot rationally explain.
I have investigated cases of cone-shaped UFOs before. If this genuinely was an intercept of an advanced craft, then it is unknown how long the jets had been tailing it for. The most likely RAF bases they could have taken off from would be RAF Sealand, approximately 40 miles North West West of Bentilee, or RAF Woodvale approximately 60 miles to the North West (RAF Sealand closed in 2006).
Unfortunately, without a more specific date that the incident took place on I will be unable to raise a Freedom Of Information Request with the Ministry Of Defence. I am also unable to discuss the incident with Matt as Paul has not spoken with him in many years.
However, after speaking with Paul and seeing the way that he described the incident on video call I am convinced it took place as he described. I would like to thank him for taking the time to go over the incident and get it down on record. If you have any information relating to what took place, please get in touch.
Paul has also had a sighting of an orange orb in the winter of 2025. Although this likely has a mundane explanation, the details can be viewed in a separate case report here.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2026
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