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BUFOG Investigator Ian Jones's case report on the various sightings of a cylindrical-shaped object/objects over Rushden and Eastcombe in the mid 1970s (originally released back in April) has now been extensively updated with details provided by a third witness, again from Rushden, who came forward late last year. This additional information and the detailed analysis Ian has performed now points towards a potential mundane yet highly unusual explanation. Have a read here and see whether you agree with his conclusions.

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Ian Jones Release Date: 28/04/2023 Last Updated: 04/01/2024 This report covers multiple sightings of cigar shaped objects from various locations by independent witnesses. The initial witness from Rushden, a lady named Paula Moss, got in touch with BUFOG in the spring of 2023. The first version of this case report was released on 28th April. Later in the year a man named John from Eastcombe got in touch as a result of reading the report to discuss his own sighting. At this point the report was updated. Griff Chamberlain, a member of the East Anglia UFO Discussion Group, and another resident of Rushden at the time of the inicent, contacted BUFOG in November 2023 to say he saw something very similar to what Paula reported seeing. There are a number of similarities between the sightings which suggest they may well have been of the same object, and various viewpoints regarding what it may or may not have been. Paula's Sighting The Sighting: Occurred sometime between 1967 and 1973 The Time of Year: Sometime during the summer The Time of Day: Between 5.30 and 6 pm The Place: Rushden, Northamptonshire Paula lived in Rushden, Northampton, in the late 1960s to early 1970s. She cannot be more precise about the year when this event happened to her and her husband and neighbours. She was in her 20s. Their house at 28 Mallery Close, a cul-de-sac, was in a row of 4 semi-detached terraced houses with a gap down the middle, which gave access to the rear gardens. The area has changed since then, but the following pictures indicate the general nature of the area. Paula’s Testimony It was sometime during the summer months between 5.30 and 6 pm. It was daylight and no electrical items were being used. Paula reports that she was in the kitchen cooking a meal, when suddenly the pans on the gas stove began to vibrate and a terrifyingly loud roaring noise could be heard. Then the cooker began to shake and the house to vibrate and shake. She thought at first that the cause might be an earthquake, so she ran out into the back garden. The occupants of the other houses had also gathered outside, clinging to one another. Paula reports that the ground was actually shaking and the noise became more deafening and it seemed to be coming from above them, in the sky. However, initially there was nothing visible. Then it was a terrible shock as a huge “rocket shaped thing” came over the rooftops, really low so that they thought it would crash. Lengthwise it was like a passenger jet. It reminded her of a tube, rounded, but open at the back. It had no wings, or fins. The noise was incredible, overpowering, and there were masses of flames belching out of the tail end, which was round. The flames were enormous. She said “I think they were multi-coloured, but also invisible, which is mad, but I say that because I could see up into the rear end and the inside looked dark. What was strange was that it wasn’t going very fast somehow. Then it gained height, still not going fast. It was like a plane with no wings, or a sort of missile, just terrifying. I don’t recall seeing any markings on it. Suddenly, within a garden’s length, it went upwards at speed and was suddenly gone – flames gone, noise gone, vibration gone. There was complete silence as we waited for the explosion, that never happened. There was no smoke, or smell. We didn’t have any pets, so no problems with them.” She said it cleared the rooftops and seemed to be heading towards Chelveston Air Base. Just before the object disappeared, Ivor, a friend of Paula’s, who lived less than 2 miles away, ran into their garden. He had heard and seen the object at his house and followed it, either by car or motor-bike, from when it was over his house, to their house. “No air traffic, clear, if you get a map and can find The Hayway, or just Hayway, that is where Ivor lived. The object flew in a straight line diagonally from there to over our house.” Ivor worked at the US Upper Heyford Air Base and said he thought it was some sort of missile, or perhaps a plane was in trouble. After the event he phoned them to report the strange sighting and was told that there was nothing in the local air space. Paula emphasised that the object’s speed was unusual: “How it stayed in the air was remarkable, I would say too slow to be airborne, but I know nothing about planes. How it suddenly vanished even now sounds unreal. What I cannot understand is how Ivor managed to get to my house in time to see it shoot off! I think that is why we felt it would crash on us. So to blink out was probably scarier.” Paula’s husband confirms the event. He says it reminded him of the Doodlebugs he’s seen in war films, although not the size of the object, but in particular the loud roaring of the engine and the sudden silence after seeing it disappear from sight, and then expecting an explosion, which never happened. He thinks that either the explosives didn’t work, or they were not present. Paula commented “The whole row of houses was involved and with the noise many other neighbours no doubt, but weirdly it was never discussed. Like it was pretended it never happened. My husband and I had never spoken of it until I asked him which direction the airbase was in. It was like the thing dropped a feeling of 'that's OK nothing to see here.’ We have never spoken of it, even to our son, that in itself is probably weird.” She looked in the local press at the time, and also since then, to see whether there were any other reports of the object, but there have been none. She said that “It is unbelievable I realise, but I doubt I have ever been as terrified in my life as that day.” Paula moved away from Rushden to Buckinghamshire shortly after this, so lost contact with her neighbours. Ivor also moved away. General Analysis Paula’s sighting was a long time ago and she admits that there are some details that she is not certain about, or has forgotten, such as the date and year it took place. However, the core elements of the event – the loud noise, the shaking of appliances and buildings, the appearance of the object, the neighbours’ reactions, her friend Ivor turning up because of seeing the object as well – are the main elements that she does remember. On that basis, this is an interesting and unusual report. Based on Paula’s description, weather-related causes and astronomical causes can be ruled out. Similarly, Paula’s description did not suggest this was a conventional airborne object, such as a passenger aircraft, jet fighter, or helicopter, nor could it have been a glider, micro-light, balloon, blimp, etc. Factors that are significant in this report include: 1. The speed at which the object was moving. 2. The description of the object. 3. The appearance of intense flames from the rear of the object. 4. The loud noise it made. 5. The way it caused things to vibrate and shake. 6. How it disappeared, suddenly. 7. The location of the sighting, where it came from and was heading towards. 8. The lack of reports in the media from people in the local area. 9. The lack of confirmation of anything by way of an incident from the local air base. Focused Analysis 1. For such a reportedly large object (like a passenger jet, but with no wings) to be moving so slowly seems to defy the usual laws of physics. From the Hayway, where Ivor lived, to Paula’s house in a straight line, which is the track the object would have taken, is about 1.2 miles, as in the map below. For Ivor to have been able to follow it from his house via local roads, to Paula’s, according to Google maps, the shortest route was 1.5 miles, which would take about 6-8 minutes, depending on the traffic conditions. Paula can’t recall whether he used a car, or motor-bike, but both would have needed time to get started and then to be parked on his arrival at Paula’s as well. Adding in those factors, the time Ivor took to travel the 1.5 miles to her house and run into the back garden, at best, could have been about 10 minutes. However, this means that the object travelled just over a mile in 10 minutes, which is less than 10 miles an hour! Yet for Ivor to be able to initially hear and see the object and then to follow it as he drove along confirms that it MUST have been clearly visible and moving at a very slow speed, compared with any other usual flying object. Otherwise, he would have lost sight of it. At that sort of speed it should have stalled and crashed. Pauls says she has always been puzzled by this whole event, the slow speed of the object and the fact Ivor could have followed it at all. “I have never been able to explain the time factors or the slowness of sudden appearance…I cannot think you can explain it, because it sounds so impossible.” The approximate direction the object was moving in, from Hayway to Paula’s house, was from the NW to SE. Paula says she thinks it was going towards Chelveston Air Base, but this is more to the NE of where she lives, about 5 miles away. 2. As Paula says, her description is like that of a rocket, or missile, flying horizontally. As far as I have been able to discover, it is not likely that it was either of these things. Rockets take off vertically and do not fly horizontally, certainly not at the height Paula describes. Rockets cannot move at slow speeds, typically they move at hundreds of miles an hour, and they do not manoeuvre in flight. Accidental launchings of rockets do not happen. There were no rockets launched in this country at that time, even on a test basis. All rocket test launchings were conducted overseas, such as at Cape Kennedy in Florida in the USA, or at Woomera in South Australia. Regarding missiles, there had been, for example, the Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile system located at many sites in eastern England, but they were withdrawn from service by 1966. They were over 60 feet long and about 6 feet wide, but had to be launched vertically, their liquid propellant only burned for 3 minutes and they travelled at about 10,000 mph up to a height of up to 1100 miles! All testing was done in the USA. Short-range surface-to-air missiles, used for airfield defence, such as the Tigercat, were also located at many RAF airbases. They were heavy subsonic missiles that had a maximum range of over 3 miles. The altitude was limited to about 3,000 ft due to the low power of the rocket motor. Upon launch there was a dead zone of about 1,500 ft in which the operator had to actually see the missile whilst tracking the target at the same time. Then it was guided by radio. However, they were only about 5 ft long, 9 inches in diameter and had 4 wings that stuck out about 2 ft. All missiles at that time had wings and fins. From 1966 the Thunderbird 2 surface-to-air missile was 20ft long and less than 2 ft in diameter, with a wingspan of over 5ft. It travelled at about 2,000mph with a range of up to 46 miles. There were other, similar, missile systems around, but all were similar to those described above. Clearly, safety concerns would prevent a missile from being test- fired anywhere near such a built-up area. The procedure for firing a missile means it cannot be done accidentally. None of the missiles I have researched fitted the description Paula gives of the object she saw, specifically it’s remarkably slow speed, low horizontal flight and sudden disappearance. 3. Such military objects had markings on them, identifying their make and nationality. Paula says she saw no markings, or windows, on the object. However, perhaps it was some sort of fighter aircraft? So, where might it have come from? Air bases in the Northamptonshire area: RAF Upper Heyford is about 24 miles to the WSW, near Bicester. In 1965 RAF Upper Heyford became a ‘standby base’, before a USAF Tactical Reconnaissance Wing arrived from France in 1966 and the role of RAF Upper Heyford changed. It’s role from 1971 was to house General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark tactical strike aircraft, as in the next picture. RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, which is over 60 miles to the East, also had the F-111 fighter aircraft at this time. This aircraft was 74ft long, wingspan 63ft (32ft swept back), air speed up to 900 mph at sea level. It would have made a lot of noise. There is no reason to think the US Air Force would fly their nuclear-armed fighters low over residential areas. An aircraft such as the F-111 could have flown over the house, but it would have been flying a lot faster than the object was and it’s shape, markings and the way it disappeared do not fit in with Paula’s description. Her friend Ivor could not have followed it at all, by car or motor-bike. RAF Chelveston is to the NW, about 5 miles away. Again, this is not the direction the object was travelling in. It hadn’t been active during the 1960s. This was closed due to Department of Defence budget cut-backs in the early 1970s. RAF Croughton is 42 miles to the SW of Rushden. It was designated as part of the US Air Force Communications Service throughout the 1960s and 1970s. No rockets, or missiles were there. RAF Harrington was 18 miles to the NW of Rushden, but the buildings, runways and taxiways were demolished in the mid-1960s and it became farmland. Similar findings apply to other military airfields in England at that time. 4. Paula described the colours of the flames coming out of the rear of the object as being transparent close to the exit area, but then being multi-coloured. Also, she said they were belching out, suggesting a forceful, continuous blast. However, Paula says there was no smell associated with this incident. If the flames were the result of fuel combustion, there would be some sort of residual smell resulting from that process. As the object was moving slowly and just above the houses it would have been impossible to ignore. 5. The “terrible” loud noise Paula reports may have been the result of whatever the fuel was that was burning and powering the object. 6. The vibration of everything, from the house and it’s contents to the ground below it, was caused by the noise and movement of the object as it passed overhead. Factors 5 and 6 suggest this was a real solid object. 7. The way in which the object disappeared was unusual. It started to move upwards, increasing in speed and then seemed to vanish suddenly. It didn’t move extremely fast out of sight. All sensory contact with it was lost simultaneously and instantly. That does not happen with a conventional aircraft, etc. 8. It was flying really low over a residential area, something that aircraft do not do, especially when they are no-where close to a landing site. If it had been an aircraft, or some other conventional flying object, that was in trouble, it would have crashed in the open fields across the A6 just to the east of Paula’s house, and made the news. But it disappeared completely in mid-air, so such an explanation does not apply. 9. At the time of day this happened, many people would have been at home, because it was around evening meal time. Yet despite the reported extremely loud noise and disruptive vibration caused by this object it doesn’t seem to have caused much discussion locally. From Hayway the object would have passed over the following: many houses and roads, a primary school, and the cricket club. It was a built-up area, so if the noise and vibration disturbed Paula and her neighbours, it should have had the same affect on many others living along the route below where this object travelled along. Yet this does not seem to have been the case, which is incredible. 10. The nearby air base at Upper Heyford said they didn’t have anything in the local air space that could explain Paula’s friend’s enquiry. In itself this is no help – they could have been with-holding information about something that did happen, but was sensitive information. If that is the case, we may never discover what happened. John's Sighting The Sighting: Occurred sometime between 1972 and 1973 The Time of Year: Sometime during the summer The Time of Day: After 4 pm The Place: Bismore Common, Eastcombe, near Stroud, Gloucestershire Sighting Details The following is the description John gave me of the sighting he had in the early 1970s. It was after school had finished for the day. “It was sometime in the summer of 1973 or 2, it is a long time ago, so I do not remember all the details. It was in a wooded valley near the village of Eastcombe near Stroud, Gloucestershire. The actual location was in a field known as Bismore Common. I think I had gone down there with my friend after we had finished primary school for the day. I was in their house next to the field when two of the girls ran in saying they could see a UFO. I ran outside and immediately spotted the object. It appeared to be about 2000 feet up (although altitude is difficult to work out) and was bullet shaped just like the picture you previously posted. I could not see flames coming out of the back, but it did have some sort of contrail coming out of the back. This meant that I had a good look at it before it disappeared over the trees. There were no wings, fins or windows or anything to break the outline. From memory it seemed to be a dull bronze colour (I am slightly colour blind so take any description of colour from me with a pinch of salt). I would say the sighting took about two minutes or so. It’s difficult to remember the month and exact time of day I saw it. I know I had school next day, so could not have been August and if I went down after school, it must have been BST rather than GMT. I think it must have been late afternoon about four-ish. All I can remember is that it was a bright day as the object was easy to see. My friend denied seeing anything the next day in school (fear of ridicule I think) and it was only their late father who said anything about it afterwards. The reason I have not mentioned it before, was the slow speed involved and the contrail which seemed to go against every other report.” John also described the size of the object as like the fuselage of a modern jetliner and it was about 30-40 feet in diameter and that it may have been July when he saw it. Eastcombe is about 3 km (about 2 miles) east of Stroud, 12 km (7.5 miles) south of Gloucester and Cheltenham, 30 km (19 miles) north-west of Swindon and 35-40 km (about 24 miles) north-east of Bristol and Bath. It is a relatively sparsely-populated area now and was probably more so in the early 1970s. John can’t recall the address of the house he was in, but the field he saw the object from was known locally as Bismore, or Bismoor, Common. The red and blue icons on the maps below show where this is located, just to the north of Eastcombe village. They give slightly different geographical information about the location where John was. Even today it is not easy to obtain good photos of this area. There is no road nearby, so a helpful google street image of it does not exist. It is not open farmland, but is at the bottom of a small valley with a stream running through it, surrounded on both sides by trees. The house John was visiting is just to the right of the red icon in the below aerial map, but it is obscured by trees. The larger area around Bismore/Eastcombe is still a mixture of mostly open and wooded land. John said that where he saw the object from “was a long flat field at the bottom of the valley, with a stream running through it. Woods on all sides & only able to see a few houses”. Links With Paula's Sighting John reports that the UAP came from the Southwest and it was heading Northeast. John was about 110 km (68 miles) away, in a straight line, from where Paula lived in Rushden and that trajectory would take the UAP towards her location. The direct route between Stroud and Rushden is over mostly open countryside. The only significant populated places over which the UAP would have passed are Banbury and to the south of Northampton. Both would have had smaller populations than they have now. Also, the roads between Stroud and Rushden would have been less busy then and they were not major roads anyway. The flight-path of the object is also midway between the airports of Birmingham, to the north and Luton to the south-east. The following section is an exercise in comparing the details in Paula’s and John’s descriptions of what they saw, to see whether there is much agreement between them. Then, to consider whether the object they saw, from their different locations, could be the same one. Year? John thought 1972 or 1973. Paula thought between 1968 and1973. Time of year? John thought a summer month, possibly July. Paula thought during the summer months. Time of day? John thought after school, late afternoon after 4 pm. Paula thought between 5.30 and 6 pm. Weather conditions? John described “either clear, or high cloud cover. A bright day, the object was easy to see”. Paula described “Daylight”. (The object was just above the height of the houses, so easily visible) Size? John estimated “the fuselage was like a modern jet liner”. Paula estimated “Lengthwise it was like a passenger jet”. Shape? John described “bullet shaped, no wings or windows”. Paula described “a huge, rocket-shaped thing, a tube, rounded, but open at the back. It had no wings, or fins.” Colour? John reported "a dull bronze colour”, but he’s slightly colour-blind, so may be wrong about that. Paula said it was white. Exhaust? John described “some sort of contrail, a faint vapour trail, white cloud-type”. Paula described “masses of flames belching out of the tail end, which were enormous. I think they were multi-coloured, but also invisible, which is mad, but I say that because I could see up into the rear end and the inside looked dark.” Smell? Both John and Paula reported that there was no smell associated with this object. Height? John said “about 2000 to 10000 feet”, although he then states that “altitude is difficult to work out”. His comment above, about the weather conditions may suggest it was at the lower end of this height. Paula said “it came over the rooftops, really low so that they thought it would crash.” Length of sighting? John estimated it as being about 2 minutes, but there is no way to estimate the distance the object travelled as he observed it. Paula couldn’t estimate this. Speed? John said “It was flying in a straight line and going very slowly. About the speed of the slowest light aircraft. Or even slower.” Paula said “the object’s speed was weird. How it stayed in the air was remarkable, I would say too slow to be airborne, but I know nothing about planes.” I previously estimated the speed of the UAP Paula saw as being less than 10 mph. John reckons it was after 4 pm when he saw the UAP, Paula thought it was between 5.30 and 6 pm. So, that is anywhere between an hour and a half and 2 hours between the two reported sightings. If the UAP was moving at a constant speed, to have covered the distance between where John was near Stroud and Paula near Rushden would mean it travelled at a speed of between 45 mph and 60 mph. Crucially, that speed is too slow for any aircraft to stay aloft. For example, today, the slowest speed an average single-engine plane will fly at is around 115 mph to 140 mph. Take-off and landing speeds are about 70 mph for small, single-engine planes. In early 1970s these speeds would have needed to be the same, or faster, because current aircraft engines and breaking systems are more efficient and powerful. Direction of travel? In Paula’s case the object seemed to travel initially from the Northwest to the Southeast, then veer more to the Northeast just before it vanished from sight and sound. John reported the object he saw moved steadily from the Southwest to the Northeast. Noise? John reported “it made no noise, went serenely." Paula reported “a terrifyingly loud roaring noise could be heard, the noise was incredible, overpowering, it made her insides churn and tremble”. Emotional impact? John said he thought “it was great! Not threatening in any way.” Paula was terrified by the experience, “I doubt I have ever been as terrified in my life as that day.” Other Reports? Both said they did not see, or hear, anything about the object they saw in any media then, or since. Sighting Analysis The details in the two sighting reports do have quite a number of similarities including the object’s size, shape, lack of wings, fins, and markings, unusually slow speed, steady horizontal movement and direction of travel between Stroud and Rushden, the approximate time of day it was seen in both locations is feasible, given it’s speed, the weather conditions were good in both locations – both observers got a good look at the object. Of course, there are differences in the two descriptions, which include direction of travel, noise, exhaust, colour and emotional impact. Overall, based on the available evidence, the similarities between the reports seem to outweigh the differences. Therefore, it is interesting to consider whether this was the same object seen on the same day in these two different locations. A Similar Object? The below screenshot is taken from the podcast Weaponized, Episode #7 Storming Area 51 and The Baghdad Phantom, from 6th March 2023, with Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp. The link to the episode is: https://youtu.be/F1hRHo2QHSw?t=6871 The still picture (from a video) is one of several in the programme, taken with a thermal imaging camera in Iraq on 14th May 2022. The section covering it starts at about 1 minute 51 seconds and the first picture is at about 1 minute 54 seconds. The object moves progressively from left to right in each picture. Jeremy Corbell emphasises that the black object in the lower middle part of the picture is NOT A ROCKET, because there is no heat signature and no flight surfaces (fins, etc). It is in controlled flight. He states that it has an undefined propulsion system / non-reaction propulsion system. This object has similarities with the object seen by Paula and John, but there is no information about it’s size, sound, or speed. However it does seem as if it was moving much faster than the speed reported by the witnesses. Griff's Sighting The Sighting: Around 1974-76 The Time of Year: Summer The Place: Rushden, Northamptonshire Griff thinks his sighting was a military jet aircraft. The details for what Griff saw and what Paula saw are certainly similar. Further research has produced some interesting facts that might throw light on what the object was. However, there are still some inconsistencies. Sighting Details During the early/mid 1970s Griff lived in Rushden, about 1.5 miles away from where Paula and where her friend Ivor lived, as shown on the map below Pink dot = Paula’s house Blue dot = Griff’s house Black dot = Ivor's house Griff’s initial message read as follows: “I remember that, probably around 1975. I was with a mate in my room in Rushden when all the clutter on the shelf started to vibrate and fall off. The noise was very loud and sounded like an aircraft in serious trouble and heading for the house. I rushed downstairs and out into the garden where I joined my dad to witness the military plane with flames being emitted from its tail. From subsequent news reports it was stated that windows were broken throughout the area. Despite the press contacting military bases no explanation was given and it was assumed the flames were afterburner on the aircraft. There must be lots of people who saw and heard this. It was quite terrifying to start with. To add to this, agreeing with my dad that it was a jet aircraft. It was travelling very slow at first. It was travelling towards Chelveston base. My viewpoint was Wellingborough Road, opposite junction with station road. The precise year is debatable, but it must have been pre-1977 as I went to uni then, but with the specific mate with me would suggest 1974 to 1976. I am sure it was a military plane. It was quite an unforgettable event. We saw it briefly coming towards us then heading away. I am positive it had wings, it was a stubby aircraft so depending on the view it could easily be mistaken for having none. The flame as I remember was out of the tail, a single flame and quite intense and the noise was incredible. With regards to how long the episode lasted, I was in my room and would have been playing records on the music centre I had. The noise gradually increased and when it got really loud and things started falling off shelves, I honestly thought a plane was about to smash onto the house, so panicked and rushed down stairs, through the hall, breakfast room and kitchen to where my dad stood in the garden. In all I would guess the episode lasted 5 to 10 mins. When I arrived outside I saw it to the South of the garden, it was low, slow and made that huge noise. It headed off and I saw it more from the rear, the flame stopped, the noise stopped, and it accelerated away very quickly." Griff's drawing of what he saw: “It came over to the South of the garden, from the West and headed Northeast - that is why we thought it may have been heading to Chelveston airfield for an emergency landing - this was a USAF airfield and and although i understand it was not still in use as a base it was nonetheless still had the structures in place. Not sure when it actually closed but I do remember being taken there as a cub scout in probably 1969 and meeting the US staff. This seems to be the opposite direction to Paula's memory of the event but I am adamant it was heading that way - having said that memory is a strange thing! Immediately after the event my dad switched on the radio hoping to catch a report about it but there was absolutely nothing. It wasn’t until the following week that the local Northants Evening Telegraph picked up the story, but then it was only a minor column in the paper referencing that it had broken windows and mentioning the denials from the military. It was definitely lower than normal aircraft and by a considerable amount to the south by about 8 miles we had RAE Bedford and that used to occasionally fly military jets and even concord test flights out of there - it was more that sort of height. As I remember it was a clear sky so no clouds to reference it against. I am not very good at estimating height but i would guess well under 2000 ft but that is a complete guess. Unfortunately both of my parents have passed away and more recently my old friend who was with me on that day. I am sure there must be many more witnesses to this event." Other Witness Testimonies Later on I recieved another message from Griff: “Just to update you on this, I put the question to a Facebook group dedicated to Rushden and am already seeing responses of others who witnessed this.” The group Griff posted on is called Rushden: Now And Then, and the post was made on 11th November 2023. His initial post read as follows: “I am not sure if you or any of your readers can help me. recently I came across a story about a mystery object that flew over the town and caused windows to shatter and things to fall off the shelves in houses. I distinctly remember the event myself and it happened some time in the mid 70s. the noise was enormous as this plane flew over town spewing flames from the rear. From inside it sounded like the plane was going to crash into the house. I am trying to trace the specific year, and any other witnesses and whether any resolution as to what this aircraft was. I seem to remember this being a Saturday afternoon in summer and also remember the ET reporting the event soon after, albeit only a couple of paragraphs.” He received numerous responses to this post, some from other direct witnesses: "I remember it so I'll say it was 1974 or 75." "I remember about 1975/76...There was a story of an American F1-11, based at Alconbury had an engine fire. It was 'limping back' to Cambridge one afternoon." "Exactly right! We were out in our garden when it flew over and my dad, who worked at the RAE in Thurleigh at the time, said straight away that it was an F1-11 with an engine on fire. I don't know what the outcome was but do remember it being quite a big deal at the time in sleepy Rushden." "I remember this! We looked up and saw it from our garden, basically something flying with flames shooting out from the back." "I think i remember something similar in the 70's, looked just like a cigar with flames coming out the back. Mum could never find out what it was but it was low and nearly got chimney pots up Osborne close where we lived." "I remember that as a kid, said it was a jet burning off fuel." "I remember this, my sister in law worked in a jewellery shop and it shattered things in there." "We moved up in May 1976. We had not heard it or about it. We lived in Melloway Road, if it was heard in Birchall Road, we would have noticed. So I guess it would have been 1975." "I remember that. It was 1975. I was in Trafford Road park at the time. And first year at the boys school." "I remember this incident very well, and i'm pretty sure it was 1976, during that very hot summer. I believe it came from one of the American air bases, and although friends tried to find out exactly what it was they were not able to, as it was veiled in secrecy. It was very frightening as the noise was terrific." "I remember seeing this as a teenager one hot afternoon mid 70s. It was going at great speed, was very loud with fire spewing out the back but you couldn't define what it was. The windows did indeed shake and if memory serves me well USAAF Alconbury advised it was one of theirs (refuelling ) but we all said it was a cover up. I remember this I was a kid at my nans and her windows were shaking, it was very loud I didn't see anything but this was Raunds. My sister said she saw it and thought it was a missile. Nothing was said ever said about it and seemed like a cover up. I'm glad others remember it too I'd like to know." "I remember it. It was 1975 or later. I was in a house at the top of Washbrook Road and saw it go over the Oakley Arms." "I remember that. I was stood in a queue at the Co-op butchers shop in Birchall Road at the time. The whole shop was shaking. I stepped outside to see a low flying craft at around 1000 to 1500 feet high going in a straight line heading north. The craft had a huge tail of flame. It must have happened in the early 1970's though. There was a report in the ET the following day but it was inconclusive as to what it was." "F-111s had a dump valve for fuel between the jet nozzles so might be. I’ve shared this to a F-111 group that pilots and associated crew are on. Might get some info." Griff also provided a link to a previous post on the same group from March 2021 made by someone else: “Seem to recall as a kid in Higham Ferrers, around 1975/76 there was an incident on the sky, just above the cloud level. As kids we saw flames and a loud raw travelling from Wellingborough towards I think now believe was Alconbury. Thinking it was a meteor or spaceship, Gota love the 70s. Turned out I think according to the ET of the time it was an F1-11 jet bomber with an engine fire. Can’t seem to find anything on the internet......Help?" This earlier post also received many responses: "I remember it the sound omg it scared the life out of me. I thought it was going to crash into our garden." "No, but think it landed at molsworth air base. rember reading something along them lines." "I watched it fly over at Chelveston it was an F111 with a problem, it was dumping fuel this caused a long flame from the rear as the fuel dump valve was between the engines." "I remember seeing that when we lived in Farnham Drive. It was indeed loud with a ‘flame’ coming out of the rear." "I thought I was the only person to see it. If my memory is correct it was early evening but didn't know what it was." "I remember that. It was indeed an F111. It was burning off fuel I think. I saw it fly over when I was standing on Station Road in Rushden." "I remember that as a 14 year old the roar was loud it knocked some windows out at the factory where my dad worked" The following link mentioned in the thread has information relating to fuel dumping of F-111 jet aircraft: https://aviation.stackexchange.com/.../why-does-the-f-111... Someone in the thread asked "Why does the F-111 sometimes squirt a giant fire plume behind it? (NOT afterburners)" The response to this was as follows: "I used to be an F111 test engineer; the jet can hold about 19000 liters of fuel (without external tanks). At 0.81kg/Liter, that's 15390Kg (33,939 Lbs) of weight, which is substantial (the empty weight of the jet is 45200 Lbs / 20,500 Kg). Basically with a full load of fuel, the jet is 75% heavier.  Although the giant flame plume is cosmetic, the F111 can dump fuel like this in case you need to quickly reduce the weight of the aircraft; in-flight emergencies are one possible reason to reduce weight quickly. The fire is because the pilot lit the afterburners whilst dumping fuel. Assume you loose your flaps, or maybe you discover the brake lines are leaking... if you had to land on a short field (such as a small civilian airport), it makes sense to dump your fuel so you have a better chance of stopping quickly." Below are pictures of F-111s dumping fuel, showing the flames from the engines: "The 'Dump and Burn' as it was called here in Australia was used for 'effect' at air shows and for 'promoting' the Air Force as a great place to be. The 'effect' was really quite spectacular. And frightening to those who saw it for the first time, like here in Brisbane, resulting in many phone calls to the police of a UFO sighting. It also has uses in an emergency, where you might find yourself above an airfield about to land, but with too much heavy and flammable fuel: you want as little fuel as possible on a crash landing, but you don't want to fly in circles to burn fuel, so you can use a fuel dump port instead." Aircraft Possibilities This evidence, from March 2021 and November 2023, seems to confirm that there was an object sighted and heard flying low over Rushden, probably in 1975. It was very loud, shook buildings and broke windows. It also had flames ejecting from the rear end. Some observers thought it was heading towards one of the RAF airbases in the North- to North-east direction, such as Chelveston, Alconbury, or Molesworth. The aircraft mentioned by more than one person is the F-111. The F-111’s exhaust flames were used at air-shows, for additional interest, OR, it was a way of dumping fuel prior to making an emergency landing. So, I did some research into the F-111. I found that it was an American fighter aircraft, based at RAF Upper Heyford. This is located about 30 miles South-west of Rushden. From June 1970 this was the Headquarters of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW). From November 1971 the first two F-111Es were declared operationally ready. They were nuclear weapon capable. This aircraft was 73ft long and the most famous feature of the F-111 was it’s variable swing wings. This means the aircraft could change the shape of its wings in flight. It’s wings were swept back when flying at 2.5 times the speed of sound at low levels. In this position the wingspan was 32 ft, with an area of 525 square ft. But if it wanted to land on a runway, it could move its wings into a forward horizontal position which was more stable and slower to allow for safe take-off and landing. In this position the wingspan was 63ft, with an area of 657 square ft. In both the swept and forward positions, the wings would usually be visible to an observer, especially when seen from below, at a very low altitude, as can be seen in the diagrams of it below: Terrain avoidance radar on the F-111a allowed it to fly low-level (down to 200ft above ground) supersonically day or night in all weather. However, that was at about 550mph. Could it have flown much slower, say at about 10mph, as was estimated for Paula’s sighting? The F-111’s minimum controllable airspeed would have been higher than 10mph due to its design and aerodynamics. Flying at such a low speed could be challenging for an aircraft designed primarily for supersonic flight. Various estimates suggest it’s slowest speed in horizontal flight would be around 110 knots (127 mph). The F-111 was equipped with terrain-following radar and automated systems for low-level flight. These systems allowed it to maintain a consistent altitude above the ground even at high speeds. However, flying at extremely low speeds might compromise its stability and safety. Note that the exterior of the aircraft was painted according to the different missions/events it was engaged in and was never a featureless white, or pale colour. The F-111 could land on a grass field in less than 3,000 feet. Therefore, any of the 3 RAF airfields suggested to the North-east could have accommodated it, if it had needed to land due to some emergency. Next, I looked at the 3 airfields referred to. Alconbury was mentioned by some FB respondents as one airbase the object could have been headed for. RAF Alconbury was the only one of these in operation at that period in the 1970s. I then discovered that there was a NATO Display Day at RAF Alconbury Airbase on Saturday 25th June 1975. RAF Alconbury was an operational air base located near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. It was used by the United States Air Force from 1951 to 2020. It is about 7 to 8 miles North-east of Rushden, as seen in the map below: So, I asked Griff whether he thought his sighting could have happened on a Saturday? He replied: “That is probably 95% certain if not more. At the time my friend and myself would parade the town each Saturday and quite often come back to mine to listen to the latest records I'd bought. This only happened on a Saturday and without a doubt he was there when this occurred, so I am pretty certain it was a Saturday” This opened up an alternative explanation, which didn’t involve the object being an F-111 jet fighter. On 28th June 1975, which was a Saturday, there was a NATO air show, where the star turn was a prototype of the General Dynamic YF-16  fighter aircraft. This special display was part of a demonstration tour at various European NATO airbases. This was it’s first ever appearance in the UK. They did not have an F-111 flying on that day, as far as I have been able to discover. One online source gave the following report about that day, and a photo of the YF-16 jet fighter: “This air show was classified as 'NATO' Air Day - it was our introduction to the next generation fighter for NATO... the F-16Without question the appearance of the new General Dynamic YF-16 demonstration aircraft along with its RF-4C Phantom 'chase' plane was the 'star' attraction. Thankfully I had been at Bentwaters the day previous to witness when the pair first arrived in UK for their demonstration performance to senior NATO staff and VIP's. Simply awesome! The pair would line up together on the runway, the Phantom in 'clean' configuration and await the count down to 'brakes off'. All burners engaged the F-16A in no distance was nose up and climbing while the Phantom was still rolling. As the Phantom rotated the F-16s was already rolling over to level out at around 5000'. “ This source provided the following photo of the YF-16 at that NATO Day: In June 1975, the YF-16 was not yet operational in the United Kingdom, because the YF-16 program was still in its developmental stages in America. So this aircraft was a prototype / demonstration model. It had appeared at the Paris Air Show earlier in the month. It’s presence in Paris and the UK during June 1975 was to show off it’s capabilities and to encourage some NATO countries to buy it in large numbers. Interestingly, and possibly relevant, at the Paris Air Show, at Le Bourget, this aircraft made a 6 minute demonstration flight, which is not a long time in the air. However, the organisers accused it’s pilot of dangerous flying: they considered the YF-16 had attempted a "very dangerous manoeuvre exceeding the pilot's brief" and penalised it. The YF-16 pilot roared off in a spectacular take-off during a demonstration flight and made a roll with the under carriage down less than 50 metres (150ft) from the ground. It landed at USAF Bentwaters on Friday 24th June, the day before the NATO day. The eye-witness does not say anything about any problems with any of the aircraft that were flying at the NATO Display Day at Alconbury – no emergency landings, or other incidents, etc. Indeed, there are no records of any accidents, or incidents for this aircraft ever happening in the UK. Estimates for how slowly this fighter aircraft could fly, before stalling, are in the 180 to 210 mph range. This seems too fast for what Paula and Griff described seeing, though. This aircraft was 49 ft long and had a FIXED WINGSPAN of about 33 ft and a wing area of 33 square ft: The underside of an F-16 during a vertical climb: F-16 in afterburner: I’ve not found photos of the YF-16 with flames from it’s exhaust that are as impressive as those for the F-111. Summary These photos would suggest that, seen from below, it would be easy to identify that the YF-16 was an aircraft – the wings and tail fins would be clearly outlined –  and not mistake it for a long tube/cigar shape with no markings on. The manoevre described in the above NATO Display report of the YF-16 - “All burners engaged the F-16A in no distance was nose up and climbing”, is interesting. As is the fact that in Paris the pilot also flew at a height of less than 50 metres (150ft) above the ground, which the organisers determined was a dangerously low level. So, could this be the jet aircraft that people saw and heard? Other aircraft flying on the same day included 43 Squadron Phantom FG1, 233 OCU Harrier GR.1, West German Navy MFG.2 Starfighter and the Belgian AF 350 Squadron F-104G Starfighters pair team known as the ‘Slivers.’ These Starfighters thrilled with flat-out straight-line speed, seemingly aiming at each other, creating screeching and howling manoeuvres. Both Paula and Griff mention that the object took some time to pass overhead. Paula said it flew weirdly slowly and my report, based on how long it would have taken her friend Ivor to get from his house to Paula’s, estimates it was moving at less than 10mph. On the face of it, that seems most unlikely, because no aircraft can fly very far horizontally at such a slow speed. Griff also mentions the object was moving very low and slow at first and the incident took about 5 to 10 minutes in total. That’s a long time for an aircraft, which is flying just above house height, to be heard and visible from the ground, especially in a built-up area with surrounding buildings nearby obscuring the more distant views. However, both Paula and Griff did then describe how the object they saw  flew low over their house, and then angled upwards and suddenly disappeared. At the same time the loud roaring sound stopped. Other Airfields If it was an aircraft in difficulties, what nearby airfields could it have landed at? In the early 1970s, due to budget cutbacks, the MOD decided to close Chelveston. The concrete runways, taxiways and hardstands were broken up and removed in 1977. It is about 3 to 4 miles North-east from Rushden and is suggested by the various reports, including Paula’s and Griff’s. The imprint of the 11,000ft postwar jet runway is clearly visible in aerial imagery, as seen in the photograph below: So, if needed, the runway probably could have been used for an emergency landing of a jet aircraft in June 1975. RAF Molesworth is about 9 miles North-east of Rushden. It went into a maintenance status for twenty years after 1951 and closed to flying in 1971, with only the occasional aircraft using the airfield. It did have a 9000ft jet runway, which existed until about 1980. An aircraft that needed to make an emergency landing could do so there. Other Airshows It is important to note that there were other Air Shows in the 1970s at RAF Alconbury: 1973: The Alconbury Air Show featured a dazzling display of aircraft, including the iconic F-4 Phantom II. Spectators craned their necks as the Phantoms sliced through the air, leaving contrails of excitement in their wake. 1976: The Harrier Jump Jets wowed the crowd with their vertical take-offs and nimble manoeuvres. The sun glinted off their sleek frames as they hovered like futuristic dragonflies. 1979: The majestic Blackbird, the SR-71. Its sleek, black fuselage seemed to defy both gravity and time. As it streaked across the horizon, it whispered secrets of speed and stealth. Flight Speed All the reports, together, describe flames coming from the rear of the object, which rules out it being something that was non-military. When comparing the stall speeds of military planes with general aviation or civilian planes, military planes cannot fly as slow as general / civilian planes. General/ civilian aircraft such as Cessna 152 and 172 are designed to be stable and economical, which allows them to continue a level flight at lesser airspeeds than a fighter jet. This trade-off happens primarily in the wing design of an aircraft. A military aircraft wing is designed to continue generating lift at supersonic speeds which in turn reduces its ability to generate lift at slower airspeeds. Of course, this has to do with the small size of the wing relative to the airplane’s weight. For general/ civilian planes, the wings are larger relative to the weight of the airplane and designed to operate within subsonic ranges. Therefore, planes such as Cessna 152 can fly as slow as 48 knots (55 mph). The lowest speed a fighter jet can attain during controlled flight, typically ranges from 100 knots (115 mph) to 200 knots (230 mph) depending upon the design and other flight factors. Some of these design elements include parameters such as the angle of attack, the load factor, and the altitude. In optimum conditions and level flight, an F-16 has stall figures within the range of 160 - 180 knots (184 – 207 mph). Based on this information, neither the F-16, nor the F-111 could have flown relatively slowly across Rushden at a low altitude for more than a mile. Yet this seems to have been what Paula and Griff reported happening. Paula's Views On Griff's Testimony I asked Paula if she might have misremembered the year and she was open to that possibility and that it could have happened on a Saturday, possibly the 25th June 1975. However, she still has some doubts that what she saw was an aircraft. Her description of how it disappeared is: “Suddenly, within a garden’s length, it went upwards at speed and was suddenly gone – flames gone, noise gone, vibration gone. There was complete silence….” She feels that this isn’t how a big, noisy aircraft would disappear. Compare this with Griff’s description of how the object disappeared: “It headed off and I saw it more from the rear, the flame stopped, the noise stopped, and it accelerated away very quickly.” These descriptions are remarkably similar and jet aircrafts do carry out such a manoeuvre. These comments suggest that Paula and Griff could well have seen the same object. The differences in their descriptions – seen in their drawings – may well be caused by their different views of the object, as Griff suggests. He saw it both approaching and departing, whereas Paula mostly saw it departing. General Discussion After more than 45 years, it is clearly not possible to be 100% certain about what the object was that Paula initially reported to BUFOG. There are also some discrepancies about the suggestion that Griff and others have made and a link to the Alconbury Display Day that I thought may be an explanation. Points to consider are: There definitely was something that flew low over Rushden and caused many people to become aware of it. It made a lot of noise, the vibrations from it broke windows and it had flames coming out of the rear. It seems to have been flying in a North-east direction. It happened in a summer month, in the afternoon. The online consensus and Griff’s feeling is that the year was 1975. Paula isn’t so certain about that, but says it could have been then. This is obviously crucial to determine, because if it was 1975 then it was likely related to the NATO Display Day on June 25th. However, there were other airshows at RAF Alconbury in previous and later years in the 1970s. The general online consensus is that it was in a summer month, during the early evening. Griff is 95% certain it was a Saturday. Paula agrees it could have been on a Saturday. The NATO Display Day was on a Saturday in June. Bear in mind that some of the people who reported online didn’t recognise it as an aircraft and were puzzled by what it could have been. Paula is still doubtful that what she saw was an aircraft. Griff feels certain it was an aircraft. Some of the people who reported about it online thought it was an aircraft. Several people who responded online mentioned it could have been an F-111. Inconsistencies If it was an aircraft, then the two most likely candidates are the YF-16 and the F-111, as described above. However, there are problems with determining how likely it was either of these, as explained below. The F-111 aircraft was in service with the USAF at Upper Heyford. This airbase is about 30 miles South-west of Rushden, and even further from RAF Alconbury. Therefore, the direction of flight is correct – the object was described by the online observers and Paula and Griff, as flying North-easterly. The F-111 certainly was capable of flying very low over the area and had an exhaust that flamed when it was dumping fuel, or performing at air shows. BUT there are no reports, or photos, of an F-111 appearing at the 1975 NATO Display Day. Indeed, it would not have been there, because the star attraction was the YF-16. The other USAF fighter aircraft would have been kept away. Given the figures about it’s minimum speed, this aircraft could NOT have flown as slowly as reported by Paula and Griff. Why would an F-111 carry out such a major manoeuvre over Rushden at any time? The YF-16 aircraft landed at USAF Bentwaters on Friday 24th June, along with its RF-4C Phantom 'chase' plane.  Bentwaters (RAF Lakenheath) is about 60 miles to the East of Rushden. The demonstration flight was the next day, Saturday, at RAF Alconbury. The YF-16 aircraft would not have needed to fly anywhere near Rushden en route to Alconbury, because it is 7-8 miles further to the West of Alconbury. It was able to fly low, as the pilot showed in Paris. The afterburners were used at demonstrations, so could have been used at Alconbury. However, where was the RF-4C Phantom 'chase' plane that accompanied the YF-16? There are no reports of a second aircraft. The YF-16 had to stay within visual range of the chase aircraft, because it was still a prototype and had no navigational equipment, so could have easily got lost once it had taken off. Therefore, it would not have been flying much beyond the boundary of Alconbury airfield. Chase planes also ensure safety during the demonstrations and copy the manoeuvres the other plane makes. They also capture stunning air-to-air images and videos of the subject vehicle. These visuals are valuable for analysis, documentation, and public relations purposes. It only flew for about 6 minutes for it’s demonstration flight in Paris, so it probably did a similar flight time at Alconbury. That suggests a shorter time in the air than reported by Paula and Griff, who saw something fly over Rushden, for around 5-10 minutes, when it would still have been 8 miles from Chelvaston. The YF-16’s minimum speed means it would have flown over Rushden in a much shorter time than that. The object was reported as flying over Rushden from the South-west, which would have been a strange direction for it’s display at RAF Alconbury. Then, why would it be flying and using afterburners 7-8 miles away from the airfield, where no-one there would be able to see it? An Experimental Aircraft? If the 2 aircraft discussed already were not likely to be the explanation, could there be another one? If the date is correct and it was the 25th June 1975, then maybe one of the other jet fighters at the display was responsible? Griff's description of the object seemed to provide a possible clue: “I am positive it had wings, it was a stubby aircraft so depending on the view it could easily be mistaken for having none. The flame as I remember was out of the tail, a single flame and quite intense and the noise was incredible.” I have emphasised the stubby aircraft detail in the description, because "stubby" seems to be an unusual word to use. It implies that the front of the object was not particularly elongated and that the object was relatively short and narrow when compared to other aircraft. I decided to look at the Harrier “Jump jet”, because it seemed to have the manoeuvring capabilities described in the sightings. It was a jet and had flames coming out from the rear. It could fly at low altitudes. It could fly slowly horizontally: Then I discovered that the Hawker Siddeley Harrier aircraft was being developed at RAE Bedford in 1975. RAF Bedford was a research site of the Royal Aircraft Establishment between 1946 and 1994. It was located near the village of Thurleigh, north of the town of Bedford in England and was the site of aircraft experimental development work. It is about 5-6 miles to the South-east of Rushden and 11-12 miles to the South-west of RAF Alconbury. In the early 1970s, RAE was tasked by MoD to enable Sea Harriers to recover to a vertical landing on a ship at night in poor visibility. A Harrier XW175 was allocated as the trials aircraft. The Harrier XW175 was a two-seater aircraft, which first flew in 1969. It was delivered to RAE Bedford in February 1975. It was unique as a military aircraft as it spent all its working life at RAE Bedford and Boscombe Down (Wiltshire) in support of innovative short take-off and vertical landing STOVL research programmes. So it would probably have been flying around the local area during these research and trial developments. It could hover at a low level and move forward slowly, steadily increasing speed to that of a typical aircraft. The figures in the table below show that it was a smaller, especially a shorter aircraft, than the YF-16 and F-111: The Harrier is much shorter and narrower than the F-111, in particular. It would, therefore, present a much smaller profile than the other two aircraft when seen from below, or at an angle. The flames from the exhaust could more easily obscure the details of it’s outline, which would make it harder for an observer to identify what it was. A description of a Harrier XW175 in flight: “When the Harrier jump jet takes off or hovers, its jet engine roars to life, and you’d witness a mesmerizing spectacle. Flames would indeed dance from the exhaust nozzles, painting the sky with fiery hues. The intense heat and power generated by the engine create this captivating display.” It fits in with the general descriptions, and it could have flown at the slow speed indicated by the sighting reports. If it came from RAE Bedford it was also flying from a direction to the South of Rushden. There was one Harrier that was at the Display Day – a 233 OCU Harrier GR.1 Or, could it have been a Harrier out on a test flight from RAE Bedford? Conclusions Despite all this research, it is not possible to come to a definite conclusion about what people reported seeing. Based on their descriptions of their sightings, it seems almost certain that Paula and Griff saw the same object. Griff, and the responses from people on the local Facebook page, suggest 1975 as a consensus year. Griff is almost certain it was on a Saturday. Paula isn’t quite so sure, but doesn’t reject the possibility. The date of Saturday, 25th June 1975 was when a major NATO Air Show at RAF Alconbury happened. The YF-16 jet fighter was on display there, but there are some reasons which might exclude it from being the object that was reported. If it wasn’t that date, there were other Air Shows during the 1970s in the region. There are similar problems with the other suggestion that the object was an F-111. With the RAE Bedford establishment not far away from Rushden, perhaps something it was developing was responsible – such as the Harrier Jump Jet, which could perform much like the observed object. Aircraft they were working on would have needed to be flown dozens of times over the local area during the development stages. With something like the Harrier, it would have been done in secrecy. There was also a Harrier at the Alconbury Display Day. Therefore, my main conclusion is that what was observed by Paula and Griff and the other people who went online about it, was most probably a jet aircraft of some sort. Which aircraft it was, where it came from and where it was headed for are still unknowns. Also, what was a jet aircraft doing flying so low over Rushden in the late afternoon, creating so much distress and confusion to the population there? John also reported seeing something similar to what Paula reported, from his home in Eastcombe, near Stroud, in the early 1970s. When I compared the drawing he did and his description of the sighting, with what Paula provided, there were numerous similarities between them. So initially I stated that on the balance of probabilities they had both seen the same object. However, John thought that he saw his object in 1972 or 1973, which is a 2 year discrepancy with the new date suggested for Paula’s sighting. Given my conclusion now, that a jet aircraft of some sort is the most likely explanation for what was seen over Rushden, and that it was in 1975, it means my earlier suggestion is not tenable. So John did see something, but it was probably not the same as what Paula or Griff saw. New information can help us to understand unusual / strange sightings, but often it still doesn’t provide definitive answers. If anyone can come forward with more information – including pointing out whatever significant errors I’ve made – that would be interesting. If anyone has questions or additional information, about any of these sightings, please do contact me. Copyright Ian Jones 2024

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 16/11/2023 Last Updated: 17/11/2023 Eesha Patel is an experiencer and online podcaster. In late October 2023 I was invited to talk on her podcast about some of my past investigations. In the run up to the show we were in contact for a number of weeks and Eesha informed me of a UFO photograph she had taken earlier in the year while on holiday. I offered to take a look at the image and perform some detailed metadata analysis which would help prove the authenticity of the photograph. She provided full details of what had taken place, and sent me the original photo for examination. Photograph Background In May 2023 Eesha and her partner Martin Sisolakwas were on holiday in Kragujevac, Serbia staying with their long time friend Zeljko Zivkovic. On 26th May Zeljko decided to take them to visit Manasija Monastery in Despotovac. They used their car for the journey, with Martin driving and Zeljko on the back seat. The route to the monastery took them through a small town called Medveða. Due to the town’s small size it was quite quiet with not many other drivers or pedestrians around. It was a sunny and warm morning with only light cloud in the sky. At 10.42am Eesha suddenly spotted a stork sitting on top of a nest it had built on top of a tree. As these birds are not native to Australia, Eesha asked Martin to pull up the car so she could briefly get out and take a “live” photograph of it on her iPhone SE 2020 (One which takes multiple frames in quick succession to create a very short video). After Eesha had taken the photograph of the stork, everyone got back in the car. Back in the passenger seat Eesha glanced at the photo preview on her phone to see how it had come out. She immediately noticed an unusual cigar-shaped shape seemingly positioned in the sky visible above the nest: She opened the live photograph in her gallery to examine it further. She soon found that the object only appeared in a single frame of the live photograph, and it so happened that it was this particular frame which had been chosen by her phone to display as the preview! Eesha has had numerous contact experiences throughout her life involving a number of different types of beings, and she immediately felt that the object on the image was an alien craft. She attempted to telepathically connect with this, and sensed that the object was indeed a craft, and that it contained both Grey and Reptilian beings, in addition to the lesser known Arcturians, an other-dimensional species believed by some to exist. She told Martin and Zeljko straight away and showed them the photo. Looking around the sky there was no sign of the craft so she did not ask them to further delay the journey by remaining in the area. They spoke about the photograph with one another as they continued their journey to the monastery. Later on Eesha airdropped the image to another friend and he ran it through some picture inspection website to attempt to figure out what it was, but this came up with no useful results. General Analysis The original photograph provided to me is in the relatively new HEIC file format. Unfortunately this cannot be displayed inside the report directly. Below is a converted Jpeg copy of the original image, with the object circled in red: Zoomed view of the object: Zoomed view of the object with edge find: At first observation, the object has a distinct shape to it, with sharp angular edges and a variety of shades of grey within it. It does not immediately suggest a solid three dimensional object, although if it was moving very fast past the camera lens the exact structure could have been blurred or stretched out. Below is the live photograph video footage: I performed some frame-by-frame analysis of this footage. Unfortunately it is not possible to see the frame containing the object. This is most likely due to the conversion process from Eesha's smartphone. Metadata Analysis The metadata embedded in both photographs and videos can assist in confirming whether or not they have been manipulated using image/video editing software. HEIC files are quite hard to edit in the first place. They are a more obscure file type which is not always supported by image editing software. However some modern versions of editing software such as Microsoft Paint and Adobe Photoshop allow you to open and modify HEIC files. If an image is manipulated using editing software some of the metadata will unavoidably alter. While it is possible for a technical expert to amend most of the the metadata back to what it was using advanced software, the majority of people don’t even know that metadata exists behind image files, let alone how to manipulate it. The photograph Eesha took was on an iPhone 2nd edition back camera. In order to perform the necessary analysis I asked Eesha without prior warning to send me another random HEIC image file from her smartphone. Here is a JPG version of that image for reference: I then intentionally edited a copy of this image using online software. Lastly I compared the metadata of the UFO photograph, the original control image and the edited control image. The following metadata changes occur when an image type taken on Eesha’s particular make and model of smartphone is directly manipulated using image editing software: - File Size changes - Compatible Brand 1 changes from MiPr to heic - Compatible Brands 2 to 4 vanish - Meta Image Size changes from Image Width x Image Height to Image Height x Image Width - Orientation vanishes - Colour Profiles appears - Colour Primaries appears - Transfer Characteristics appears - Matrix Coffeicients appears - Image Width changes to Image Height value - Image Height changes to Image Width value - Image Spatial Extent changes from Image Height x Image Width to Image Width x Image Height - Media Data Size changes - Media Data Offset changes - Image Size changes from Image Height x Image Width to Image Width x Image Height - Many metadata values change positioning In the below comparison screenshots the first column of values is the UFO photograph. The second column is the control image. The third column is the modified control image. I have highlighted metadata values of significance where changes have occurred: While it is not possible to tell if the File Size or Media Data Offset has changed as these vary per image, it can be seen from the comparison that the UFO image (first column) matches the ordering and values seen in the original control image (second column) instead of the modified control image (third column). This means that it is extremely likely that the UFO image has not been manipulated using editing software, and is an original un-tampered photograph. Conclusions The witness took a "live photograph" with multiple frames, and the object only appears in a single frame of this, which means that it is not a mark/scratch on the camera lens and also confirms that the object was not stationary. The pale pixels around the edge of the object are an artefact caused by the colour difference between the darker object and the lighter sky beyond it, and do not indicate the presence of a field of some kind around it. I have seen many similar photographs before which have turned out to be birds, with the wings happening to be level with the body, creating a disc/cigar-like shape, or positioned slightly above creating a domed-disc shape. Below is an example of such a photograph (which is a seagull): However if this was a bird it would logically have been present in multiple frames, and therefore would also have been visible in the footage. The metadata proves beyond reasonable doubt that the object seen in the image was not later added using image editing software by the witness, however it is unfortunately impossible to determine exactly how far away from the camera lens the object is. Therefore it is also not possible to tell how large it is, or how fast it could have been moving. While the object could certainly be interpreted as a distant cigar (or disc) shaped craft of some kind, there is not enough detail to confirm this. Sometimes small objects close to the camera such as insects or airborne debris can get photographed and appear as something much larger and further away. If an insect flies past the camera at close proximity it will cover the viewing area extremely fast. This can lead to its structure blurring or stretching out in the direction of travel, which means that it may not be recognisable if it happens to be caught on the photograph. There were insects in the air at the time. It is possible to see at least a few in the moving video footage. Here are a couple of stills from the footage showing some of these insects: There is therefore the possibility that the object is an insect, or perhaps something else, such as a seed pod drifting in the air. This could also explain why none of the individuals present saw anything with their naked eye. However this possible explanation does not take into account Eesha’s telepathic sensation that the object was a craft containing several specific types/species of being. If she does indeed possess such abilities, and the sensation she felt at the time was correct, then this of course suggests a much less mundane explanation for the photograph. Essentially your thoughts regarding the origins of the object shown in the photograph are largely going to be down to whether or not you believe that certain experiencers are able to receive telepathic information, whether you feel this happened on this occasion, and your views on the specific types of ET being which Eesha mentioned. Looking at the photograph on its own it is quite easy to dismiss it as an insect/debris moving past the lens, but it is important to look at all aspects of a case before reaching a conclusion. Either way, I have enjoyed analysing the photograph and can at the very least say that it is extremely unlikely to have been manipulated on computer. If you would like to listen to Eesha’s podcast, you can check it out at https://eeshapatel.com/show/ Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023

Ian Jones's case report on the cigar-shaped UFO seen over Rushden between 1967 and 1973 has now been updated with a second sighting from Eastcombe. The witness came forward as a result of reading the initial released details. Due to the similarities between the two sightings it is reasonable to assume that this was a previous observation of the same object. Click here to head to the updated report.

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 23/10/2023 In May 2023 a man who lives on Brandwood Park Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham named Martin Dean got in touch with BUFOG via our Experience Report Form to inform us of a possible missing time incident involving both him and his sister which had occurred a couple of days previously. Incident Details Early afternoon on 29th April 2023 Martin and his sister took their pet dog Alfie out for a walk around the neighbourhood. It was a clear and sunny day with a mild temperature. They decided to use a route they were familiar with which leads along the tow path of the nearby canal. They walked South East along the tow path for about 500 metres before leaving it to join onto Shelfield Road. This leads back up a short distance to Brandwood Park Road, which they planned to walk along to get back home. The next thing both Martin and his sister remember is of being at the end of the path which leads down to the front door of the house. They had completely forgotten the entire return walk from Shelfield Road! However they did not realise this at the time. Martin said that “it didn’t seem unusual. There was no ‘How did we get here?’ feeling. We just carried on, spoke to a neighbour that came out, then went inside.” After arriving home Martin took Alfie out into the back garden as he usually likes to go out there a while after a walk. He wandered around the garden with him a while, then decided to bring him back in. As he was closing the back door it suddenly occurred to him that he couldn’t recall how he and his sister had got home after leaving the canal. Discussing how this felt, Martin said “It wasn’t like when you are on public transport and you're daydreaming and suddenly realise that you are near your station but there is still a vague sense of the passage of time and what you had been thinking about. The only thing I can liken it to was having anaesthetic. That feeling of one minute you are in the theatre and it feels like you close your eyes, open them straight away, and you are in the recovery ward.” As this was dawning on him he started to wonder if the situation had a medical explanation, perhaps the onset of dementia. His sister could see that he was troubled as he was standing still for a moment with his hand on the door handle. She asked him what was wrong but he brushed it off as nothing. However as the afternoon progressed Martin could not stop thinking about what had happened. Later on he decided to ask his sister about what she remembered. He didn’t want to lead her in any way, but, knowing that his sister likes to talk while they are out walking, he asked her if she remembered what they were talking about as they made their return to the house. He was hoping that if she did recollect this it would jog his memory in some way. But after thinking for a moment she shook her head, and said “I can’t remember!” in a slightly bemused tone. Martin then asked her if she could remember anything at all about coming back down the road. Looking more concerned she confirmed that she could not remember anything. She just said that she recalled leaving the tow path and starting to walk towards the main road. Then she remembered being at the end of the path outside the house. Later she said that if he hadn’t bought it up she wouldn’t have realised at all. Incident Analysis This bizarre event is quite hard to explain in mundane terms due to the fact that it involved multiple people. If just Martin had forgotten the return walk home it could easily have been put down to daydreaming or just forgetfulness because of the regularity of what was going on. But his sister also appeared to have completely forgotten about what took place, a fact which certainly seemed to concern her as it did him. It seems far too coincidental that both of them would randomly forget the same period of time. Martin says that it would have usually taken between 15-20 minutes to walk back home after leaving the canal. They usually walk slowly as the dog spends time sniffing around. Even though they were familiar with the route, you would expect them to have some memory of the second half of the walk, I have investigated numerous contact cases involving periods of missing time. Sometimes the missing memories return later on or are triggered by something specific, other times they seem to have been permanently wiped from the individual’s mind. Despite the fact that neither Martin nor his sister recall seeing, hearing or feeling anything unusual which could point towards a contact experience, it cannot be fully ruled out as a possible explanation for what took place. So far I have only been able to speak with Martin about the incident. I hope to speak directly with his sister in due course to hear her side of events. If I am able to do so, her testimony will be added to this report. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 12/10/2023 In July 2023 I was contacted via the BUFOG website by a lady named Terri. She wanted to inform me about an impressive UFO sighting she had as a child back in 1979, an incident she had only spoken of with several people before. I got in touch and we discussed the sighting in depth over numerous conversations. Sighting Details Terri cannot be absolutely certain but she believes the incident took place in late August or early September 1979. She was 16 years old at the time and had left secondary school a number of months previously. At the time she was living at home with her parents on Parkeston Crescent in Kingstanding, Birmingham. Terri has a disability which led to her having self-confidence issues, and at the time she was feeling quite lonely and was struggling emotionally. Her mother was in denial about her situation, and her father worked long hours so wasn’t around much. She had not yet found a job, so spent most of her time in her bedroom. An ice-cream van would regularly do the rounds each evening, and it’s last stop would always be directly outside the house. The driver of the van was named Steve and he was quite friendly, so Terri began heading outside to chat with him each day after he had served the other children in the neighbourhood. It was around 8.30pm on the evening of the incident. The weather was very pleasant. The sun had started to set but was still shining brightly. It was warm and still, and the street lights had just started to come on. The houses on Parkeston Crescent are set down below the level of the pavement, with steps to climb up. Terri exited the house then waited patiently on the pavement for the other kids to be served. She happened to glance up into the sky. What she saw immediately stopped any other thoughts that were going through her mind. There, positioned over the roof of the house, roughly 30 feet above the roof top, was a disc-shaped object. It appeared to be approximately 40-45 feet across. It was dark grey in colour, not reflective. On the base of the object was a number of lines which separated it into distinct sections, almost like an orange slice. In the centre was a tightly concentrated grouping of small circles, and around the outer edge was a band and line of evenly spaced larger circles. There were no lights visible on it. Terri was standing roughly 16 feet in front of the house, so could only see the underside of the object. It was hovering completely still in the air and was not making any detectable sound. She was absolutely shocked at what she was looking at. Her mind went completely blank as she realised it was clearly not a normal aircraft of any kind. Terri thinks she stared up at the object for around 3 minutes. She did not have a camera on her, and was too awestruck by what she was looking at to try to draw anyone else’s attention to it. After this time she suddenly snapped out the shock she was in. She briefly looked down at the pavement and blinked hard several times. When she looked back up the object had completely vanished! This was even more of a shock to her than when she had first set eyes on it. She started turning around looking all over the sky but it had disappeared. At this point Steve called her name and snapped his fingers to get her attention. She looked at him, and then turned her attention back to the sky, asking “Did you see that?” In response to this Steve leaned out of the van and looked up. He asked her “See what…what was it?” For some reason Terri did not tell him what she had just seen, and simply replied “Oh, probably nothing.” They chatted for a few minutes about other things, and then Terri headed back inside. She felt really strange. When I asked her more about this feeling she informed me that it was similar to the feeling of waking up after a really realistic dream, although she is certain that this was no dream as she had of course been wide awake. She went and sat down in the kitchen alongside her parents and began staring at the TV, not really paying attention to what they were watching. She then loudly exclaimed “I think I just saw a UFO!” Her mother turned and smiled in a patronising way at her. Her dad suggested that it was probably just a helicopter. She responded to him saying “I know what helicopters look like and it definitely wasn’t that.” He then said “It could have been a military craft, they’re inventing new ones all the time that we know nothing about.” At their dismissal of the incident Terri decided to end the conversation on it with them. Soon afterwards she wrote some details down in her diary about what had happened, but unfortunately lost this before leaving home a couple of years later. The incident left a lasting impression on her and has led to a genuine interest in the UFO subject. She has looked online numerous times to see if she can find other similar sightings around the time, but so far has not found anything. She has learnt over the years that for most people it’s too big a leap of faith, and they will either dismiss the incident outright or not pay much attention to it. This is why she has shared it with so few. Sighting Analysis This is an extremely impressive daylight sighting of a disc-shaped UFO, and I am grateful that Terri has been brave enough to reach out to me to get it down on record. Firstly, although Terri was the only witness and we only have her testimony to go on, she comes across as very trustworthy indeed. She answered all my questions in detail, and the drawing of the object was actually done several years ago, not directly for this investigation. I do not believe her emotional state and loneliness at the time (which she voluntarily pointed out to me) could have been responsible for what was seen. She also confirmed that she did not drink or use other drugs, medical or otherwise, at the time. I feel that the incident took place as she reported it. It was clearly a solid structured object of some kind rather than a cloud or other atmospheric anomaly. Neither was it a normal aircraft of any kind. It hovered still for several minutes without moving so was not a plane, and looked nothing like a helicopter. It was also not making any sound, at the low height it was at the noise of the rotor blades or engines would have been audible. The incident happened decades before drones were commercially available. The size of the object combined with the lack of sound also puts a radio controlled model out of the question. It could not have been a hot air balloon or other large inflatable as it was a clear evening, and the object suddenly vanished in a matter of seconds after hovering still for several minutes. It would clearly still have been there when she looked back up, yet it had completely disappeared. Also even though an inflatable can float quite still in pleasant weather conditions, a small amount of drift or rotation would still be expected. To dismiss the sighting as a visual hallucination or “day dream” of some kind would also be illogical. If she had only briefly glimpsed it in passing then maybe this explanation would be valid, but she looked up at it in shock for up to three minutes, and it was close enough to see actual structural detail. Taking all of the above into consideration it seems very likely that this was a genuine sighting of an advanced disc-shaped craft. She did not see any occupants, so a secret military aircraft explanation cannot be entirely ruled out. However it would be completely illogical for the UK military to fly such a craft over densely populated areas in broad daylight. In addition to this, I find it unlikely it could vanish in such a brief space of time without making a sound. I have investigated many other cases of similar craft over the years, and are aware of many others on record. Often these craft suddenly vanish without trace, or shoot away at incredible speed from a stationary position. There are many cases where they have disappeared at precisely the moment the witness or witnesses have briefly lost sight of them, potentially indicating that they are aware they are being observed and use this opportunity to leave the area. There are also many cases linking craft of this type with non-human entities, including thousands of contact cases, cases where beings have been seen aboard through windows, landing cases with beings in close proximity and crash retrieval cases. This leads to a possible extra-terrestrial origin for what was observed. I would again like to thank Terri for sharing the details of this fascinating sighting. If you have any further information relating to it please get in touch via the BUFOG website. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 27/09/2023 Last Updated: 28/09/2023 Note: For reasons of anonymity pseudonyms have been used In September 2023 me and my wife spent a week with one of our friends, who I shall name “Rebecca”. During this time she informed me of a couple of fascinating incidents which had previously occurred. The most recent of these was a sighting of a triangular shaped UFO which she witnessed in the spring of 2015. Sighting Details Rebecca regularly enjoys star gazing using high magnification binoculars. At the time of the incident she was 39 years old and living on a caravan park in Dymchurch. Every year she had to vacate the park for a couple of weeks in the latter half of February as it would close for renovations. In 2015 she stayed at a B&B on Seabrook Road, Hythe, close to the junction with Bell Inn Road. She got on so well with the house owner that she decided to remain there for a little longer after the caravan park had re-opened instead of immediately returning to the caravan. There were very few streetlights in the nearby vicinity, which made the back garden of the B&B the perfect location for star gazing. Every night if the weather was clear she and her boyfriend at the time, "Steve", would step outside between 9-10pm and watch the stars through her Celeron Skymaster binoculars. Every night about the same time they would see three particular pieces of space junk in close proximity pass across the sky from left to right heading to the North. On the night in question she was standing alongside Steve and chatting with him while they waited for the familiar space junk to appear. They nipped inside the house a moment. While inside they briefly messed around with the focus of the binoculars. Once back outside, Rebecca fiddled with the focus to get the view clear again, then looked back up at an elevation of about 40 degrees. A brief moment later a dark object entered the viewing area from the right. It had the shape of an isosceles triangle facing to the left, with a low dome visible on the upper side. Along the lower edge was a line of dimly lit white coloured lights. She assumed that these lights also existed along the other edges but were not visible due to the angle she was looking at it. The object appeared to be quite large in size ad definitely within the atmosphere rather than out in orbit. It was blocking out the stars and jet black in colour, darker than the night sky visible beyond it. It moved slowly across her vision until roughly half way across before suddenly halting. Without looking away she grabbed Steve’s arm and tried to pull him towards her, planning to hand him the binoculars and point out the object. But before she could do so the object instantly vanished without trace. She did not see it leave the viewing frame, it had just inexplicably disappeared. In total she had watched it for about 7 seconds. Rebecca was stunned by what she had just seen. She turned to Steve and said “I think I’ve just seen a spaceship!” In response to this he merely asked “What?” Rebecca replied “When I just grabbed you I just saw something that wasn't a plane. You think I’m nuts don’t you?” But Steve fully believed her, as he was aware that Rebecca cannot stand people telling lies. Rebecca says that she spent ages thinking about the sighting afterwards, and it is still something she thinks about often. She is just disappointed that she was the only witness to it. Sighting Analysis This is a very interesting sighting with a variety of fascinating aspects. It was clearly a solid object as Rebecca saw it blocking out the stars as it moved across her view. It is first important to point out that this could not have been a misidentification of a Starlink satellites launch. Although Elon Musk's satellites do create a line of white lights that move across the sky on a straight course, the earliest test launches for Starlink took place in 2018, three years after this incident took place. It it also clear that this was a solid object blocking out the stars which had numerous white lights. Both the appearance and manoeuvres the object performed point away from it being a normal aircraft of any kind. It did not have standard navigation lights on it – there was no red or green lights, and no flashing strobes, just a line of dimly lit white lights. It looked very large in size, yet there was no wings or tail fin visible. Also if it was an aircraft it would not have been able to suddenly halt for several seconds. It looked much too large to be a drone, and the lighting was again wrong for this. It seems very unlikely a lit blimp or other large inflatable would have been in the area. Also if it was either of these it would not have been able to suddenly disappear in a clear sky. Rebecca says that there were no clouds on the night of the sighting, and as she was staring up at the stars through binoculars built for sky watching it would have been immediately obvious if there was as patches of stars which could not be seen. This is how she was aware that the object had been present but then had suddenly vanished. I have investigated many cases of dark coloured triangular shaped craft, commonly referred to as Flying Triangles. In some of these cases small lights have been seen along each of the sides exactly like Rebecca reported. The low dome which was visible on the upper side of the object is an unusual aspect, although this may have been present in some other cases but just not visible due to the viewing angle. I have also looked into numerous cases where Flying Triangles have suddenly appeared or disappeared in a clear sky. All of these facts point towards this potentially being a sighting of one of these craft. As it was after dark and the object was only visible for a short period of time Rebecca may have been the only witness to it. However if you have any information relating to what took place please get in touch. Rebecca previously experienced a very interesting incident potentially involving missing time back in 2008. Click here to check out the separate report on this. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023

After 15 years since its inception Birmingham UFO Group finally has a dedicated merchandise store! There's a wide variety of reasonably priced products available including clothing, mugs, bags, plushies, phone covers and other accessories. In addition to products featuring BUFOG's different logos, there are also products featuring the artwork of UFO Wave, the UFO themed card game which BUFOG's Chairman Dave Hodrien has designed and released via his publishing company Paradigm Games. The store ships worldwide with a range of postage options available. Here's a sneak preview of some of the BUFOG products available... To access the store, select Merch from the menu bar of the site or click here

The information pages relating to BUFOG Chairman Dave Hodrien's UFO themed game UFO Wave have now been integrated into the site! UFO Wave is a strategic card game designed from the ground up by Dave. It is the most authentic portrayal of the UFO subject ever seen in a tabletop game, and has cartoon artwork by an actual contactee from the USA! In the new UFO Wave section of the site you can find out some further background details about the game, watch the brilliant animated advert, read some reviews of the game, discover out how the gameplay works and find out how to purchase it if interested. Click here to go to the game overview page.

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 28/07/2023 In late 2022 I got in touch with a lady named Janet Ames after reading a message from her on Facebook eluding to an abduction experience she had back in 1989. I got in touch with her via Messenger, and over the following months chatted about what had happened, eventually having a detailed telephone call in July 2023 to go over things in depth. This report documents the experience, as well as other events which took place in the weeks leading up to it. Something Watching Late in the spring of 1989 Janet lived in a house on Peel Street, Middlesbrough with her then husband, young daughter and son. She is unaware of exactly when it started, but she began to get anxious and frightened about going to bed at night, even with her husband right there in the room with her. This was accompanied by a feeling that she was being watched by an unseen presence in the room after dark. Janet did not tell him about how she was feeling, she could not understand where these emotions were coming from. Within days she started waking up at roughly 3 am night after night. She says that she felt that there was one or more small figures standing in the room alongside the bed, but never saw these figures when she opened her eyes. It began happening so regularly that she would instinctively know what time it was even before checking the clock. She would never put the light on in the room as she did not want to wake her sleeping husband. She would just lie in the bed restless for a time, then drop back off to sleep. During the daytime she began to feel tired and weak, possibly as a result of the disturbed nights she was having. Many experiencers talk of a sense of being watched by something, especially in the run up to or at the start of contact experiences. It is interesting that Janet sensed the presence of one or more short figures in the room alongside the bed. These could potentially have been unseen Greys, which are usually around 4 feet in height, similar to how she described. Glowing Orbs Around the same time Janet began to occasionally see small glowing orbs of light in the room. On the first occasion it was also witnessed by her husband. They were both lying awake in bed with the light off. Suddenly Janet noticed a small white circle of light hovering over near the far wall of the room and about a foot below the ceiling. It seemed to be about the size of ten pence piece and was not moving at all. She pointed it out to her husband exclaiming “Oh what is that? Look at that!” Her husband looked and briefly saw the orb too before it blinked out in front of them. She saw a similar orb on two other occasions, not always in the exact spot, but on these other occasions she did not point it out to her husband. However she was puzzled by what it was. She was convinced that it was not caused by something reflecting light onto the wall within the room. Glowing white orbs are commonly reported by experiencers and are usually observed hovering or drifting around their home. The fact that her husband also saw the orb the first time it was seen shows it was something genuinely there, but exactly what it was cannot be confirmed. There are numerous theories on orbs ranging from ghostly phenomenon to the manifestation of energy linked with ETs, and there are possibly multiple explanations for them in different situations. Janet confirmed to me that on the nights she saw them the weather was fine, so they are unlikely to have been ball lightning. Figure In The Bathroom About a week after she started feeling anxious at night, Janet woke to hear the sound of male voices calling her name. The voices seemed to be directly inside her mind rather than coming from a particular location within the property. For an unknown reason she sensed that whoever was calling out wanted her to get out of bed, walk downstairs and open the back door of the house. It was still fully dark but she was intrigued by the voices and went along with the feeling of what she was supposed to do. She quietly got out of bed in her nightgown and leaving her husband fast asleep crept downstairs. She went to the back door of the house and opened it. Alongside the back door was a downstairs bathroom. The light was off but the door was open and she could see into it. Standing in the bath tub and leaning against the far corner she could see a man. He appeared to be wearing a rimmed hat and long brown coat, and he was smoking a cigarette. She could see him clearly enough to notice that he was looking right at her and smiling. His face looked strange as his cheeks seemed to be covered in pock marks. This was the last thing she remembered from the night. Her next recollection was of waking up in the morning. She felt certain that it had not been a dream and that she had got up out of bed in the night and seen the figure. She was so convinced that it happened that after she was up she went downstairs and checked for footprints inside the bath tub. None were found but she was still certain it had taken place. Like the orbs Janet was seeing, this bizarre incident may have multiple explanations. It is possible that Janet witnessed a ghostly apparition, and that for whatever reason this spirit wanted to make its presence known so called out to her. Another possibility is that this was directly related to contact, and that this was in fact an ET utilising a screen memory to mask its true appearance, although it does seem a very peculiar form for it to take. An Examination On another night soon afterwards Janet remembered seeing several people looking down at her. There was a woman in the middle with a man on either side. She only remembered seeing their faces and shoulders staring down at her. The lady drew most of her attention. She looked like she was in her late 40s. She had dark hair and was wearing a white coat. Instead of speaking directly to her, the lady seemed to be discussing her with the men. At the time of the incident Janet says that she had dry skin on the base of her feet. The lady seemed to be upset by this and was mentioning how disgusting they looked. This vision of the three people, which came to her mind like a dream while she slept, seemed to last between 5-10 minutes before ceasing. Janet does not recall any direct interaction during this time or exactly how it ended. As this incident happened while she was asleep and Janet does not recall getting up out of bed at all there is of course the possibility it was just a dream. However the proximity of this incident to everything else that took place does make me wonder if it was another contact experience, and that the people she saw was another screen memory to mask what was really going on. As with many experiences of this nature it is hard to say for certain. The Abduction After everything that had been going on over the last few weeks Janet was quite anxious and upset. However she still decided to keep what had happened to herself. On the day of the incident, for an unknown reason, Janet felt the need to move the position of the bed across to the other side of the room alongside the window. That night she and her husband went to bed as normal. At an unknown time she awoke during the night to find herself standing in the middle of the room facing the window. She was wearing her night gown. It was still fully dark, but the door was ajar and there was enough light coming in from the hall to see her surroundings. She was surprised to find that the curtains and the window were both open, and that outside it was very bad weather, with heavy rain and a strong gale blowing. She thought to herself “Oh no, the window is wide open and it’s raining hard and fast!” She was convinced that the window had been closed and curtains drawn when she went off to sleep. Janet wanted to get back into bed but when she tried to move she found she could not. The extreme weather conditions outside frightened her and caused her to panic. But then she heard voices again calling her name, coaxing her towards the window. She began to move across the room towards the window, almost like she was under direct control. As she neared it she could see some flashing lights outside. As she reached the window her vision was obscured by and extremely bright white light. She could see a large object of some kind off to her right. Then all of a sudden she was no longer standing in her bedroom. She now found herself standing in a dimly lit oval-shaped room, about 12 feet across. On the far side of this room was an elongated window. There was nothing visible through this. Seated in front of her was a tall humanoid male being. He had long curled red coloured hair which was particularly striking. He wore a knee-length tunic, a brown coloured belt, tights with a criss-cross pattern on them and black boots. He had a number of firearms around his waist, and a knife stored down the edge of each of his boots. He had human-like facial features, but appeared to be quite tall, strong and muscular. For an unknown reason she felt comfortable with this being and trusted him, despite not knowing what was going on. The being began speaking to her, although looking back at the experience Janet cannot remember much of what said. All she can recall is that at one point she was informed that he “came from under the earth.” She then experienced a period of missing time. Her next recollection is of being in a lift of some kind. The being she had been with was standing on her right. There was another tall humanoid on her left. Both of them were holding onto her arms. They were both about 7 feet in height and towered over her. Unlike the initial being, the one on her left had a metallic helmet on which covered a lot of his head, but she could see dark hair protruding from it. Aside from this the uniform was identical. Janet is unsure whether the lift ascended or descended, there was no real sense of movement. She thought to herself “Is this a dream? It all seems real. It is really happening. I feel my senses. I hear noises. I can smell. I see colours. I feel fear.” When the lift doors opened she was led out onto a long corridor which headed off to the left and right. It had numerous doors coming off it. There were two other guards wearing identical uniforms standing either side of the open elevator doors. Down the corridor to her right she suddenly noticed a drowsy looking man wearing pyjamas. He was being escorted across the corridor by two other tall humanoids who were holding him up. She then realised that she recognised the man! He lived on her street, about four doors down from her! She did not really know him, but it was still good to see a familiar face. Before she had a chance to shout out, he was taken into a doorway on the far side. Suddenly Janet heard shouting coming from a room just to the right of her on the far side of the corridor. She was led across the corridor into this room. At this point the being who had initially spoke to her walked off down the corridor, leaving her with the other male. Inside the room there was a lady wearing a long black cloak who appeared to be shouting orders at other figures in the room. She was very slender and tall with long blonde hair. Janet remembers thinking how beautiful she looked. Janet does not think she communicated directly with her or even acknowledged her presence. After a short while the being alongside her led her back out of the room. At this moment she seemed to experience another gap in her memory. She was now in another room lying down on a table. The room was very brightly lit, with white walls and ceiling. It was square in shape, approximately 22 feet across. It looked very clean and clinical. The table was centre left of one of the sides. It appeared to be black in colour, but had a thin white sheet draped over it, through which the underlying colour could be seen. It was raised about three feet off the floor. Janet thinks that she was now unclothed but cannot be certain. She found that she could not move from the neck downwards, she could only turn her head to look around the room. Her body felt extremely heavy and weighed down. Opposite her on the far side of the room was a wide open doorway through which nothing in particular could be seen. To her right she could see a small window and an open doorway. Again nothing specific could be seen through them. When she turned her head and looked to her left she was surprised to see a number of worktops, cupboards and what looked like sink taps. Between these and the edge of the table stood another tall male being. He was wearing a white coat, and looked very strong and powerful. His head and hands were large, but his features were human-like. Janet though to herself “He is the doctor”, perhaps because of the clothing he was wearing and the clinical environment she was in. Even though she had already been interacting with numerous other similar beings for an unknown reason she was extremely frightened of this one in particular, and as a result she actively tried not to look directly at him. This could have been because of the anticipation of what he may do and the fact that she was unable to run away. She sensed the presence of another couple of beings behind her head, but was unable to arc her head enough to see them clearly. She then heard the words “Relax, you must relax now, relax!” inside her mind. She started to feel very hot and slightly drowsy, and found it difficult to breathe, which caused her to get angry about the situation. In reaction to this she shouted out “Don’t! Please don’t! You can’t do this! Stop!” However the being alongside her appeared not to react to this in any way. He then began to examine her using a number of different instruments. She felt objects touching her, but actively tried to look away from what was happening. This seemed to go on for quite a period of time, at least 30 minutes she thinks. At one point in proceedings she was rolled onto her right side by the being, who was quite forceful. After a while she watched as the being beside her handed what appeared to be a large syringe with a long needle to one of the unseen figures behind her head. She was then lifted and forced into a sitting up position. She then felt a sharp stab of pain in the back of her head, which she assumed was the point of the needle. At the shock of this she jumped, and suddenly found herself back home in her own bed. She was pouring with sweat, short of breath and shaking. What she had just gone through felt much more vivid and real than a normal nightmare. It felt like it had just taken place and that she had then been returned to the house. In shock at what had happened she began to quietly cry as her husband continued to sleep alongside her. She does not recall getting up out of the bed. Instead she began to feel extremely drowsy, and assumes that she then dropped off to sleep. In the morning when she awoke she felt extremely weak and tired. Her head ached, especially around the back where she had felt the stabbing pain. She felt the location but could not feel any lumps under her hair. Janet did not tell her husband what had happened as she thought he would not understand or would just put it down to a bad dream. Soon afterwards she decided to write down everything that happened so that she would not forget any of the details. Janet kindly sent me photographs of these notes, which have been referenced to aid in the writing of this report. Although she did not know much about the contact phenomenon at this point, she had heard of alien abduction, and wondered if this is what had taken place. She decided to get in touch with the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) and send them the details of the incident. A lady got back in touch with her, and they began to make plans to meet and discuss what had happened in more depth. However this never happened in the end as the lady sadly passed away, and Janet did not get back in touch to make alternative arrangements. Aside from this, Janet kept the incident entirely to herself right up until 2021, during which she spoke of the incident with her daughter. To her knowledge she has not had any further contact experiences, but as a result of what happened now has a fascination with the subject. This is an extremely detailed experience, and one which has clearly affected Janet deeply on an enduring basis. Although there are some unusual aspects to it, such as the appearance of the beings and the way in which she was led round different rooms, there are many elements which have similarities with other contact experiences I have investigated directly or are aware of. Could this just have been a very unusual, unpleasant and vivid dream? While this cannot be entirely ruled out due to the fact that it did occur during the night while she was in bed, there are numerous aspects which point away from this explanation. Firstly Janet says that it felt a lot more vivid and real than any dream she has had before or since. Her senses were on high alert, she could hear, smell and feel things just like being wide awake. This alone could be explained by lucid dreaming. But she also endured numerous after effects – her head ached, especially around the location where she feels she was stabbed with a needle. She felt very weak and tired. These are commonly reported after effects of abduction experiences. Then there is the fact that many of the aspects of the incident coincide with other abduction experiences on record. The bright white light she saw followed by finding herself in another location. The gaps in her memory while travelling to/from this other location and sometimes moving from place to place within the location itself. The flattened table in a clinical environment bare of furnishings. The fact that she was largely paralyzed at this point, yet had been able to walk around prior to this. The examination procedure she endured. The beings themselves were rather strange. Although abductees regularly encounter humanoids, often referred to as Nordics, the beings Janet met with did not appear to be these. They were all extremely tall, large, strong and muscular. This of course makes it very unlikely that they were human, despite having human-like facial features. I have dealt with numerous cases involving humanoid looking beings, but none which match this description exactly. It is possible that there are other cases of these on record which I have not yet come across. It is of course possible that the appearance of these beings was again a screen memory, but if this were the case why would the beings appear in this manner? Surely it would make more sense for them to just appear as normal humans? If Janet was abducted, then it is certainly possible that the initial location she found herself in was aboard a craft, although she never saw this from the outside. She did see flashing lights outside the bedroom window, which suggests that there may have been a craft waiting for her. Perhaps she was then taken to another larger craft, or even a building somewhere. Many people have described very similar surroundings while being taken. What could the initial being have meant when he informed Janet that he came from “under the earth”? Was he implying that he (and potentially his race) live underground here on the planet? Or could he instead have meant that he lived underground on another planet? This is something which dwells on Janet’s mind. At one point during the experience Janet saw one of her neighbours wearing pyjamas and in a drowsy state. This suggests that they had abducted him at the same time, and potentially others too, out of sight in the numerous rooms Janet saw coming off the corridor. I have investigated numerous cases where abductees have seen others aboard craft in a drowsy or even completely “switched off” state. The extensive examination procedure which Janet was forced to endure against her will is extremely commonly reported, and in these situations individuals are often paralyzed from the neck downward, probably to prevent them from fighting back against what is happening. Many have reported having cold and sometimes painful metallic instruments used on them, or having injections just like the one which Janet described. It is improbable that she was instantly transported back home the moment she had this injection in the back of her head. However her memories could have been removed from this point, so this was the last clear and very upsetting moment she could remember when she came round. Due to the many similarities of Janet's experience with other abduction accounts on record, and the after effects she experienced, I cannot simply dismiss this incident as a vivid dream, and I feel there is the genuine possibility it took place. Conclusions Janet comes across as a very trustworthy witness. It is clear that the experience affected her deeply, enough to get in touch with BUFORA soon after it happened. The details provided are very specific, and do not come across as a made up story. If she was going to fabricate an abduction experience, why not just go with Greys, the most commonly described type of being, instead of these unusual large humanoids? The series of events which Janet (and her ex-husband) experienced within several weeks of one another are fascinating and have many aspects which fit with other contact cases I have investigated over the years. Although the abduction experience is an odd one, with the unusual appearance of the beings, and the fact Janet was taken from room to room for an unknown purpose before being examined, I feel it is certainly possible that it did take place as she remembers. Janet seems very well adjusted to what has happened. She informed me that these days she is more inquisitive about the experience than frightened, although obviously at the time she was terrified. I would like to thank her for allowing me to share the details to aid in our understanding of this on-going phenomenon. If you have any information relating to what took place, or know of any other experiences involving this particular type/species please get in touch. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Last Updated: 20/04/2023 Note: For reasons of anonymity pseudonyms have been used Sighting Details On the evening of 10th October 2012, "Simon" was on his way to the village of Fradley near Lichfield to give a talk on his artwork. It was a clear evening, quite cold but with very little cloud cover. He was travelling North East along the A38 and approaching the turn on the left which leads to Fradley. Unfortunately he missed the turning so had to carry on and turn round at the next junction. On the way back down on the other side of the A38 he could not access the turning directly but there was an alternative route accessible from Fine Lane. As he approached Fine Lane he noticed something in the sky over the fields to his left. It looked like a delta-shaped craft, triangular in shape but with squared off points to the rear. On the base of the object he could see some three yellow-white lights in a row towards the centre. There appeared to be no other lights on the object. It was around 7pm, and the object was silhouetted against the darkening sky. He could not tell for definite what colour it was but it appeared to be black. The object was at a height of between 500-1000 feet, and appeared to be roughly ¼ mile from his location. Simon estimates that it was a little bigger than a light aircraft, perhaps 40 feet across. Photograph from the A38 in the direction the UFO was first observed: Simon's drawing of the UFO and surroundings: The object was moving in a Southerly direction roughly parallel to the road. Turning into Fine Lane, Simon parked up at the edge of the road. He got out of the car. Nearby was a man with a steamroller but Simon did not point out the object to him, he was too busy watching it himself. By this time the object was at an angle of about 30 degrees in the sky, and had begun to turn towards the South East. As it did so it banked and he was able to get a better look at the underside of the object. He saw a straight line of three white round dimly-lit lights in the centre of the base. He also noted that the object was completely silent. He observed it for a short while longer before it got lost behind some nearby trees. In total he had watched it for about a minute. Photograph from Fine Lane where the witness parked and continued to observe the object: Aerial map showing the location of the missed turn off to Fradley (A), where the UFO was first spotted (B), and where the witness parked (C): After it had gone Simon got back in his car and continued his journey to Fradley. He was intrigued by what he had seen due to the unusual shape and lighting, and the fact that it appeared to be silent. Sighting Analysis It seems quite clear that what was observed was a craft of some kind performing controlled manoeuvres, rather than a randomly drifting object. Some of the aspects of this particular sighting tend to suggest that what was seen was some kind of military-owned aircraft. The object was not of excessive size. It did not perform any manoeuvres which a human-made aircraft would not be able to make. When it changed direction it banked and turned rather than just altering direction. However the appearance of the object was not like any known military aircraft. Both the shape of the object and the lighting seen on its underside do not match any aircraft which I am currently aware of. Also the witness mentioned that it appeared to be completely silent. He was within ¼ mile of the object so surely it would have been possible to hear sound coming from it if there was any? It is not possible to say at present whether or not this object was some kind of secret military aircraft or a genuine Flying Triangle of extra-terrestrial origin. The squared off corners at the rear of the craft do not fit with many triangle cases I have looked into, and the lighting seen on it again is highly unusual and not a configuration I have heard of before off anyone else. The area of Fradley is quite rural so the possibility of a military aircraft cannot be ruled out. If you feel you can shed more light on what this craft may have been please get in touch. This is not the first or last time that Simon has witnessed a UFO. In 1978 he and his wife at the time had an impressive sighting of a disc-shaped UFO close to Great Bridgeford. You can have a read of the case report on this incident here. And in 2014 he had a sighting of a bizarre aerial object and some black helicopters which were possibly related. To have a read of this fascinating incident click here. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 26/06/2023 Note: For reasons of anonymity a pseudonym has been used for second witness and precise location details have been omitted In late June 2023 I was contacted by a lady named Charlotte B. by telephone. She wished to report a sighting of numerous unidentified objects she had seen over Great Barr in Birmingham back in July 2021. At the time of the sighting she did not really know who to report the incident to, but after recently discovering the existence of Birmingham UFO Group she decided to get in touch. Sighting Details On Saturday 24th July 2021 Charlotte had gone round to visit a friend who I shall call “Steve”. He lives in a second floor apartment with a South East facing balcony. It was between 5-7pm and Steve was out on the balcony while Charlotte and her two sons were inside watching TV. It was a very pleasant and clear evening, with only light cloud. Due to the time of year it was still fully light outside. Charlotte was half dozing off on the couch when Steve suddenly called her to quickly come and take a look at something outside. She got up off the couch and popped her head out to see what he was looking at. Looking up at around 45 degrees elevation to the South East she could see a V shaped formation of 7 objects. They appeared to be around the height of the cloud layer, approximately 10000 feet. They were slowly moving right across the sky to the South West. Initially they looked black and she assumed they were a flock of birds. However as she looked more closely she realised that the objects were silver in colour and appeared to be diamond shaped. Charlotte estimates that if they were at the height they seemed to be they would each have been at least 20 feet across. They appeared to be completely silent, but were of course quite high up. After a number of seconds the formation seemed to separate. Four continued to the right while three at the left seemed to briefly halt. The four on the right approached a singular large cloud. As they did they suddenly started to rotate. At this point she realised they were quite flat in shape, as when they were viewed side on they looked thin and more disc-like. She also noted that on one side of them only was a circular shape. This looked clear, almost like a hole right through them, with clear sky visible behind. However they were only visible on the one side. After rotating completely several times the four objects on the right then seemed to blink out one by one and completely disappear! One of the three remaining objects seemed to move back to the left a short distance, then reversed and all three started moving to the right. Once again as they neared the same cloud they started to rotate and then vanished, just as the previous four objects had done! In total the sighting lasted for about 30 seconds, although Steve had clearly watched the objects for longer. Charlotte had her smart phone with her, but was so transfixed on what was going on she did not think to attempt to record the objects. After they had gone she was annoyed she had not managed to capture them on camera. While observing the objects she also called out to her sons to come and see too, but they did not react fast enough and by the time they’d got up and walked over to the window the objects had all disappeared from view. Soon after the sighting Charlotte drew a sketch of what she’d seen with brief accompanying notes. You have already seen the sketch of one of the objects, but here is the complete diary page for reference (with name of second witness removed): A couple of days later she informed her father about what she had seen. She looked online to see if anyone else had reported seeing the objects but found nothing. Sighting Analysis Although this is quite a distant sighting, it is still an intriguing one for a number of reasons. It seems very unlikely that the objects were a formation of civilian or military aircraft due to their appearance, the manoeuvres they performed and way in which they suddenly seemed to vanish one by one. 360 Radar confirms that the area does not fall within any airways, again lowering the possibility that the objects were normal aircraft: Although birds can sometimes brightly reflect sunlight making them appear like silverish orbs of light, it seems unlikely that the objects were birds as Charlotte could see them clearly enough to make out their diamond shape and the circular shape on one side. Charlotte stated that this circular shape appeared like a round hole through which sky and cloud could be seen. I suggested that it may have been highly reflective and instead of being an actual hole just clearly reflecting the sky within it. Charlotte agreed that this was certainly plausible, and this would also explain why it could only be seen on one side of the objects. The shape of the objects and way in which they suddenly started to rotate I feel also rules out a formation of drones. However a mundane explanation which cannot be fully ruled out is that the objects were a launch of multiple novelty balloons from a nearby celebration or event. The shape of them does seem unusual, however balloons can of course start to roll over when caught in air currents. The way in which the objects all seemed to vanish close to a particular cloud is an interesting aspect of the incident. I asked Charlotte whether the objects could simply have entered the cloud and been lost from sight, but she says they disappeared before they reached it. Also she and Steve continued to watch the sky for a period of time afterwards and none of the objects made a reappearance. Charlotte even wonders if there was a craft of some kind hiding within the cloud, and the objects were smaller craft which were docking with it. While this possibility cannot be entirely ruled out, sometimes distant reflective objects can seem to suddenly vanish simply because they move to a position in the sky where they are no longer brightly reflecting the sunlight. It is also possible for objects to move out of visual range, again making it look like they have disappeared. Unfortunately Charlotte has lost contact with Steve, so I am unable to reach out to him for a testimonial statement about the incident. After speaking with her about this I have no issue with this. Also she comes across as extremely trustworthy and I am certain that the incident took place as reported. As the sighting took place on a clear and sunny evening, she wonders if there are other witnesses out there who have yet to come forward. Due to the fact that none of the objects performed any extreme manoeuvres, I feel that despite their unusual shape it is still possible that the objects seen were novelty balloons drifting across the sky. However I cannot categorically confirm this at present, so technically they remain unidentified unless any further information comes to light. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2023