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Due to conflicts behind the scenes, the Rendlesham UFO conference nearly didn’t take place this year. Fortunately a group of dedicated individuals not only managed to salvage it, but also organise what was arguably one of the best single day conference line ups ever seen! Living in Birmingham it’s obviously quite a way down to Suffolk, but after taking a look at who was planned to speak at the conference there was no way I would have missed it for the world. So early in the morning of Sunday 17th June, I, my father Chris, brother Andrew and friend Adam set off on our way back to Rendlesham Forest for the second time (We had previously attended the 30th anniversary conference back in December 2010). The roads were pretty clear, and the weather also cut us a lucky break! After several days of rain the sun had decided to show itself, making the journey very pleasant indeed. We arrived at Woodbridge with only about 10 minutes to spare, and as we pulled into the Community Centre car park we all excitedly anticipated what the day had in store for us. I immediately ran into Sacha Christie having a sneaky cigarette at the back door of the venue. I have known Sacha for a number of years since meeting her at a previous conference, and regularly speak with her regarding cases I am investigating. Sacha is both a contactee and outspoken researcher. She is also a consultant for AMMACH (the Anomalous Mind Management Abductee and Contactee Helpline). She was not only billed as the first speaker of the day, but had also been involved in organising the conference. I also had the chance to briefly catch up with Larry Warren, whistle-blower of the Rendlesham UFO incident and one of the main organisers of the day, and UK UFO researcher Gary Heseltine. I have been friends with both Larry and Gary since they attended my wedding at the famous “black mailbox” on the outskirts of Area 51 back in 2010. 📷 We didn't have long to speak as we had to go and grab some seats before we ended up sitting on the back row! After meeting up with my brother’s associate in parapsychology, Simon, we managed to secure some places near the front. A moment later Larry appeared at the front to welcome everyone and give a brief introduction. It was clear how happy he was that the conference had gone ahead, and he provided some details of what lay ahead. It was soon time for Sacha Christie to take to the stage. Since her childhood Sacha has had numerous contact experiences, and her lecture focused on the incident which started it all. This experience completely changed her life in many different ways. It involved both her and her family while they were staying at a cottage in Wales. They witnessed a glowing UFO in the sky above them, and another glowing spherical object which landed nearby. There were many odd aspects to the incident and it has troubled her ever since. 📷 Sacha then showed a short video film of her recent return to the cottage where the incident took place. She did not speak with the current owners of the cottage, but did walk around the grounds. This video was both fascinating and touching. It was clear how much the experience had affected her, and how un-nerved she was to return to where it had happened. The remainder of her passionate talk focused on the lack of support that contactees have and how they are generally regarded in a negative light by the public. She believes that contactees need to work together and help each other, rather than continue to search for answers which may never be found. After a short break it was time for Robert Salas  to give a talk on one of the most stunning and important American UFO incidents to have ever taken place, an event that he was directly involved with. Back in 1967 Robert was a Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander at Malmstrom AFB in Montana. One morning he was contacted by the NCO in charge of site security, who informed him that a number of unidentified lights had been seen in the vicinity. Minutes later he rang back and informed Robert that there was a red glowing saucer-shaped UFO hovering just outside the front gate! Robert woke his commander and began informing him of what he had been told. A moment later the armed missiles began to shut down one by one in rapid succession. The chance of this happening to so many was near impossible. It appeared that the UFO had sent out a signal which had shut down the missiles. This became known as the Echo Flight incident. 📷 After covering what took place, Robert then spoke of the cover up of the incident. He showed numerous documents released through the Freedom Of Information Act which proved that this was the case, and that certain people had tried to brush the whole incident under the carpet. Robert also covered many other similar incidents which have taken place at missile launch facilities in numerous countries right up to as recent as 2010! The implications of these incidents are both far reaching and profound. It was then time for lunch, and during the break an old CNN documentary on Rendlesham was shown. I was informed that this was well worth a watch, but I spent the majority of the time chatting with the various speakers. 📷 📷 The next talk was from American crop formation researcher and MUFON field investigator Jennifer Stein. I have seen many lectures on crop formations over the years, but I have to admit this was one of the best I have ever seen on this intriguing aspect of ufology. A lot of the time this angle of the subject inevitably has a “new age” tinge to it. But Jennifer’s lecture stuck closely to the facts and was presented in a very scientific manner. She provided some fascinating physical evidence that seems to suggest that there is much more to crop formations than just cleverly done hoaxes. Her lecture included many photographs, video sequences and drawings, and was very enjoyable indeed. 📷 Jennifer is well aware that many of the formations seen are hoaxed. However some of them appear to be made by an energy force which has strange effects on both the crop and the soil, and can even be detected in the surrounding area as well as just the formation itself. She presented evidence which link the formations to glowing orbs, but also looked into the possibility that the formations are naturally occurring. In addition to this she discussed the apparent military interest in these formations and the fact that black helicopters have often been seen in the vicinity. So far we’d heard about abductions, missile shut downs and crop formations, but it was now time to hear the latest on the incident the conference was themed around. Fortunately the next speaker was Gary Heseltine, one of the key UFO investigators who has looked into the case in depth over recent years. Gary’s credentials as a police detective constable means that he looks at the UFO subject in a logical manner, and assesses the evidence as he would do a crime that has been committed. He is extremely impressed with the Rendlesham Forest incident, and believes it to be one of the most important UFO cases which has ever taken place. 📷 Over the years numerous sceptics and debunkers of the incident have stated that when Colonel Halt and the other soldiers saw lights through the trees, and later a red glowing UFO, they were really just seeing the pulsing light from the lighthouse in the distance. Gary began his talk by completely blowing this theory out of the water. He showed some night vision footage he had taken at Capel Green, the field where the soldiers sighted a glowing red UFO hovering close to the ground. He pointed out the location where Halt had stated the UFO was situated, and then pointed out the location of the lighthouse. It was clear that these locations were completely different and that there was no way whatsoever that this would have been responsible for what was seen. The remainder of Gary’s talk focused on what took place over the three nights that make up the incident. He covered all the key points in the order in which they occurred. He also explained that there are likely to be other witnesses from the base who are yet to come forward. They would certainly have seen the UFO shine lights down into the weapons storage area, and may also have gone up the control tower for a look at what was occurring out in the forest. As always Gary’s lecture was well structured and very interesting. While Gary knows a lot about the case, nothing beats hearing about it from the people who were actually there at the time. And who better to speak than the original whistle-blower of the case, Larry Warren? The next lecture was a joint talk given by both him and Peter Robbins, UFO researcher and co-author of the book Left At East Gate. Both Larry and Peter have experienced so much over the years, and they spoke passionately about the journey they had been on which had led to this point. 📷 Larry’s claims about what took place on the third night of the incident have always been the most controversial aspect of the entire case – a close encounter with both a craft and its occupants, and a clear indication that the base commander knew this was going to take place. Extraordinary claims of course require extraordinary evidence. And it is exactly this which Peter presented during the talk. Evidence including medical records proving that Larry’s retinas had been burnt and that he had been exposed to a powerful energy source, documents proving that he was treated unfairly by the military following the incident and details of other witnesses who have also come forward to speak about the third night. 📷 However the most controversial part of the talk was still to come. Earlier this year there was a special radio programme on the Rendlesham incident. Many speakers appeared on this, including Larry and Colonel Halt. During this show Halt openly admitted that he was present on the third night. Peter began by mentioning Halt’s statement on this show. He then displayed some video footage of Halt taken at a recent UFO conference. In this footage, Halt completely dismisses Larry’s claims and accuses him of making it all up. Read into this what you will. The day had flown by faster than an unidentified blip on the radar. We now had an hour to relax and get some dinner. Our group decided to head on up the road to the Cherry Tree, a quaint pub just up the road from the venue. I ended up sitting alongside some of the sound crew from the conference. After a decent meal and quick pint it was time to return for the evening lectures. 📷 We sneaked back in just in time for Timothy Good’s highly anticipated talk. Tim is one of the world’s most highly renowned UFO researchers. He has interviewed many high ranking military personnel, astronauts and governmental figures over the years, and written numerous excellent books on the subject. The majority of Tim’s lecture focused on the W56 group. This case involves a race of humanoid aliens who lived on Earth from the 1950s to the 1970s in secret underground bases which they constructed using advanced technology.Tim has spoken to numerous witnesses involved with this case and believes it to be genuine. As evidence for these claims Tim showed a number of black and white photographs reporting to show hovering craft, and even photos apparently showing a couple of these aliens, one of which was close to ten feet tall! 📷 The implications of all of this should it be true are huge, but I was left with a lot of questions and felt that it would have been nice to see some more substantial evidence to back up these claims. However Tim’s credentials in the subject should not be ignored and I’m certain he has good reason to believe the case to be legitimate. There is no doubt much more to this than he had time to cover in his talk, and the case will surely feature heavily in his next book. After a quick break it was time for the final speaker of the conference, a speaker who will need no introductions for anyone with a good knowledge of the contact subject: retired police constable Alan Godfrey. With a background in after dinner speaking, we were in for a thought provoking and at times amusing talk. Alan became famous in the world of ufology when on 28th November 1980 he had a close encounter with a UFO while on patrol. This involved a period of missing time, and after a while he decided to go for hypnotic regression to see if he could get these missing memories back. Under hypnosis he recalled being taken aboard the craft and undergoing an examination procedure by a number of short beings. Alan talked us through the details of his experience, even alluding to the fact that he was not entirely convinced that he had been abducted. I felt that in some ways this gave even more weight to his case, as he has clearly considered alternative explanations for what happened to him. 📷 Alan not only spoke of his own experience, he also spoke of Zigmund Adamski, a man who had previously turned up dead under very unusual circumstances. Alan was one of the two officers who were initially called to the scene. Many people feel that Zigmund had been abducted, and that his death was in some way linked to what happened to Alan later the same year. Although Alan personally felt that the man had been tortured by someone rather than taken by aliens, he admitted that there were some very strange aspects to his death. Alan ended his talk with some humorous tales from his job in the police force, followed by a Q&A. This was apparently to be the last time Alan would speak publically about his experience, and it was the perfect way to bring the conference to a close. After a few final words by Larry the Rendlesham Conference 2012 was officially over. However for our group it was not yet time to travel home. We next had plans to head on out to the forest, which seemed like the right thing to do given the circumstances. 📷 📷 📷 I was pleased to find out that Brenda Butler would be joining us. Brenda is a local investigator; experiencer, author, and one of the first people to look into the Rendlesham incident. This meant we had our very own forest tour guide! Good thing too, as although I’d been there before I was still pretty sure it would be easy to get lost. Also along for the adventure was Brenda’s niece Beverley, a man we had sat near to at the conference, a contactee whose case I have investigated, her husband and some other gents who we had not previously met. Luckily for us the weather was quite clear, although the moon was hidden by cloud cover. We arrived at the Visitors Centre car park in near complete darkness, and met up with Brenda, who was already taking photographs hoping to pick up anything paranormal on camera. Much to our surprise she asked us to turn our torches off, and we soon realised we would be wandering around the forest with minimal light sources. This would have been creepy enough, but to make matters worse Brenda and Bev started to tell us all about the various ETs and ghosts they had witnessed in the forest over the years! Needless to say we were on high alert for the slightest movement from the undergrowth. 📷 Walking along the path that leads up to East Gate, it wasn’t long before we had our first glowing orb sighting. However this glowing orb turned out to be a brightly illuminated glow worm! By the time we reached the gate we’d seen about 20 of them along the edges of the path. It was the first time I’d ever seen glow worms, so this was certainly one of the highlights of our walk. We soon reached the famous gate where Jim Penniston and John Burroughs had first sighted the lights through the trees back in 1980. After posing for some photos we made our way back to the car park. From here we headed into the forest in the direction of Capel Green. The forest was extremely still, quiet and atmospheric. We discussed the speakers of the day as we made our way along the tracks. 📷 📷 Our first destination was the official “landing site”, marked out with three wooden posts. It is believed by many to not be the actual location where the triangular craft was situated, but was still certainly worth a look. Moving onward, we soon came to the edge of Capel Green, the location of numerous key events of the Rendlesham incident. I was pleased to see the lighthouse pulsing away in the distance, as last time I was at the forest it was extremely foggy and could not be seen. We stayed at the green for about 15 minutes during which Brenda enthusiastically told us about some of the UFO sightings she had experienced there. 📷 📷 Heading back into the trees, we began our walk back along the tracks to the Visitor Centre, stopping briefly at a tree known to have an Steven Spielberg ET face shaped notch in its trunk. As with most round trips the return walk seemed to take twice as long. 📷 Finally at around 2am we reached the car park bringing our exploration of the forest to a close. We hadn’t had any encounters (unless you count the glow worms), but it had been a superb end to a truly great day. While my brother, father and friend lay back in their seats and began to snore, I took a quick gulp of Red Bull and began the long drive back to Birmingham.... Copyright Dave Hodrien 2012

The Weird 09 Paranormal Conference took place at the Athenaeum Theatre in Warminster, Wiltshire, on Saturday 29th- Sunday 30th August 2009. Warminster is one of the UK’s biggest UFO hot spots, and was made famous by the UFO flap that occurred there in the late 70s – early 80s. Myself and Kate drove down early on the Saturday morning and arrived shortly before the first lecture kicked off. We met up with other BUFOG members Larry & Pam Potter, and after briefly chatting with some of the researchers who would be speaking at the conference it was time to take our seats. 📷 📷 The theatre was a great venue for the lectures, it had two levels of tiered and comfortable seats and was extremely dark. The host of the conference was Ross Hemsworth, the presenter of the Saturday night TV show Now THAT’S Weird and researcher of the paranormal. Ross is a very confident speaker and was an ideal choice to host Weird 09. He gave a brief and amusing introduction before Kevin Goodman took to the stage. Kevin Goodman is part of UFO Warminster, a group dedicated to keeping Warminster’s flame burning. When he was young he visited Warminster many times for UFO sky watches and has had some stunning UFO sightings in the area, as well as possibly witnessed contact from an extraterrestrial life form channelled through one of his friends. His lecture focused mostly on Arthur Shuttlewood, the lead investigator into the Warminster sightings back in the 1970s. He also covered one of his own UFO sightings where him and his friends saw a silver disc-shaped object in broad daylight. Kevin’s lecture kick-started the conference in great style and featured many interesting photographs. His obvious enthusiasm for his work always shines through and this was no exception. At the end of his talk he provided everyone with details for the planned Saturday evening sky watch, which I was certainly looking forward to. 📷 In the break I took a brief look round the dealer rooms, and met some of the band CEIV, something I have wanted to do for many years! CEIV are one of the only UK bands dedicated to the UFO subject. Their songs cover many different aspects of the phenomena and are well worth checking out. I even got a photo taken with the band mascot Tor - a life-size model Grey adorned in various metal studs and tattoos! We also met up with other BUFOG members Zoe & Ian who had arrived late and unfortunately missed Kevin’s lecture. 📷 📷 📷 The next speaker was ex-MoD UFO investigator Nick Pope. His talk was based around the latest UFO documents to be released by the Ministry of Defence. This has been ongoing for a couple of years now, and in the end Nick says that all UFO-related documents will be in the public domain. The latest reports were a mix of sightings, some more impressive than others. One of the one’s recently released describes a radar sighting of an object over a mile wide! Nick believes that the MoD is not with-holding information and is as mystified by UFOs as everyone else. I am resident to completely believe this, I think in a number of incidents the truth has been bent and information has been covered up, however they are certainly opening up a lot more than they would have several years ago. The question is – is this part of a gradual planned disclosure or not? Nick’s lecture was highly enjoyable and if you missed it, he will be speaking at BUFOG in December. 📷 After grabbing a much needed snack from the Subway across the road, it was time for Hayley Steven’s lecture entitled “Is There Anybody Out There?” This moved away from the subject of UFOs and instead delved into the existence of ghostly phenomena. Hayley is the founder of Wiltshire Phenomena Research. Over the years she has seen some very spooky things, and yet remains sceptical of a lot of the reports that come her way. She has a very rational way of thinking and believes that a lot of the sightings can be disproved. 📷 Part of Hayley’s talk revolved around an experiment that we were all invited to partake in. Everyone was given a pen and paper. We were shown a number of related words for an amount of time on screen, and then had to remember the words we had seen and write them down. The words were all related to different tastes and dessert food items. When she asked us what words we had written down, many of us had put down the word “sweet” even though it was not actually in the words we had been shown. I admit I fell for this. We then tried the experiment a second time. This time the words were all related to feelings of anger. Despite the word “angry” not being in the list, again many people including myself wrote it down. This experiment was done to prove that sometimes our mind can be deceived into remembering things that in fact did not take place. Hayley suggests that this may be the case for some reported paranormal incidents. This seems logical and certainly a possibility, and everyone enjoyed taking part in the experiment. 📷 📷 After heading down the hotel where we were staying at to sign in and grab some lunch, it was time for Brian Allan’s fascinating lecture entitled “The Rosslyn Frequency”. This talk went over the discoveries Brian had made relating to the medieval Rosslyn Chapel. He believes that the chapel holds the key to opening a doorway to another dimension, and that numerous “doorways” of this type exist around the planet. He showed us carvings on the chapel walls which give clues that this is the location for one of these portals. After much research he has discovered that the chapel has been built to resonate with a particular frequency of sound wave. He obtained special permission to test this theory with a number of others present. When this sound was played within the chapel, he says that something unusual happened next to one of the altars, he believes that the doorway was partially opened. Since this incident he has found out that light may also play a part in opening the portal, and hopes that in the future he will be allowed once more to test this at the chapel. His field of research is fascinating and it was a very interesting talk indeed. 📷 The final speaker of the day was Peter McCue, a retired clinical psychologist who is now a member of the Society for Psychical Research. He gave a lecture exploring the link between ghostly phenomena and building renovation work. I had not heard of this apparent link before so it was another very interesting talk. He described numerous examples where renovations on old buildings had apparently caused the appearance of ghostly phenomena such as poltergeists, unexplained sounds and apparitions. Peter believes that some reported paranormal phenomena is probably genuine and should not be dismissed without proper evidence to suggest otherwise. 📷 The first day of the conference finished about five o’clock. We then headed back to our hotel for several hours to await the start of the sky watch. I drove up to Cradle Hill just before 8pm. Kate could not make the sky watch but Larry and Pam were there. Cradle Hill lies just to the North of the town and was only several minutes drive away. Everyone congregated around the area known as the “white gates”. The gates no longer exist but used to be present back in the 1970s-80s. The white gates area lies right next to army-owned land so the organisers of the sky watch had asked informed them we would be there. The area is one of the most popular places for sky watches as there is a fantastic view of the sky in all directions. A road leads up from the white gates to the copse, a small area of trees with a barn, where much unusual activity and sightings have been recorded. 📷 📷 📷 When I first arrived there were already over forty people present including a TV crew with some professional camera equipment. I chatted with a number of people including Kevin Goodman and Malcolm Robinson. Soon afterwards the light began to fade in the sky so I decided to walk up to the copse before it got pitch black so I could take a look at the area. I took some photos on the way up the road which seem to show orbs, although I believe this was probably because of the fast diminishing light conditions. Once I reached the copse I took a look at the barn and found some UFO graffiti someone had drawn. I then went to stand on the far side of the copse with a number of others and watched as the evening light faded to darkness. At this point there was still quite a bit of cloud cover with only patchy areas of clear sky. 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 At about 10pm I walked back down to the white gates to meet up with the main body of sky watchers. Zoe and Ian finally turned up after a visit to Avebury. As time went by, the sky slowly cleared to reveal a star-filled sky. We could make out numerous satellites on their orbital paths. 📷 It was approximately 11pm, when suddenly we noticed some unusual flashes of light coming from far away to the North North East. They were in the distance but lit up an area of the sky a bright blue/white colour. The flashes were intermittent and lasted for about five seconds. It seemed very unlikely they were caused by lightning as firstly there was no sound of thunder and secondly the weather was very clear and calm. If they were a fireworks display I would have expected to see various colours and also it seemed very late to be having a display. They probably had a rational explanation but are currently unidentified. About half an hour later there were roughly twenty people still left, everyone else had headed back down to the town. Suddenly someone pointed out an object to our South. It was moving very fast, at first I thought it must be a military jet. But as it got closer we could hear no sound coming from it. I could not make out a shape against the dark sky but it had an unusual dark green-blue coloured light on it. Every three seconds a very bright white light would flare up and then die back down. It was very unusual and the lights seen were not consistent with any known aircraft or helicopter, military or civilian. The object passed to our East and then turned till it was heading in a North East East direction away from us. Even when it had gone out of sight we could still make out the white flaring light for another minute. I did try to record it on video but sadly it was so dark nothing came out. However others may have captured something, and Ian got an audio recording from when we first spotted it. I fully expected someone to be able to tell me what the object had been, but when I walked around and checked everyone present was as mystified as I was! So far this object has not been identified so it is a genuine UFO, the first one I have ever seen. I have written a detailed report on this sighting which can be found in the Reported UFOs section of this website. 📷 It got to roughly midnight when something else caught everyone’s attention. There was a sudden glow of yellow light which moved very fast to the left and then back to the right under the light cloud to the East of Cradle Hill. Before vanishing. I only managed to see the last second of it as I was looking the other direction at the time. We were all discussing it when several minutes later it returned as a stationary light. It then slowly moved left a touch before vanishing again. It continued to reappear and vanish and after several minutes were realised it was a search light coming up from the nearby military base. We assumed that they were doing it on purpose as a joke because they knew the sky watch was in progress! I left Cradle Hill with Zoe and Ian about 12.15am, and felt very contented at how well the sky watch had gone and that we had seen some unusual activity. On Sunday morning before the lectures began, people were chatting about what had taken place. Kevin thought that perhaps it was some sort of hoax set up in response to the sky watch, but if it was remote controlled it was moving very fast and also must have had a very long range as the object had vanished into the distance. Currently it remains a valid UFO sighting. 📷 Sunday kicked off with a lecture by Joe McGonagle. It covered discrepancies in the UFO documents released by the Ministry of Defence that may point to a cover up of information. The information given in his talk was valid, although for first thing in the morning the lecture was rather wordy and I think some people found it hard to concentrate. Joe pointed out various mistakes that the MoD had made while writing up sightings of UFOs. He believes that more care and attention to detail should have been made in certain circumstances. 📷 Next up was a fascinating lecture about the Men In Black by well renowned ufologist Nick Redfern, who was specially visiting the UK from Dallas where he now lives. He covered a number of historic cases of the Men In Black and talked about the various possible explanations for them, to coincide with his book “On The Trail Of The Saucer Spies”. Since the US freedom of information act, Nick has been able to retrieve documents which prove that in some cases the MIB have been governmental agents sent to investigate UFO witnesses and contactees. However in other cases, they appear to be far more sinister and could even be extraterrestrial beings. It’s a shame that his lecture did not include any very recent cases as I am sure that visitations by the Men in Black do still take place. 📷 Paul Devereux was next to take to the podium, and gave a talk with a difference. His lecture was entitled Walking With Spirits, and was about the historic spirit paths that pass across the UK and Ireland. These spirit paths are lines which the dead are said to travel along to move between places. Paul provided evidence that ghostly activity has been recorded on these hidden paths. He has also found evidence that stiles were historically used as a location where spirits could be divined and interrogated. It was a really interesting talk and one backed up with some highly believable evidence, Paul had obviously looked into the subject in great depth and was a true expert on it. 📷 Over the Sunday lunch break, I got to see some video screenings of interviews with UFO researchers Dr David Clarke and Steve Dewey. It was great hearing the opinions of other researchers who could not actually be present at the conference. I also took part in an experiment ASUS were running. People partaking in the experiment had to independently watch a short clip of UFO video footage and then answer some questions on what they think they had just seen. The footage seemed to show a dull metallic looking sphere. I was informed afterwards that the footage is actually fake. 📷 The first lecture of the afternoon was my favourite of the entire weekend. It was by contactee Mike Oram and was entitled “From Warminster to Area 51”. Mike discussed in detail a recent highly unusual incident that had happened to him and his wife while out near the gate to Area 51 and the infamous Little A’le’inn. When he took a photograph at the gate, an unidentified truck had driven out of the facility towards them. He got back in his car and drove away but soon realised the truck was tailing them. He then sprung a flat tyre, but all of a sudden the truck had completely vanished. Rather than change the tyre straight away, for an unknown reason he had driven quite a distance to a garage. Here he met two unusual men and a staring young child who also appeared to have turned up from nowhere. Later at the Little A’le’inn Mike saw unidentified lights in the sky and went missing for a period of time. 📷 Later he had decided to go for hypnotic regression to try and find out what happened. The story that unfolded was fascinating. The truck had apparently caught up their car. On the back of it was a strange device which opened up some sort of portal. Mike was lead through this by military personnel and then found himself in a facility (he assumes inside Area 51) where there were both American military and alien beings working together. The two men and child he had met at the garage turned out to be two humanoid beings who he had seen numerous times before through his life, and a small Grey-like being with a large head. The incident was completely fascinating, and Mike presented it in a very open and believable way. I decided to buy his book “Does It Rain In Other Dimensions?” to read more about his life-long experiences. 📷 Many people were quite tired by the time of the final lecture of the conference. It was a good thing then that it was by Malcolm Robinson , who’s passion and liveliness for his work is both obvious and infectious. Malcolm is the director of SPI – Scottish Paranormal Investigations. I have seen him numerous times before and he is a true expert in the paranormal field, with over 30 years experience. His lecture this time was all about photographs reportedly showing ghostly apparitions. These included many famous ones which I had seen before, and a number of newer ones which were really spooky indeed! He also showed some other photos which contained apparent apparitions of the Virgin Mary. He explained how some apparition photographs are merely tricks of the light and what is known as a simulacrum – where we put shapes together to make more sense of what we are looking at. However to counteract this he showed a number of photos which quite clearly appeared to show ghostly figures and faces, and by the end of it the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up! I’m sure many others present had a troubled night’s sleep. 📷 Ross took to the stage at the end of the conference to congratulate the organisers and speakers. It was a fantastic two days and I will certainly be back for Weird 10 next summer. 📷 Me, Kate, Zoe and Ian ended our trip to Warminster with a final drive back up to the white gates for some daylight photographs. The fog had started to roll in, making the copse look especially creepy. I was grateful that we had had such a clear night on the Saturday. With one final glance round the sky, we departed for home, confident that this would not be the last time we would stand upon Cradle Hill on the look out for UFOs… 📷 Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

On the evening of Saturday 22nd June 2019 BUFOG headed out to a location we had never chosen before for a sky watch – Barr Beacon in Walsall. Only 3 miles out of Walsall town centre, Barr Beacon is one of the highest points in the Midlands with a superb panoramic view of the sky. It is also the first urban nature reserve to be awarded the "Dark Sky Discovery Site" status by national astronomy and environmental organisations. On the summit is a stone war memorial, which made it a very picturesque choice for a watch (as well as providing a form of shelter should we have needed it – which luckily we didn’t) We initially met up at Farmer Johns Streetly pub. It is a very popular bar but luckily we managed to grab a table in one of the corners. After a while we headed outside and relaxed in the beer garden. We stayed there for about 90 minutes, discussing everything from the recently leaked Vice Admiral Thomas Wilson document to the Mandela Effect. 📷 📷 📷 It was then time to head for the Beacon, which was only 5 minutes drive away. The official car park is locked after 7.30pm and by now it was about 8.45pm. Luckily we had previously managed to secure the keys for the gate, so were granted access. Working out how to actually open the gate was a bit of a mission but we got there in the end and made our way up to the top. There were a few other visitors up there who were no doubt confused as to how we’d managed to get past the locked gate! 📷 📷 📷 The car park we had decided to use was a little further away from the sky watch location than I had first anticipated, and we had brought quite a bit of gear with us including camping chairs, temporary BBQs and food to cook. But between us it was light work and after a short walk along the edge of Barr Beacon reservoir we finally arrived at the war memorial. Waiting for us were Multidimensional Show hosts Dave and Rachel and their friend, who had decided to head straight up the memorial and meet us there. 📷 📷 📷 📷 The location did not disappoint! It was a lovely evening with a clear view of the sky in all directions. The white stone war memorial looked stunning in the setting sunlight, and we sat down on the grass-covered slope which leads up to it. While exploring the memorial I discovered a couple seated on the far side who were just there to relax rather than for the sky watch. We had a brief chat and they informed me that a number of years ago they had seen an unidentified black coloured cylindrical shaped object in the sky from the location. I soon re-joined the other watchers on the grass. After socialising a short while we were joined by several late arrivals. 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 Not long after we decided it was time for Dave and Rachel to conduct what is known as a CE5 protocol. This is essentially a guided meditation performed in an attempt to initiate ET contact and bring in craft to our location. After reading out an introductory passage, most of us took part in the meditation session, following the wording provided by a Youtube video played on Dave’s phone. The session took about 10 minutes after which we all felt quite relaxed. 📷 After this we began doing what we had set out to do – watch the skies! It wasn’t long before my friend Chris mentioned that several times he had seen a small white flash of light in a particular location in the sky, like a stationary strobe light. I asked him to point out the position and looked around to where he had seen it. Within moments I too saw it, just once. We continued to watch but it did not make any further appearances. It was too anomalous to be considered something significant, but interesting none the less. 📷 📷 My girlfriend Tasha then kindly lit up the temporary BBQs and began to cook everyone some burgers, sausages and lamb kebabs. A light breeze had picked up by this time and with the setting of the sun the temperature had definitely started to drop. Some of us crowded around the BBQs to keep warm. Around this time a local hiker arrived at the monument and I filled him in on what we were up to. Soon everyone else moved from the grass to the stone path which leads up to the monument and we all enjoyed some hot food. 📷 📷 Around 11.30pm we headed inside the war memorial for a while. There is a central stone plinth with a map of the area on top. We crowded around this in a circle and I proceeded to read out a news article and details of a number of Walsall-based cases I had investigated. 📷 We stayed on the steps of the memorial a while longer looking up at the sky, which was partially cloudy but some stars could be made out. By 12.30am most of the sky watchers were starting to get a bit chilly so we decided to call it a night, but not before taking a couple of final shots on the steps, which included the terrifying appearance of a strange being with glowing light for a face, as you can see below... 📷 📷 📷 We left the memorial, headed back to the cars by torchlight and made our way back home. While we had not had any definite sightings, other than the white point of light, everyone was in high spirits. We will definately be making a return to the Beacon in the future! Copyright Dave Hodrien 2019

I was sixteen when I went to my first UFO conference. The conference was organised by UFO Magazine and was being held at my home town, Solihull. It was a fantastic day, and it was very interesting hearing the different speakers give their lectures. One speaker in particular stood out for me. A middle aged, grey haired man, who had been a police officer before getting involved with the subject of ufology. His lecture on abductions and animal mutilations was absolutely fascinating. He also discussed his own UFO sighting, a sighting which would open his eyes to the reality of extraterrestrial visitation. The man I speak of was of course Tony Dodd. This was to be the first of many times that I would listen to Tony speak at conferences. As I got to know the man through his lectures, I built up certain expectations of him. Tony’s lectures would never fail to feature outstanding UFO and alien contact cases from around the world. Cases which included impressive and undeniable evidence. Cases which proved to me that aliens really are visiting this planet and interacting with the human race. I could always rely on Tony to give a truly enthralling talk which would keep the audience transfixed throughout. He had a very open and straightforward way of speaking, and always got across the facts in as clear a way as possible. As you listened you could tell you were in the presence of an expert in the field, a man with a vast amount of knowledge on the subject who had seen and heard incredible things. Tony’s eyes were opened to the UFO subject back in 1978 when he had a close encounter with a flying disc-shaped craft on the North Yorkshire Dales. He returned to the moor many times and had further UFO sightings, some of which he managed to photograph. The realization that these sightings were real led him to look into the subject in more depth and start to investigate reported sightings. In 1982 he was made director of the Yorkshire UFO Society. As his notoriety grew, he received more and more reports to look into. Over the years he became widely known in the world of ufology, and would often make appearances on television and radio. He was very passionate about his work as a UFO investigator, and you could tell that he enjoyed every minute of it. He was very keen to prove to the public the reality of UFOs, and over the years revealed some truly stunning information. Some of this information was sensitive enough for forces involved with the UFO cover up to intervene. He was threatened on numerous occassions after revealing details of certain cases at various UFO conferences. But despite this he continued, knowing full well the dangers involved. He believed the public had a right to know and was not willing to back down. We should all be extremely thankful for his efforts over the years. Tony wrote a book of his experiences named Alien Investigator. It is highly recommended, and a review of it can be found in the Reccomended Books section of the site. I was sad to hear the recent news that Tony had passed away. To myself, and I’m sure many of you, he was one of the true faces of ufology. He was a credit to the UFO community, and he will be greatly missed. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

On Wednesday 6th May 2010 I met up with BUFOG founders Craig Lowe and Mark Martin to interview them about the group and their thoughts on the group so far. Below is the transcript of this interview. It is an interesting, and sometimes amusing insight into what it’s like to create and run a UFO group. Early Days How long have you known each other for? M: About three years. C: Yea a few years, not that long. How did you first meet? M: Our girlfriends. C: Yeah, through our girlfriends. We went out quite a few times didn’t we? M: Hmmm. We’d all go out together. C: Cause our girlfriends went to school together so we met quite a few times, but neither of us knew we were interested in this subject. M: No. C: And it popped up, I’d left a Timothy Good book out. M: Timothy Good brought us together! (laughs) C: Yeah Timothy Good. He spotted the book and we started talking. M: I said “Is that Timothy Good?” “Yeah, yeah, a UFO book.” “Are you into UFOs?” “Yeah!” C: When you said you knew who Timothy Good was, I thought well if you know Timothy Good then you probably take the subject seriously. M: Yeah. That was at the end of one night when we were both quite p***ed! C: If I remember, the next time we met we didn’t talk much about it did we? M: No. C: We was waiting for each other to start the subject. M: After about an hour and then we started talking about it a bit more and then... C: Bit of a strange night. How did you first get interested in the subject of UFOs? C: Mine was quite strange, from as young as I can remember, always been fascinated with space. I always remember drawing pictures of space men even from about the age of 4. Quite a few strange experiences I had in my bedroom from when I was 3-4, of...seeing things. M: For me Star Wars, 100% Star Wars! Watching Star Wars back in 77, and the possibilities of Star Wars, and thinking about species out there really opened up my mind 100%. George Lucas knows things! C: Yeah. BUFOG Creation When did you first come up with the idea for the group? C: At a UFORM meeting. M: Yeah. The last UFORM meeting we went to. C: We both....Before we knew each other we both wanted to go to UFORM meetings in Stourbridge but we didn’t want to go alone. We got together and said “Shall we go to UFORM?” Went to a couple of lectures didn’t we? M: Only two. C: Two lectures. M: Then the second lecture they announced they were closing. In the car on the way back home from the lecture you spoke about trying to help out. C: Cause we were planning to approach them and ask if we could help. When we found out they were planning to close we decided to form a new group ourselves. What were your main motivations for wishing to create BUFOG? C: I suppose it’s what we’ve read and researched, wanted to prove it to people. M: It was the next natural step for us. It seemed really natural progression from discussing the subject to actually getting a group together, so we could all discuss it together, and open people’s minds up as best as we could. C: Well I think our natural path was we’d probably done about 10/11 years of researching it and it was time then to get the info out to people who didn’t know as much about it. M: So we hoped to start the group, make it as popular as possible, in this area. Why do you feel Birmingham needs its own UFO group? C: Heart of England. M: Yeah. Heart of England, it deserves it! C: I mean you’ve had big groups up North, then South, and it’s always restricted people – if you’re up North then you can’t go down South, but we are at the heart, it’s the heart. How did you come up with the group logo and name? M: I think we more or less came up with BUFOG together. We just thought “Birmingham UFO Group, yeah BUFOG!” C: We just came up with that name and it seemed to stick. M: Yeah, Birmingham UFO Group. What were your main concerns with the creation of the group? M: That nobody would turn up, on the first night especially. C: Yeah. M: That there would be no interest. C: We’d flop from the off, nobody would pay any interest and we’d fall on our face. I suppose seeing a group like UFORM, which had been going for about twelve years, it was well established. They started when there was no internet so it was the only thing people had to go to was the group. M: Mm-hmmm. C: We’ve started when technology’s a part of everyday life. M: Yeah. C: Neither of us have done much public speaking or organising events, so it really was a shit in the woods for us wasn’t it? Cause we hadn’t a clue where to start, what to do. M: Yeah that’s right. How do you let people know about the existence of the group? M: Word of mouth, we told UFORM members who passed it on, we advertise it on the website. C: It was one thing we thought about from the beginning, “How are we going to get people to know about it?” Cause the only contact we had was UFORM members and anybody who contacted us. So far we’ve had 40000 hits on the website so people are obviously finding us. M: The most important thing for us was to get the website up and running, and out there to the world wide audience, and then obviously we tried to get the word around UFORM as much as we could, and then it was word of mouth after that. How did you choose the location for the first meeting? C: Cause we were in here having a drink! That is the answer... M: You can leave that in (Laughs). C: No, no, seriously, we wanted it to be in Birmingham. We did look towards the Oldbury area but obviously that’s going outside of Birmingham. Especially this location here, it’s very accessible. M: The Hagley Road is one of the best known roads in Birmingham. C: It’s one road from the motorway, so it’s a perfect location. What were your main concerns with meeting the members for the first time? C: Shitting ourselves! M: That there’d be people like you! (laughs) C: I think out of everything we’ve done, and how far we’ve come, that was the most nervous we’ve ever been, that first night. M: Yeah sitting in the corner over there. C: We’ve both said in the past, neither of us have been a very public person, if there’s a bunch of people we tend to step back. So becoming the front of it and the centre was quite un-nerving. How do you feel the first meeting went? C: Absolutely fantastic! We expected to get here and there be one person here. M: Yeah. And we were late getting here. C: I remember us both bursting through the door, both out of breath... M: And then there was quite a few people over by the bar. C: It was a pleasant surprise. M: We got a drink, sat down and then everyone was sort of looking at us then, as if to say “Say something then.” C: Maybe if it was a different subject we may not have done it. But probably with the research and background we had we were comfortable with it, we knew what we were talking about. M: That was the key definitely. BUFOG Ongoing What were the reasons for the choice of location for the ongoing meetings and lectures? C: Well it’s next to the Amber Tavern, it’s a very well known pub isn’t it? M: Yeah. C: It’s easy to get to from the motorway, Birmingham. The only thing with the Amber Tavern is they didn’t have a private room, which just would have been perfect, so we had to go with the Midland Red Social Club which is next door to it. What are your regular activities in regards to keeping the group going? M: Research, researching articles, definitely trying to get as much information as possible to provide for the group. C: It’s everything many other groups don’t do. M: Yeah. C: Searching through newspapers, website, meetings, video nights... M: It’s all about information, information is the key to everything. So we research every new sighting we can get our hands on. How do you go about choosing and setting up lectures? C: Strangely enough, the first year it was as if it did it itself wasn’t it? M: In the first year they landed in our lap, second year it’s been a lot more difficult. C: It’s been a lot harder hasn’t it? The first year it was as if it was fate what happened, it did it to get us set up and established, where as this year it’s been kind of...we’ve had to chase people this year. But the first year it was the other way round, people were coming to us. M: It was a lot easier. This year it’s been a lot harder getting people here. Nobody backed out in that first year did they? Nobody. C: For the first year it had all three of us concentrating on the same thing. This second year we’ve got so many different directions... M: Taking on the magazine as well. C: There’s a lot more going on. What were your main reasons for taking on a group investigator? C: It was time wasn’t it, we just hadn’t got time for it. M: In between doing the website and looking at things we really hadn’t got time to go out and see anyone. C: We were having that many requests coming in from people to investigate things. M: “Can you come and see us, can you come and investigate this” “Well no we can’t” C: All we was relying on was people send us the reports and we just publish them, we hadn’t got time to follow it up or... M: That’s all we were doing was reporting sightings. Which is wrong, because we needed to get out there, or get somebody to get out there and do it. What do you think of the members of the group so far? C: I think we’ve got a good collection of people. M: Yeah people from all different backgrounds. C: Middle aged, older aged, professional people, students. Some people think people into this subject are all going to be anoraks, but we are the complete opposite. That was one thing that surprised us. There’s some really interesting people in the group. What are your own highlights and lowlights of the first year and a half of BUFOG? C: Lowlight was the small turnout to some of the lectures we did in the summer. Cause the amount of work you put into it, and then hardly anyone shows up... M: Yeah I think there was one lecture or film night where we only got 11 people, that was really a kick in the balls basically. Highlight was probably Mary Rodwell, or Ann Andrews, or both of them. Mary coming from Australia, and she wanted to do the lecture, she was lovely. C: Possibly another big highlight is just sitting down and seeing what we’ve achieved, what we’ve done. We’ve never had a chance to sit back and get big headed about it. M: No, we ain’t got the time. How do you feel the Kerrang radio interview went? C: I enjoyed that! M: Yeah. C: It was quite good. I expected it to be kind of a bit of the opposite, kind of ridiculing us but that never happened. M: I think I said one word right at the end, I said “Cheers!” C: I think it was good, because I think he had a lot of interest in it which was good. I suppose a lot of people who interview you aren’t really interested in the subject. M: To be fair we were a bit worried that they were going to ridicule us on air, and I think that was our big fear, but to be fair they didn’t. How do you feel about having to cancel the planned UFO conference? M: Ooooo you had to bring that up! C: Pull that knife from out of my back! (laughs) Errr....both ways with that. One it was gutting to get the line up we agreed, would have been a fantastic line up. M: I don’t think it was the right time. Even from the start I felt that possibly it wasn’t the right time. C: I think for the time it was possibly too big for us wasn’t it? M: Yeah, I think we were trying to do too much in such a short space of time. That first year we were all optimistic, we were like “Come on”. C: I suppose it was a big statement for us. M: We wanted to take on the world that first year. C: I think it possibly could have been our downfall. With speakers that big, if it went wrong it could have damaged our reputation. M: We want this to be a huge event, and it will be in the future, it will be the UK’s biggest, so that’s something for the future. C: It was getting harder and harder to sort it out, we were hitting more and more obstacles... M: Maybe it was a sign that it just wasn’t meant to be. C: I think everybody took it well. It’s something to look forward to when we do do it so... M: We still will. What has been your favourite lecture so far and why? M: For me it Mary Rodwell, for you it was... C: Mine was Ann Andrews. M: Yeah. I think you took more to Ann Andrews probably than I did. C: Well I got on with Ann Andrews really well. I was looking forward to Mary Rodwell’s as well but I spent so much time trying to get the computers working. I was concentrating more on making sure everything was working than actually the lecture. I think with Ann Andrews I actually got to sit back and enjoy the lecture. So Ann Andrews was the one for me. M: Mary Rodwell for me definitely. The information, research and the place that she came from, she’d come all the way from Australia, and such a lovely woman as well, she was really nice. C: I think one of the best and well received lectures was yours. Cause you’ve only been researching for a year and... M: You had the best turn out! C: I’ve got to say I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Brilliant lecture. M: It showed we were being a very professional group. C: It showed how good some of the cases have been and that some serious research had been done into them. M: I think before that people may have been thinking that we weren’t doing that much. After that lecture I think people realised exactly what we have been doing. What do you feel are the advantages to running a group specifically for one city/area? M: I think people want to know what’s going on in their area. If they’re interested in this subject, and there’s reports coming in from their area which we are providing, it’s an interesting insight into what’s going on out there. We’re from Birmingham, we’re looking into Birmingham sightings generally, it’s nice to know what’s going on in your area. C: I suppose one thing with it being Birmingham, what with it being Midland based, just think what we’ve got going on around us – airports, air force bases, we’re at a vantage point. The centre of England is Birmingham. What are your plans for the future of the group? C: Conquer the world! (laughs) M: Obviously the conference for the future, we’ll carry on with the meetings, writing the magazine which hopefully will go worldwide. C: Hopefully one day we’ll become much stronger, the central body for UFO reports in the UK, you never know maybe the central body for the world! The agency between them....and the earthlings. Are you worried that you may attract the attention of individuals involved with the UFO cover up? M: I think that’s part and parcel for the subject which we are in. C: I think we need to attract them. Final Question If you met an alien face-to-face, what would be the first question you would ask it? M: Where did you come from? It’s gotta be. C: I think I would say “Start from the beginning. Tell me all, I want to know everything.” Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Schiffer Publishing Michael Fitzgerald Atglen PA - Aliens are among us already and their activities have increased enormously with the arrival of the new millenium. Journey with the author as he examines human/extraterrestrial interaction from ancient times to the present. Sightings, contact and abduction cases are all considered, as well as a detailed study for the evidence of life on other planets, especially on Mars and the Moon. Become part of the search for extraterrestrial life and attempts to communicate with it. Explore the cover ups and conspiracies, doomsday scenarios, and the possibility that the increase in UFO activity represents an attempt by extraterrestrials to encourage us to change direction and work together for the salvation of our planet. Or...is there a much more sinister plan afoot? By the year 2030, we will have defiinate proof of the existence of intelligent life on other planets. Mysteries beckon. Michael FitzGerald has five previously published books on the history of Hitler's Germany and London history. He has appeared on television and radio, given press interviews and talks. He has researched UFOs for many years. For press details or to request a review copy please contact Andrea Thatcher at 610-593-1777 or andreat@schifferbooks.com

“Sin Thesis,” Robert Torres' first book is a non-fiction book based on the many paranormal events that he began experiencing after he claimed to have alien contact. It was later after a subsequent UFO encounter that he says he first started to realize that he was seeing the world differently than most others. It was these first alien experiences that he says “opened his mind.” But it was all of the other extraordinary events that followed which led him to write this book. These events he describes as “life changing” and he spent 7 years researching to find explanations on causes. The book is heavy science, religion, philosophy, the paranormal and many other belief systems are explored as he attempts to explain the supernatural. He includes many examples and tries to incorporate many possible answers as to why these supernatural events occur. Along the way his life was made more difficult by what he calls “heavy government conspiracy” that seems to accompany many of those involved in the UFO phenomena. What are they trying to hide? If everything he says is true, then it calls into question reality itself and what may be the biggest secret of all... ‘Sin Thesis’ author Robert Torres, UFO and Paranormal Encounter Experiencer, gives Us An Extraordinary ‘Textbook’ and an ESSENTIAL Insider’s Story - Harold Egeln, professional New York City journalist former staff reporter for The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, several Brooklyn weeklies and other publications; current President of the NYC chapter of the US National Space Society. Author Bio Robert Torres aka Bobby T is the author of "Sin Thesis" and a self-described paranormal magnet. He is also a published singer, songwriter of "Then There Was Rock." Torres has worked for many well-known national US companies as a freelance. He has also worked as a magazine editor, technical writer, music writer, content writer, web designer, consultant, promotions, manager, agent, booker, producer, photographer, computer tech, audio tech and the list goes on. All the info about Robert Torres and “Sin Thesis” can be found at http://www.about.me/Towers3

A ground-breaking new series compiled by former Police Officer John Hanson and his partner Dawn Holloway, together with David Sankey, a veteran UFO researcher and artist. The multi-part series covers British UFO sightings from 1940 to the present day. Haunted Skies is the most ambitious series of books ever attempted in the history of ufology, and will - no doubt - provide a new benchmark in the quality of such publications. A Word From The Authors We would like to thank Dave Hodrien and his colleagues for including information about Haunted Skies series of books, which started in 2010, following a research period of now nearly 20 years experience into the UFO subject. We believe the public has a right to know the full extent of what took place during periods of UFO activity, going back to the 1940s, as seen through the eyes of the UFO witness, rather than trusting low grade UFO reports which were declassified annually by the MOD, until recently. Over the years we have spent thousands of our money, as we passionately believe in getting this information out into the public domain. Fortunately, we now have control over the way that these books are published. Contrary to speculation widely held that authors of UFO books make money, we have run at a huge loss. However, we believe future generations should have the opportunity of looking back into past history and seeing for themselves what really happened. We therefore hope that people may feel inclined to purchase the books, knowing that their purchase will go towards the production of further Volumes. We have done and are doing as much as we can to help the UFO cause, and we welcome any ideas, suggestions, photographs, artwork, and personal experiences, which the reader may wish to bring to our attention. At the end of the day it is not about us, it is about so many people that have had the courage to stand up and report simply and only what they saw. The books are available from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and other book sellers’ websites on line. John Hanson and Dawn Holloway, 0121 4450340 Email johndawn1@sky.com

This is the new official website for Birmingham UFO Group. Whether you've visited our previous site or not, take a look around for a wealth of information on UFOs, case reports, details of our upcoming events or to get in touch to report an experience (either recent or from your past) or book me to give a lecture - Chairman Dave

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 19/02/2019 Sighting Details On the evening of Sunday 27th January 2019 Rob was standing just outside the back door of his house on Rymond Road, Hodge Hill, having a cigarette. It was about 7.15pm and a cold but still evening. Due to the time of year the sun had fully set and the stars were visible in the sky between patchy cloud. Rob has a big interest in aircraft and helicopters, and lives under the flight path of Birmingham International Airport, so he is always looking up at the sky. Aerial map of Rymond Road: Aerial map showing Rymond Road (A) and Birmingham International Airport (B): Out of the corner of his eye he suddenly noticed a brief flash of white lights in a curved arc off to his left to the South West. He wasn’t looking directly at that area of sky at that moment but was sure he had seen something. He thought to himself “That’s weird!” and began to stare in the direction he had noticed the lights. Between 90-120 seconds later the lights suddenly reappeared and flashed again! This time he clearly saw them and was absolutely shocked by what he witnessed. For a brief moment he saw about 7 very bright white glowing points of light in a gradual curve formation. However this time when the lights went off they were immediately replaced by a single brighter point of light. This too went off, then began to flash intermittently. Rob was convinced that this single flashing light was directly related to the curve of lights he had seen. Photograph of the sky with the arc of lights drawn on top: He felt sure that what he was looking at was not a helicopter or plane, but something far more unusual. It was hard to judge how high it was, but it was above cloud height. He ran back into the house to call his wife and grab his I-phone. She soon joined him and they returned outside. The light was still present in the sky and he pointed it out to her. He then decided to start filming it. As he lifted up his camera phone he accidentally took a single photograph of the sky, but then began to record video footage. It seemed to be flashing on 4 second intervals, although not all of these flashes were picked up by the camera. The object began moving in a staggered pattern across the sky until it was above the house almost directly overhead. To Rob the path of movement appeared odd and not at all like a normal aircraft. As they watched, they noticed 5 other aircraft in the vicinity, several taking off from the airport, and two at very high altitude. After a couple more flashes the light vanished without trace. About 40 minutes later Rob returned outside to see if it had reappeared. He did see a couple of flashes in the same area of sky where it had vanished, suggesting it was still there. Photograph and Video Analysis Here is the photograph that Rob took of the sky accidentally before starting to film: It is unknown whether the dull white spot towards the centre of the image is the object or just a reflection in the lens. It is possible that Rob managed to capture it here but by no means a definite. Below is the 90 seconds of video footage that Rob recorded: As you can see the white light is clearly visible at certain moments of the footage. The light can be seen at the following seconds - 3, 15, 19, 31, 46, 62, 74, 78. On two occasions the gap between the flashes is 4 seconds. And the gaps between the other flashes are exactly/roughly divisible by 4. This suggests that it may have been flashing constantly at that speed, but the other flashes were obscured by cloud or distance. In the footage Rob can be heard speaking with his wife about the UFO. The transcript for their communication is as follows: W: There's two! It's like it's back-tracking on itself. You sure it's not a plane... R: No. No a plane's just gone over, and as it went over it stopped, but that thing is actually going round in a curve. Lost it again now. W: There it is! Right above us. R: It's moved. W: It's coming over the house. Where's it gone? R: I don't know, it's disappeared. There it is. W: Wow! There's a plane on its way over. R: I thought I was seeing... Here is a still from 3 seconds into the video footage showing the white light: It is clear that there is something there, but sadly due to the distance and the time of day no detail such as shape or possible size can be determined. Sighting Analysis This is a sighting of three parts – the initial arc of bright white lights, the slowly flashing individual light immediately following the arc, then the flashing light observed 40 minutes later. One of the big questions is whether the three were related or not. Rob first noticed the single white light immediately after seeing the curve of lights. While this tends to suggest that they may be related, this may have just down to coincidence. We therefore need to analyse each part of the sighting individually. It is a shame that Rob did not grab his camera sooner and manage to capture the arc of lights which he initially witnessed. This would have been fascinating to see, and certainly left a lasting impression on him. The fact that there were 7 lights spaced apart from one another which all appeared at the same moment puts many mundane explanations out of the question. If they were all attached to a single large object, this would have had to have been massive in size, and clearly not a single plane or helicopter of any kind. A formation of helicopters or jets would have remained visible not just flashed their lights once at the same moment. There are no nightclubs in the area which could have projected spotlights into the sky, and again if this were the explanation they would very likely have been left on for a period of time and clearly visible. A drifting line of LED balloons would have flashed continuously not just twice. The lights appeared twice, once when Rob was not looking directly, and once where he was. This suggests it was not caused by an unusual light reflection. The white flashing light seen in the video footage is of course less impressive. Rob is ex-army and also has a big interest in aircraft, and due to the location of his house he regularly sees planes and helicopters fly over. He also owns a drone and knows how these can appear after dark. He feels sure that none of these can adequately explain what he saw. Due to the flashing it was clearly not a star. The erratic movement also puts out of the question the idea that it could have been a satellite catching the sun’s rays every so often. However as the object was so distant, I feel that a high altitude helicopter or drone cannot be entirely ruled out. When Rob returned outside 40 minutes later he claims to have again seen the white light flash twice in the same area of sky as it had been situated. Could it have been there for this period of time? If so this would possibly point towards a helicopter performing a patrol within the area. It is very unlikely that someone would have still been flying a drone after this amount of time, and any LED balloons would have drifted away. If the individual flashing light was directly related to the arc of lights this could have been a large unidentified craft, possibly of extra-terrestrial origin. And even if the strobing light seen in the footage had a mundane explanation, the initial sighting of multiple lights is much harder to explain. This remains a compelling and mysterious sighting. This is not the first UFO that Rob has witnessed. Back in 2007 he and his wife witnessed a silver coloured cigar-shaped object over Kettering. There is a seperate case report for this incident. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2019

Birmingham UFO Group Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 19/02/2019 Sighting Details Back in the summer of 2007 Rob used to live on Orchard Crescent, in the suburbs Kettering. The location is quite rural with very little light pollution. Rob would often sit out in the back garden with his wife and star gaze. Aerial map of Orchard Crescent: One weekend evening around 11.30pm they were doing just that. The sun had fully set and it was a clear and still night, with the moon and stars visible in the sky. Due to the time of year it was not particularly cold. They suddenly noticed that there were many high altitude aircraft in the sky to the North East. They were spaced apart rather than in formation, but all seemed to be heading to the West in the direction of Birmingham. They appeared to be at least 20000 feet up. Despite their height it was possible to see the standard red green and white navigation lights flashing on them. They then noticed another object flying in the opposite direction towards the aircraft. It seemed about the same altitude as the planes but had no flashing lights on it. It looked cigar-shaped and a chrome silver colour. There was no sign of any wings or tail, and no markings on the object. Due to the height it looked at least as large as a civilian aircraft. It was moving at about the same speed as the other planes. They watched for a period of minutes as the cigar-shaped object slowly approached the other aircraft. As it began to get close to them it suddenly vanished without trace. The planes continued to cross the sky then slowly disappeared from view one at a time, probably due to the distance. Rob wondered if the aircraft he and his wife had seen were from RAF Wittering, which is situated at Peterborough 25 miles to the North East of Kettering. Aerial map showing the sighting location (A) and RAF Wittering (B): He contacted the base on the same night. They informed him that no aircraft had taken off from the base after 5pm. Rob informed them of what he had seen. They said that they did not have any information and would investigate. The person on the phone said that they would contact him back, but never did. Sighting Analysis This is an unusual incident due to the number of aircraft seen in the sky at the same time as the UFO. Could the planes have been sent from RAF Wittering to intercept the object? The individual Rob spoke with denied that aircraft had taken off from the base, however if this was what took place they would be very unlikely to admit to it. Although the planes were heading towards the object, they were also heading in the direction of Birmingham Interantional airport. Also they were not in formation, surely if the base had sent planes up to intercept the UFO they would have been in formation rather than spread apart? Perhaps there just happened to be many civilian aircraft in the air at that time, and they were un-related to the object. However as the object appeared to be at the same altitude, there is the possibility that at least one of the pilots of these aircraft observed it. The UFO itself looked similar to one of the more commonly reported craft, both in shape and colour. It clearly was not a normal aircraft. Due to the speed it was travelling at, and the fact that it was metallic rather than glowing, it could not have been a meteorite. As the object did not perform any advanced manoeuvres, there is the possibility it was a large inflatable object. It could not have been a solar airship as these require warm sunlight to become airbourne. But another inflatable such as a blimp is worth considering. It appeared very large, but due to the lack of a point of reference there is the possibility it was lower in altitude than it appeared, and therefore smaller in size. However if this were the explanation how did it suddenly vanish? Rob informed me it was a clear star-filled sky that night, making it less likely that it was hidden from view by cloud cover. From the details of the sighting, it is not possible to clearly identify the object seen. There is therefore the possibility that it was an extra-terrestrial or other advanced craft. This is not the only UFO that Rob has seen in his life. In January 2019 he witnessed a white arc of lights and flashing light which he recorded on video. There is a seperate case report which covers this incident. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2019

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 01/03/2019 UFO witness Barrie is 64 years old and lives in Hall Green, Birmingham. He regularly enjoys sitting out in his back garden and star gazing, and has stared up at the night sky for many hours. Over the years he has understandably seen many unidentified lights at a distance. But he has also had three highly impressive sightings of solid structured objects. The most recent of these sightings took place in the early hours of 27th December 2009. His other previous sightings took place many years ago, but Barrie still remembers them clearly. They have had a lasting effect on him, and changed his views of the universe forever. Aerial map showing location of the three sightings: This report will cover each of Barrie’s UFO sightings, beginning with the oldest. 1964 UFOs Sighting Barrie’s first impressive UFO sighting took place in 1964. He was sitting in his back garden star gazing, close to the back door of his house on Brooklands Road. It was a clear and still night, and quite pleasant. He suddenly noticed in the sky to the South two objects moving in his direction. He soon saw that the objects appeared to be two silver coloured discs, which were reflecting the moonlight. They were about the height of a low flying helicopter. He was amazed by what he was seeing, and got up from his chair. He walked down the garden, watching as the discs approached. The two objects were in close formation, and flying diagonally from one another. They were completely smooth with no visible markings on them, and were completely silent. Drawing of UFOs on photograph of sighting location, showing path that they took: The discs flew overhead and Barrie turned round to watch them continue their journey to the North. They were lost from sight behind the roof of his house, and banked up into the night sky out of view. Because of the way that they flew on a straight course and maintained formation throughout, Barrie was convinced that they had been under intelligent control. 1967 UFO Sighting On a clear still evening back in 1967 Barrie was sitting in his back garden of his house sky watching. Suddenly from behind him over the roof of the house came a massive boomerang shaped object, flying at quite a low altitude, Barrie estimates about 400 feet. The main bulk of the object was dull brown in colour. Along its underside were a number of defused white coloured evenly spaced round objects. They looked like large lenses mounted onto the base of the UFO. It almost appeared like the UFO was carrying them, they did not appear to be embedded in its surface. There were no other visible markings on the object at all, it was completely smooth. Barrie immediately assumed the object was a massive craft of some kind. It was so huge it covered most of his view of the sky as it passed silently overhead. Barrie’s garden is 30 feet across, and it was certainly larger than this. Drawing of UFO on photograph of sighting location: The object continued on a straight flight path to the South and Barrie watched it until it disappeared out of sight behind neighbouring housing. Due to its low altitude, Barrie felt that the object may have been crash landing, and almost expected to hear an explosion after it had gone out of sight – but this didn’t happen. Due to the size of the UFO there may well have been other witnesses who have yet to come forward. 27th December 2009 UFO Sighting On Boxing Day 2009, Barrie went to bed about 10pm. His wife was out visiting her brother. Barrie awoke to hear her arrive home at 12.30am. As his wife got ready for bed, he decided to go downstairs and make a cup of tea. He looked out of the kitchen window out to the back garden. It was a very clear and dry night, with very little cloud cover. He decided he would go and look at the stars for a short while from outside the back door. The sky was a dark pastel blue colour with small white clouds moving to the South East. Despite being clear, it was quite windy and cold. At 1.47am, Barrie looked to the South down the garden. He noticed an object in the sky above and to the right of the neighbouring house. It appeared to be about the same height as the lowest clouds in the sky. As he watched, the object moved very rapidly in a curved trajectory towards him. It then came to a halt for a split second, before moving back in a curve the other way. It continued to perform these curved zigzagging manoeuvres, each time stopping for a moment between them, approaching his position. Barrie was absolutely astounded by the movement pattern of the object. UFO route on photograph of sighting location: As it got closer he could see it was a dull dark grey coloured disc, with a number of small semi-circular extensions equally spaced around it’s edge. It had a smooth surface but did not appear to be reflecting the moonlight. It was hard to gauge the size of the object as there was no point of reference to compare it against. Drawing of UFO as viewed from underneath: The disc flew overhead, and Barrie got a clear view of the shape of it from underneath. It continued zigzagging on a Northerly course until he lost sight of it over the roof of his house. Barrie says he was gobsmacked by the sighting and it was truly incredible to watch. The movements the object was making clearly appeared regular and deliberate. The sighting lasted for about 3 minutes. Barrie had a camcorder in the house, but did not want to miss anything so did not go and get it. Photograph of house roof where witness lost sight of UFO: After the object had disappeared from view, he woke up his wife and told her all about what he had just seen. He had another cup of tea, then went to check the sky again to see if anything else appeared. He saw nothing so soon decided to go to bed. The following night he stayed up very late watching the sky, but there was much greater cloud cover and he did not see anything. Conclusion All three of these sightings are very impressive sue to the appearance of the objects and their movement patterns. Most usual explanations can immediately be discounted. In all three cases, the objects were clearly not conventional aircraft of any kind. Due to Barrie’s experience in watching the sky, and the fact that he lives close to Birmingham International Airport, he can easily recognise aircraft and how they appear when coming in to land. He also knows how to recognise other objects seen in the night sky such as meteorites or satellites. The objects he saw in these incidents looked completely different, and were all silent, even when right overhead. The silver disc-shaped objects flew on a level flight path right across the sky, and maintained their position from one another. This certainly suggests they were under control and not randomly drifting. Barrie’s most recent sighting was even more impressive, with highly unusual controlled movements that were against the wind direction. The purpose of these manoeuvres is unknown, but they were completely regular in timing and distance covered. The boomerang-shaped UFO is highly unlikely to have been a model due to its massive size. There was no visible means of propulsion, and to power something so large would certainly have made quite a noise, yet it was completely silent after dark when sound can be more easily heard. The appearance of the object is a little reminiscent of the craft seen during the Phoenix Lights incident, but that craft was black and had white lights along its underside, not strange lens-like attachments. However one possibility worth considering is that these “lenses” were in fact lights which were just switched off at the time. Both I and Barrie find it unlikely that these sightings could be of secret military craft – it is improbable that they would have flown them over a highly populated city in plain sight, and at such low altitude. There are also no military-owned bases in the local area. After assessing all the evidence, I feel there is a good chance that these sightings were of genuine extraterrestrial craft. Many UFO sightings have proved time and time again that our visitors fly wherever they choose to, and do not just stick to rural lesser-populated areas. Barrie feels very lucky to have had these experiences. He realises that many go through their entire life without ever seeing one UFO, yet he has now had three very impressive sightings. He thinks about them often, and wonders whether he will have any more sightings in the future. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2010