In June 2009, the Birmingham UFO Group was treated to a very interesting and varied lecture by “psychic investigator” Jane McCarthy. Her husband Tom who helps with her investigations was also there, as was their highly active pet dog, which apparently has a sixth sense and can detect the presence of ghosts. Tom did not talk during the lecture but was on hand to answer questions. Jane claims to possess clairvoyant abilities which enable her to receive messages from spirits, and also what she believes to be an extraterrestrial intelligence. She also has the ability to sometimes see apparitions or spirit energy in the form of orbs. She is regularly contacted by people who wish to receive psychic readings, and she is also called out to investigate hauntings. Before her lecture, Jane openly admitted to being more interested in ghosts than UFOs or aliens. However over the years she and her husband have had a number of fascinating UFO encounters. The first part of Jane’s lecture concentrated on these incidents, and featured many drawings and photographs. It became clear she had had some very interesting sightings indeed, and had even managed to twice photograph what she believes is a huge unidentified craft. This apparently appeared in response to her asking for proof of their existence. Jane has also had a contact experience, and is possibly an abductee, though she does not wish to pry into this too deep as it un-nerves her. She has a tiny scar in each eye which she believes was caused during an abduction. She also recounted a story where she awoke to see an amphibian-type alien being in her room. Her experiences seemed very believeable and she described them in great detail. During the break I approached Jane to speak with her about her psychic messages. As we were talking, she actually received a message – not for me, but for BUFOG presidents Craig and Mark. Jane and Tom’s pet dog continued excitedly running around the room staring at everyone. In the second part of her lecture, Jane discussed some of her psychic investigations in more detail, and moved away from the subject of UFOs to discuss spirits and orbs instead. Some of her stories were very creepy indeed, there was at least a couple of moments where I felt the hairs on my neck stand up! In particular, she recounted an investigation into a haunting on a stretch of road. When she visited the location she detected the presence of a young man and even drew a picture of him. Later she would learn that this boy had died in a fatal crash, and a relative even recognised him from her picture. Jane also detected the presence of a monk, which she again drew a picture of. She is not the only one to have seen the monk at that location – she read out a newspaper article about a sighting of the monk by a couple of police officers. While everyone was getting thoroughly spooked by her tale, we suddenly began to hear a strange quiet voice calling out. Then the dog let out a loud bark! Was there a presence in the room that was making itself known to us? Not this time…it was just Craig’s mobile phone which he’d left over by the podium! When speaking about the orb pheonomenon, Jane explained how she believes that they are doorways to another dimension through which spirits can manifest. She displayed some interesting photographs showing close ups of orbs to back up this theory. Sadly in the end Jane’s lecture had to draw to a close, but everyone agreed it was both highly enjoyable and interesting. She came across as a very confident person who speaks very openly about her experiences. If you missed the lecture, look out for her speaking elsewhere, I cannot reccomend her enough. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Birmingham UFO Group Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 10/06/2009 Occassionally BUFOG gets contacted by someone from much further afield than Birmingham. As our website is active and can be easily found on the internet, we are sometimes the first point of call for witnesses from elsewhere in the world. On 20th May, Melissa (name changed for privacy reasons) sent a couple of UFO photographs to BUFOG for analysis. The photographs were taken at 3.51pm on 7th May 2009 on Highway 401 close to the Dixon Road exit, Ontario, Toronto, Canada. 📷 The traffic was slow so Melissa decided to take some photographs of a jet plane taking off. It was a cloudy day but quite bright. She did not notice anything out of the ordinary at the time. Upon developing the photographs later, a couple of them showed an unusual black object. The photographs were taken only a second apart, and in previous ones nothing could be seen at all. Below are the photographs showing the object: 📷 📷 Here is a close up of the object: 📷 The witness feels sure that the object is something unexplained rather than mundane. She believes this because of the speed that the object moved at, it appeared to cover a great distance in only a second. Also it was not present in the previous photographs at all. The object in the second photograph is half the size that it is in the first. After analysing the photographs I personally believe that they show a bird in flight. I feel that the reason the object moved such a distance across the photograph is because it was quite close to the camera. I believe that it flew in from the left of the camera diagonally away from the position of the witness. This would explain why it is not present in the previous photos, and also why it reduced in size between the photographs. The shape of the object certainly fits in with it being a bird. It is unsymmetrical with no straight edges. It is interesting that both photographs show a similar shape but I believe that the witness managed to catch two photos of the bird with it’s wings in front of it’s body which is why they are not visible. Below are two other UFO photographs which are more than likely birds. You can see the similarity in the shape with what Melissa has photographed: 📷 📷 It is of course impossible to say for definite, but it seems probable that in this instance the object photographed was a bird flying into the camera shot for a couple of frames. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

The one day conference “Into The Unknown” took place at Garston Manor, Watford, on Sunday 31st May 2009. Due to the impressive speaker line up, I decided to drive down from Birmingham for the conference along with my girlfriend and another friend. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for the drive, it was one of the brightest days of the year and the roads were nice and clear. We arrived at Garston Manor at 9am. The chosen venue was absolutely fantastic. The conference took place in an open function room inside the manor with large windows looking out to the grounds outside. This room was just the right size for the number of people who turned up, so never felt overcrowded and everyone got a seat. In another side room there were a few UFO book and magazine dealers, and a third room was a makeshift café with drinks, cake and biscuits up for grabs. As we had arrived with half an hour to spare we went outside to relax on the grass in the morning sunlight. We immediately bumped into the first speaker of the day, Kevin Goodman. He recognised me straight away, as last year he gave a talk for the Birmingham UFO Group. Kevin’s talk kicked off at 9.30pm. He is a fantastic speaker and is always a joy to listen to. His lecture was essentially the same as what we had heard the previous year, but it was great to hear again. Kevin discussed his and his friends experiences at Warminster from earlier in his life. As you will probably already know, Warminster is one of the UK’s most famous UFO hotspots, especially from the 1970s-80s. After getting interested in the subject of UFOs, Kevin and his friends decided to visit the town on numerous occasions for sky watches on Cradle Hill. After discussing some of the mysterious goings on at Warminster, he described several very impressive UFO sightings that he had personally seen. He also explained how him and his friends became unwilling contactees. Using a method of channelling, his friend Colin would enter a trance like state, during which they seemed to make contact with an extraterrestrial entity. They did this on numerous occasions, but Kevin remains very level headed about this aspect of their experiences. He remains open to the possibility that it was genuine, but also wonders whether it was something else entirely such as ESP between his group of friends. This apparent contact was the subject of most of the questions asked at the end of the lecture. In the short break, we met up with two other Birmingham UFO Group members Zoe and Ian, who had unfortunately missed most of the first lecture. It was then time for renowned ex-Ministry Of Defence researcher Nick Pope to begin his talk. I have seen Nick several times before and he is always a very interesting speaker due to his background. Nick ran the UFO desk for the MOD for a number of years. He started off as a sceptic but after looking into the reports coming in from the public realised that there was a large amount of evidence that some UFOs were physical craft of an unknown origin. His lecture this time was about the recent release of various UFO reports to the National Archives through the Freedom Of Information Act. Nick believes that at least in the UK, there is no cover up, and that now these reports are being released for public viewing neither the government or the MOD are with-holding any further information on UFOs. He went over some of the most impressive cases that have now been released, including a sighting by a pilot of a hovering craft the size of an aircraft carrier which was also confirmed on radar. Nick’s overall message that he was trying to get across was that the MOD are not the bad guys and that they are just as mystified by UFOs as the general public. A viewpoint which he openly admitted may not be shared by some of the audience! After Nick’s lecture there was then an hour’s break for lunch. There was a pre-booked meal at the manor, but instead we opted to drive out to a nearby pub. Several other people from the conference also turned up for a quick drink. It was soon time to return to the manor for the afternoons speakers, beginning with well known speaker Malcolm Topping from Scottish Paranormal Investigations (SPI). Malcolm is a really enthusiastic speaker, you can easily see that he loves his work as an investigator. Over the years he has looked into many things including UFOs, ghosts and the Loch Ness Monster. He has been doing this now for 30 years, which is what his lecture focused on. It was a truly great talk and extremely varied, touching on many different cases he had looked into. The lecture featured many different photos, including his early days with some truly shocking hairstyles on display! He did not go into any one thing in great depth as the lecture was essentially an overview of his investigative career, but this made it very lively and entertaining to listen to. It was certainly one of my favourite lectures of the day. The next speaker was originally Mike Omram but he unfortunately he had to cancel. Instead we got treated to a fantastic talk by repeat abductee Steve Jones. Steve has had contact experiences since an early age, and up until last year he has been too scared to discuss them openly. However he has realised that in recent years there has been a shift in how UFOs and aliens are perceived by the public, and he now feels he can share his experiences without fear of ridicule. He came across as a very confident speaker and was very believable. We were all enthralled as he recounted his story to us. He explained how as a child he saw an unknown lady appear in his room on numerous occasions who he would speak with. This lead on to numerous abductions by Grey beings during which he was subjected to various examinations. At first he was terrified by what was taking place, but has since come to terms with what is happening to him, and now feels he is more a participant than a victim. He also mentioned that he has a number of implants inside him but unlike some other abductees does not wish them to be removed as they are in there for a positive reason. Steve believes that the beings he has been in contact with are from a different dimension rather than from a different planet, and that they are modifying our DNA in preparation for a “shift” which will occur in the near future and affect the whole human race. Unfortunately he did not have time to elaborate on this further, but I for one will certainly be looking into it in more depth. It was fascinating listening to Steve and he should be applauded for his bravery in being so open about his experiences. The final speaker of the day was crop formation researcher Alan Foster. Again this was a lecture I had heard before at one of the UFO Data conferences, but this did not make it any less interesting. Given the subject matter, Alan’s lecture was a very visual one, featuring many photographs of impressive crop formations from recent years, some of which were incredibly complicated in design. He began by discussing the various aspects of the formations which he believes is evidence that some of them are created by an unknown force rather than man-made. He covered the unusual energies that are sometimes detected within the formations, and the apparent military interest in them. He explained how numerous witnesses have seen unmarked military helicopters in the vicinity of crop formations, and have even been “buzzed” by them until they have left the area. While it is clear that some of the formations are hoaxed, there does seem to be a number of aspects linking them with UFOs. The conference ended with a speakers Q&A session. Unfortunately we had to head for home so missed this, but I am sure it was highly interesting and rounded off the day nicely. My only regret is that it was only one day long, I could have easily listened to a second day of speakers! Considering it was the organisers first conference, the whole day went superbly and was highly enjoyable throughout. If it goes ahead, I’ll certainly be back next year. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Birmingham UFO Group Report Sighting Details This UFO sighting occured approximately 10.15pm on the evening of 28th April 2009. It was a clear still night and the stars were visible. The witness, Elaine Skidmore, had been out with a friend and was on her way home in her car. As she drove down Braithewaite Street in Kingswinford where she lives, she noticed a glowing object in the sky off to the left above the houses. She estimates that it would probably have been above High Street when she first spotted it. The object was the shape of an ice-cream lying horizontally and was glowing a constant bright orange. It was a round orb of light with a triangular cone shape coming off it to the left. It was low down in the sky below the cloud layer, about the height a helicopter would fly at. Elaine had no idea of its size but said that it looked quite big as she was viewing it at a distance. The object was moving very slowly to the right on a straight path. Drawing of the UFO (Drawn by myself from witness description): 📷 She arrived home and got out of the car to continue watching the object from her drive. It was at this point that she realised it was completely silent. She watched it for over 5 minutes as it passed slowly across the end of the road. Once it had reached the side she was on, it suddenly appeared to stop moving and the cone shape completely vanished. It now looked just like a round orb of orange light. This remained stationary for several minutes and then appeared to slowly get smaller and smaller until it had completely vanished. Elaine waited several more minutes to see if the object would reappear but it did not. Map of sighting location: 📷 Sighting Analysis The unusual shape of the object seen in this incident is very interesting. The sighting does have some aspects that fit in with the object being a Chinese lantern. It moved very slow and on a straight path so could well have been drifting in the wind (The witness informed me it was a still night but there could still have been a light breeze higher up). Certainly the colour of the object fits the lantern theory, and when the object got smaller and smaller this could have been it burning out. However usually lanterns are seen just as round orange/white glowing orbs, they do not have other shapes sticking out of them. Elaine insists that the cone shaped part of the object looked solid rather than a trail of light or fire behind it. It is also common for numerous lanterns to be launched together rather than solitary. There is the possibility that it was not a lantern but instead some sort of lit up balloon. Other explanations do not really fit what was witnessed – it is unlikely to have been an aircraft, and was moving much too slowly to be a meteorite or space debris burning up. Elaine said it was a very quiet night but perhaps someone else also witnessed the object. Due to the distance of the sighting it is hard to say exactly what it was, so at this point it remains unexplained. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Philip Mantle is one of the UK’s most well known and experienced UFO researchers. On 24th April, BUFOG investigator Dave Hodrien interviewed Phil on his research work and beliefs. Background How did you first get interested in the subject of UFOs? I was always interested in the paranormal as far back as I can remember. I used to do talks at school about ghosts and visit the local spiritualist church. In the late 1970’s I read a book, the title of which I cannot remember and was intrigued. A friend and I were in Warminster and we’d heard that UFOs had been seen there on Cradle Hill, so we went and took a look for ourselves and we saw some strange lights. I wrote a few letters to various places asking a few questions thinking I’d get all the answers I needed, but here I am 30 years later still looking for a lot of those answers. Have you ever seen a UFO / had a contact experience, and if so what are the details of this, and did it increase your interest in the subject? The only thing that I have seen that I could not identify were two large bright lights over a suburb of Leeds on July 23rd l984 just before 10.00 pm. I was driving home from work when I saw them. Fortunately a lot of others across the north of England that night saw the same thing. Despite a lengthy and intensive investigation we were never able to come up with a satisfactory explanation for these lights. When and how did you decide to start looking into the subject? Just after I saw the lights in Warminster I saw a small advertisement in the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper. It announced a meeting in Leeds about UFOs. I went along out of curiosity. The meeting was organised by Graham & Mark Birdsall who had recently formed the Yorkshire UFO Society. I was hooked. WE had monthly meetings and I just took everything in and soaked it up like a sponge. Slowly but surely I became more interested and more involved. Your Research How did you initially become recognised as a UFO researcher/investigator? I just wanted to find out what the hell was going on. I wasn’t interested in letting other people tell me what they thought. The only way to get the answers I was looking for was to try and investigate the subject myself. I was fortunate as the Yorkshire Dales in the late 70’s and through the 1980’s had a lot of UFO sightings so it was easy to get involved. When did you become affiliated with UFO Magazine, and how did this come about? Before it was UFO magazine it was Quest Magazine and before it was Quest Magazine it was the YUFOS JOURNAL. In the early days the YUFOS Journal and Quest Magazine were hand printed at Mark Birdsall’s flat on the 7th floor of a tower block. Graham Birdsall was the editor. So I was involved right from its initial inception as the YUFOS JOURNAL which eventually evolved into UFO MAGAZINE. How many years have you been researching UFOs for? Too many (laughs). No really, it’s now been 30 years. Boy that makes me sound really old. Do you know roughly how many incidents you have looked into? Not got a clue. There have been a lot I can assure you. I simply could not hazard a guess. Sorry. What is the most impressive case/sighting you have personally looked into? In the early 1980’s me and Mark Birdsall investigated the landing of a UFO at Normanton in West Yorkshire. It was in broad daylight and involved one adult and several children. They saw a UFO land in nearby field and went to look at it. Out side of it were 3 tall humanoid beings. They walked to the back of this object, which was silver and shaped like a ‘Mexican hat’ and it took off without making a noise. There is a lot more to this case but it really made an impression on me. How often do you get recognised by the general public while out and about? I can think of only 3 occasions when this has happened over the 30 years. It is a very uncomfortable experience for me. I’d have no problem being rich but would never want to be famous and recognized in public. How does it feel to be one of the most recognised faces of ufology in the UK? I’d never thought of that at all. I take it as a compliment and count my blessings that I’ve been lucky to be involved in so many different things. Have you ever had any warnings or threats from any individuals about the information you are releasing? Never. What is your favourite aspect of your research work? When I’ve received a thank you from a witness for taking the time to listen to them without passing judgment. What has been your best experience working as a UFO researcher? Perhaps visiting Roswell in 2007. I was recognized here by someone in a café but the whole week there was just great. I was able to visit many of the sites that I had previously only read about and Roswell is a great place in its own right and the desert scenery is quite spectacular. What has been your worst experience? Resigning from BUFORA. It’s a long story so I won’t go into it but I still support BUFORA and my resignation and that of others could and should have been avoided. Its history now but it still leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Have you lectured at the world UFO congress or been to it? If you mean the one in Laughlin, Nevada then yes, just the once. It was a great experience as I was able to meet up with quite a few old friends including Budd Hopkins, John Mack and Roberto Pinotti to name but a few. Your Viewpoints Looking at the subject as a whole, what do you believe represents the most compelling evidence for the reality of UFOs? A very hard question to answer if not impossible. There is some physical evidence that is hard to ignore and I include in that photos and film plus radar. The testimony of certain witnesses is also very compelling, like the landing case in Normanton that I mentioned earlier. What do you believe are currently the most impressive/important UFO cases? Again, almost impossible to answer. Top of the list would have to be Project Hessdalen in Norway. If you’ve not heard of this then ‘shame on you’. The landing in Normanton that I personally was involved in. The Rendlesham Forest events still intrigue despite the best efforts of the skeptics to debunk it. These would be my top three. What are your views on the alien abduction phenomenon? I think it is something best left to medical professionals to deal with. I have interviewed a number of abductees and I have no doubt they have had a highly unusual experience but whether or not it has any connection to ufology is a different thing. The abduction experience may well be another form of altered state of consciousness yet not understood by science. This does not detract from the experience at all. I left this field of research some years ago as I was way out of my depth and I felt it should be handled by professional people and not UFO researchers. Do you believe that at least some of the alien implants removed from contactees are real? If so, do you have any theories about what they are for? They are real in the fact that they are physical objects. If you are asking me if I believe that these are implants put there by beings from another world then I would have to say no I do not. It is an interesting area to study but despite claims by some researchers whom I know and like very much and have met, the implants do not seem to represent any kind of technology. Added to that I do not feel that the abduction experience has anything to do with ET’s therefore any alleged implants cannot be either. What are your views on the usage of hypnotic regression in regards to recovering hidden memories? Leave it to the professionals and keep well away. You are messing with people’s minds and you should not get involved. This was something that BUFORA stood up for and something I entirely agree with. Have you ever witnessed a regression first hand? Several and I was not impressed. What are your views on animal mutilations? They have nothing to do with the UFO subject at all. Period. Have you ever seen an animal mutilation first hand/investigated a mutilation case? No. And if I was presented with one I’d tell them politely to bugger off and seek professional help from someone with expertise in the field of animal deaths. What are your views regarding crop formations? They are all fakes. Have you been to the gate of Area 51? Do you believe that UFOs/extraterrestrials are kept there and that craft are being back engineered? I’ve not been anywhere near Area 51 but I do not believe it houses UFOs or aliens and never has. It is a top secret testing facility and that just about says it all for me. What are your thoughts on the star child skull? Fascinating stuff and Lloyd Pye is to be complemented on his investigation and his patience. However, I would bet that it still turns out to be a deformed human. No offence Lloyd, I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it. Do you believe that NASA are fully aware of the reality of UFOs and cover this up from the general public? No. NASA is too bog with too many civilians involved to keep the lid on such a secret. Do you believe that people involved with the SETI project know full well that extaterrestrials are already visiting earth? No. SETI is a waste of time and money and most of those involved cannot see further than the end of their dish and wouldn’t know anything about UFOs if you asked them. I know that you played a key part in lifting the lid on the Roswell alien autopsy video. Do you believe that any of it is genuine? If so, which parts do you believe are real? It is ALL a complete fake made for money and nothing else. It took me 14 years to prove this but I did. Spyros Melaris is the man who led the team that faked the whole thing. Where do you believe the apparent various species seen actually come from? (Do you believe they are from different star systems, a parallel dimensions, time travellers from our future, bio-engineered on earth or something else entirely?) The ETH is just one theory to try and explain the UFO subject and one that is not yet proven. I am not convinced that we are dealing with ET’s from anywhere. Instead I feel that the U in UFO still stands for unidentified and although I would not rule out the ETH it might not make my top 3 list of theories if I were to be honest. Top 10 yes, but not top 3. In regards to the Greys, do you believe they are artificially created to do work for another “alien” species or a biological species in their own right? See previous question. After looking into the subject for such a long time, I assume you must have views on what the “alien” agenda is on earth. Can you share these views with us? See previous question. Do you feel that UK interest in the subject is waning? What do you think are the reasons for this decline? No I don’t I just think it has changed. People still report their sightings, UFO groups still exist, and UFO publications are still in print. Today will live in a virtual world and more is done online than anything else. What, do you believe, are the main reasons for the ongoing UFO cover up? There is no cover-up as far as I’m concerned. That is if you mean the cover-up of proof that we are being visited by ET’s. Remember, it is the nature of governments to keep secrets but it doesn’t always mean that what is kept secret is of any interest to anyone. Do you believe that this cover up is global or only present in certain countries? There is no cover-up. Do you believe that worldwide disclosure of the UFO reality is necessarily a good thing? If we ever have 100% proof of an ET visitation you would have politicians running to associated with it and not cover it up. It would be THE most momentous occasion in human history and most world leaders want to cement their own place in history by being associated with it. Do you believe that disclosure will occur at any time in the near future? If we ever have a bona fide ET visitation Obama would be on TV now I can assure you. If you came face-to-face with an alien being, what would be the first thing you would ask? A good question. I’d probably ask something really dumb but I’d like to ask a really selfish question. I’d ask if they had a cure for heart disease as I had a near fatal heart attack ten years ago and it’s plagued me ever since. Selfish and probably dumb I know but you did ask. I trust I’ve not upset anyone with my answers. I have a few articles published on my web site at: www.philipmantle.com if you are interested. All I would say is that don’t listen to me find out the answers for yourself. Join a group like BUFOG and get involved. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Birmingham UFO Group Report Sighting Details It was the evening of Friday 20th March 2009. The two witnesses to this sighting, Kerry and Matt (Names changed for privacy reasons), were at their home in Sutton Coldfield. It was 10.00pm and Kerry had just sat down to watch some TV. Their lounge window looks out to the road outside. It is ¾ covered in a blind, but through the uncovered section Kerry noticed an unusual moving light. Intrigued, she went to the front door and also called her husband Matt. It was a clear and still night, and the stars were visible. In the sky behind the houses on the opposite side of the road and off to their right, they saw what looked like a glowing sphere of very bright white light, which faded to orange light on the outer edge. It looked like a solid orb-shaped object rather than just a light with a glow around it. It was hard to judge how far away it was from them but it was certainly within a mile. They estimated it was between 60-100 feet high. The object was moving at least the speed of an aeroplane and from their perspective was moving to the left across the night sky on a very straight course. They could hear no sound coming from it. The witnesses watched it cross the sky for about 30 seconds. It was then hidden by a tall fir tree in their front garden, but they could still see the light from it through the branches. The object re-emerged and then suddenly turned at 90 degrees and began moving away from their position. They watched it get smaller due to distance, and within 10 seconds it had completely vanished from sight. Drawing of object seen: 📷 Conclusion There are a number of impressive aspects to this sighting. Firstly the witnesses are certain that what they saw was not a Chinese lantern. They lived in Thailand for a number of years, and regularly saw lanterns in the sky. They have even lit and launched some themselves. The object seen was too bright, too spherical and did not flicker at all. Its trajectory looked far too controlled and fast to be a balloon and it did not appear to be drifting. Also why would a balloon have a constant bright white light in the first place? Hot air balloons glow orange and only intermittently. However, the fact that it performed a sudden right angle turn in still weather conditions suggests that it was under intelligent control. The description given does not fit in with any other explanations such as a meteorite or earth light. The witnesses are convinced that what they saw was some kind of unidentified craft rather than a conventional object. It is currently unknown whether anyone else saw the object, but it would have certainly stood out against the night sky. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Birmingham UFO Group Report Late in the evening of 10th January 2009, Steve Kitts called a taxi to his house to pick up himself and a friend. The witnesses headed outside to wait for its arrival on Cottage Street, Kingswinford. It was a clear and still night, and about 10.30pm. Steve noticed a glowing orange orb of light in the sky above the houses on the opposite side of the road. It was about as high as a plane would be in mid-flight, but appeared to be moving faster than a plane. The object was travelling in a Southerly direction from the right to the left of their vision. Both the witnesses took out their mobile phones and managed to capture video of the object (Watch the video footage at the base of this report). They watched it cross the sky in a straight path for about 70 seconds until it was out of sight. They heard no noise at all during the sighting and were convinced they were not observing a normal aircraft. In the morning Steve watched the video footage and realised that he had managed to film something unusual. He decided to then look into the subject of UFOs on the internet and find out about other local sightings that had been taking place recently. A still from Steve’s mobile phone video footage: 📷 Map showing location of witnesses: 📷 There is the possibility that the object that was filmed was an individual Chinese lantern in flight. These appear as orange orbs of light and tend to drift through the sky for up to half an hour. However to counteract this argument, Steve did mention that the object appeared to be travelling quite fast and on a straight path, which tends to suggest it was powered rather than just drifting in the wind. It certainly doesn’t look like it can be explained by a normal aircraft or helicopter as they do not display lights of this colour. It could possibly have been a radio controlled model with an orange light but this seems unlikely. For now it looks as if this particular sighting will remain unexplained... The video footage: Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Author: Dave Hodrien Release Date: 08/01/2009 Occasionally BUFOG is contacted by people who have seen a UFO many years ago and feel they now wish to get it down on record. This is the case with this particular sighting where two "classic" Flying Triangle UFOs (FTs) were observed by two witnesses, Jamie and his father Steve. It was summer time of 2000, and a clear, dry evening. The witnesses were out walking their pet dog on a local field in Shrewsbury. It was around 9pm, the sun had gone down and the stars could be seen. Suddenly two objects in the sky caught their attention. They watched as two triangular shaped craft flew in a south-westerly direction in front of them. Both of the craft had a red light underneath at each corner, and emitted a blue haze from the rear. They were black in colour, with a reddish glow possibly from the lights on them. But also they appeared to be translucent. Jamie remembers seeing the stars through them. He estimates that the craft were flying quite high (under 35000 foot), and were extremely large, perhaps five times the size of a normal aircraft. It looked as if one craft was being chased by the second. The first one started moving erratically side to side, as if trying to shake off its pursuer. But the following one would react extremely fast and turn to follow. Jamie describes it’s movements as astonishing, he says that with any normal aircraft it would take several seconds for the pilot to react and change course, but the craft was performing these manoeuvres almost instantaneous. At no point during the sighting did the witnesses hear any sound coming from the craft, they were completely silent. Within ten seconds the craft had travelled the entire skyline and vanished from sight. Witness drawing of the craft seen: 📷 Location map showing position of witnesses and path of UFOs: 📷 This is a very impressive sighting as the objects certainly looked like Flying Triangles, which have been reported many times before all around the world. There are many aspects of the incident which simply cannot have a mundane explanation. The appearance, size, speed, silent flight, and movement patterns observed dismiss most alternative possibilities. The fact that the objects were semi-transparent suggests that they were using advanced technology to provide a form of camouflage. It certainly seems that Jamie and Steve witnessed two unexplained craft which performed both intelligent and complex manoeuvres in the skies over Shrewsbury. Jamie believes that the craft that they saw, and others which have been reported over the past decade, are not extraterrestrial but instead are secret military aircraft. He says that considering the F-117A Stealth Fighter was in use for 6-8 years before the public even knew about it, he sees no reason why Flying Triangles are the same but with more advanced technology. There is certainly logic in this argument, though I personally believe that Flying Triangles are extraterrestrial. If they are secret military craft that the general public is not meant to know about then surely they would not be flown across heavily populated areas? Also I have read numerous cases where alien entities have been seen at the same time as this type of craft. They have also been seen to reach speeds and perform manoeuvres which, to our current knowledge, a human pilot would not be able to withstand. This case certainly appears to be a genuine Flying Triangle UFO sighting, and one which may have been observed by other witnesses elsewhere who have not yet come forward. If you have any further information about this incident, please get in touch with BUFOG. Copyright Dave Hodrien 2009

Birmingham UFO Group Report Sighting Details On the evening of 19th December 2008 between 7.30-8pm numerous witnesses observed many glowing orbs of light in the skies over Halesowen. The objects were moving in roughly the same direction, some individual, some in groups. Many were convinced that they were watching a fleet of extraterrestrial craft. It was a clear night so the objects were easily noticeable against the dark sky. Below are several photographs taken at the time: 📷 Witness Steve Randall who lives in Halesowen was interviewed by Sky News and said “This was incredible and so spectacular. The lights seemed to climb into the sky to the North of us, just before 8pm. A neighbour had shouted for us to come and look. There were so many objects. From a distance they looked like bubbles rising in a fizzy drink. Then they came towards us and flew right over the top. Some were so close they were almost touching and were only a hundred feet or so above us. The objects were absolutely silent and travelling at probably twice the speed of a normal aircraft. They were all circular and had 13 to 15 lights around the rim. Each had lights in the centre which were flashing on and off. They went south at a terrific speed.” When asked whether the objects could have been aircraft he said “Aircraft are not allowed to fly over this area. We regularly see air traffic in the distance and I can assure you that this was something very different.” Among the witnesses was one of the members of BUFOG. He spotted the objects near Junction 3 of the M5 motorway looking eastwards. He said the ligts were moving slowly in the same direction as the wind. Every so often one of the lights would fizzle out and disappear. He saw around thirty at first but by the time he had got his camera there were only about six to eight still visible. He managed to take several photographs including the one below: 📷 He was convinced the objects were Chinese Lanterns due to the consistency of their speed, the direction they were heading in, the way they were grouped and the way they were vanishing one by one. Another witness contacted BUFOG via the forum to say that he had seen “around thirty glowing orbs and oval-shaped objects, some stationary and some moving at speed”. The witness did not know what the objects could be but said they were too low in the sky to be stars. He saw them from the area of Harbourne, which is east of Halesowen. The Explanation By the afternoon of the following day an explanation for what was seen had been found. And sadly this time there was no extraterrestrial connection. The lights seen were Chinese Lanterns that had been launched after a Christmas carol service by children from Lutley Primary School. The lanterns were apparenly on sale after the service for £2.50. Many parents and children decided to buy them and set them off all together from the playground at 7.30pm. One of the parents, Sam Gibson, was interviewed by the Sunday Mercury about the incident. She said “There were certainly no UFOs around that night – just the 50 lanterns that the parents and children decided to set off over Halesowen. We all watched them float off into the night sky towards the fire station. It was really nice and I was thinking of investing in some more for the children.” Case closed it seems. Just as with numerous other sightings of glowing lights in the sky, this incident turned out to be lanterns. Even though Chinese Lanterns have been around for several years now, they are still rare enough for a lot of the public to not know about. Hopefully over time people will become more aware of what these lanterns look like when launched after dark. Unlike many of the other sightings reported around Birmingham over 2008, we can safely say that this mystery has been solved. References Sky News, Friday 19th December 2008 Sunday Mercury, Saturday 20th December 2008 Copyright Dave Hodrien 2008

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report Special thanks to John Hanson, (retired CID Officer) & Dawn Holloway, Researcher,Credit to Dave Sankey with illustration. 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷 Copyright Dave Hodrien 2008

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report You can read the complete Airprox report of the Police helicopter incident in West Bromwhich in May 2008. We have also requested Freedom of information requests from the MOD and West Midlands Police Force. 📷 📷📷📷 Copyright Dave Hodrien 2008

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report I took these pictures on the 24th April 2008 in Birmingham using my Sony DSC-H1 camera (5mp). I only noticed the objects when i uploaded to my PC. I am at loss to explain what these objects are. Details with held 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 📷 Copyright Dave Hodrien 2008