Jets Scramble After UFO in UK

I am as thick as a whale omelette and I can remember those blue on blue Gulf A10 pilots saying something like "We're going to jail dude!!" Is that a standard protocol?

I assume in my ignorance that those were not air wing craft or whatever you call them...but do all the different arms have different operational procedures? If so how the hell do they ever coordinate attacks...or is that why there is blue on blue?

Just curious..

reply to post by there is no god


Communications between ground control and an aircraft wing and a wing man I believe are all on different frequencies, that way you can talk to your wingman and still hear the tactical situation, Cross chatter plane to plane is not the same as chatter to ground stations.

If everyone was using the same frequencies it would be nothing but chaos

Amateur radio enthusiasts are likely to hear it as they usually have scanners, and/or wide band RECEIVERS, too, as they are generally interested in anything radio. TRANSMITTING is not the same thing, and unless you have an illegal radio, even if a transceiver was capable of picking up anything between 1kHz and 3GHz, it would not let you transmit on all those frequencies.

I can easily believe that the F-15s were talking to ATC via open channels. This is not uncommon, as regular civil aircraft do not carry secured military radios, nor do civilian ATC.

Recently there were a couple of UFOs seen both on RADAR, and visually by qualified commercial pilots near Guernsey. The official line was "we're not interested". I'm thinking they already know what they are, which is why they weren't interested.

Originally posted by mirageofdeceit
Amateur radio enthusiasts are likely to hear it as they usually have scanners, and/or wide band RECEIVERS, too, as they are generally interested in anything radio. TRANSMITTING is not the same thing, and unless you have an illegal radio, even if a transceiver was capable of picking up anything between 1kHz and 3GHz, it would not let you transmit on all those frequencies.

Yes, thank you for that elucidation, but it's not quite that easy. Most scanners will not pick up military frequencies unless programmed to do so, and many military frequencies are considered classified. My scanner, for example, will easily pick up police/fire/ATC, but will not pick up military. I would have to physically modify it for it to do so. In fact, for all practical purposes I would have to build a radio from scratch to capture the frequencies involved. For purposes of this discussion, it would be helpful to know the circumstances of this claim, specifically. Of course, we conveniently do not have that. Your average HAM enthusiast does NOT have a scanner that can pick up military frequencies, so the claim that HAMs just happened to capture this conversation is dubious at best. The explanation makes it sound like this is typical when it isn't at all.

When the USSR shot down a 747 off that 'strayed' into their Pacific Coast airspace, teh US captured the Russian pilot's conversations and used them in the UN session decrying the shooting. Of course, the Russians immediately knew tha Americans knew their frequencies, so they changed them. The American propaganda coup was considered worth the loss of the frequencies.

reply to post by mirageofdeceit


I agree, I came across the Guernsey incident. And I'm always interested when you have such credible witnesses. I think they know too that theres objects flying around in there airspace. Still I'm swaying towards man made objects, that's just my gut instinct.

Originally posted by thedigirati


Communications between ground control and an aircraft wing and a wing man I believe are all on different frequencies, that way you can talk to your wingman and still hear the tactical situation, Cross chatter plane to plane is not the same as chatter to ground stations.

If everyone was using the same frequencies it would be nothing but chaos

No not really AWACS or ATC would be on the very same freq as the interceptor aircraft involved, that is standard procedure since they direct the aircraft to where the unknown is.

edit just to clarify these are not normal atc operators they are intercept controllers which are different they vector the aircraft from take off base to the suspected unknown beit UFO or unknown aircraft.

[edit on 8/19/2007 by shots]

Given that the RAF does not operate F-15's in any way shape or form, I find the story particularly interesting.

I can't imagine how - apart from during wartime - that the RAF would turn to the US Airforce to scramble F-15's to intercept, engage and attempt a missile lock on a target in UK airspace.

There would be Tornado's scrambled from either RAF Leeming in Yorkshire or possibly Typhoons from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

Given that with the fact that - as someone above mentioned - military pilots engaged in combat operations wouldn't broadcast on open channels, I'd call this one highly unlikely.

Edit - listening to the audio and damn...those F-15's must have been talking to each other on some kind of digital frequency for the words to have come across that clearly. That or the recording was made using a couple of headset microphones over skype.....

[edit on 20/0807/07 by neformore]

[edit on 20/0807/07 by neformore]

reply to post by neformore


Good thinking. I wonder why they would launch USAF aircraft, in fact I think you just found the nail for the coffin here. Your points on the radio clarity while good, lacks what you learn from experience. Speaking from experience I can say the transmissions sounded as they would had you been on an aircraft or as in this case recorded from the ground

[edit on 8/20/2007 by shots]

Originally posted by shots

Just a couple of observations here.

Hi Shots,

I perfectly understand (and commend) your skepticism about an audio file of unknown provenance. There are a number of hoaxed audio recordings that have been doing the rounds on the Internet for several years.

In the present instance, however, I think it is rather important to note that queries about the audio recording were raised with the British Ministry of Defence and that the Ministry confirmed the details of the incident with one of the pilots involved.

I don't think anyone in this thread (or the earlier thread in relation to the same incident) has posted a link to a relevant British Ministry of Defence memo dated 22 March 2007.

I think this memo is important to the points made by you, schuyler and others regarding whether the audio recording is credible or not (and to your list of various points of "Red Flags" for considering the recording to be suspect).

The author of the Ministry of Defence memo, a member of the Defence Flying Complaints Investigation Team, spoke with LATCC(Mil) on 7 March 2007 and with the pilot with the call sign (c/s) of GATOR 2 [493rd FS, 48th FW, RAF Lakenheath] on 20 March 2007.

The pilot confirmed that he had seen an object. He reported that the object had been "drifting with the wind" and was "between the size of a grapefruit and a soccer ball".

After 3 passes, the object was dismissed as something that "may have fallen off a weather balloon".

It may help if I give a link to this memo:
Relevant MOD memo

That memo forms the substantive part of the content of the Freedom of Information Act response at:
this page of the MOD website

In relation to the reference in the title of this thread to the "scramble" of jets, and the subsequent discussion in this thread about the "scrambling" of jets to investigate a "UFO", it is also important to note that the memo above states that the relevant pilot "confirmed that he had identified an object on radar and decided to investigate. He was not tasked to do so by any ATC agency".

Kind Regards,

Isaac Koi

[edit on 20-8-2007 by IsaacKoi]

reply to post by IsaacKoi


Thanks for that, that article is very relevant indeed. Much appreciated.

reply to post by IsaacKoi


Thanks that certainly sheads a new light on this, however at the very same time it shows how UFO seekers will over exagerate things. In this case they claimed the aircraft were scrambled which according to the docs you furnished stated was not the case and it did clear up the call sign issue by stating it was Gator two. Thanks for the info.

Nothing here really. Stuff like this happens all the time I bet. Hard to identify anything that small from that far away with any certainty.

What!? You mean it wasn't two guys on Skype? Are you telling me that the "years" of experience Shots has with this type of comms could be *gulp* wrong? And there I was thinking Shots and Nerformore had this one all tied up for us... Now who will come in months after an event and attempt to shoot down all the investigative work and hours of transcription??

Funny how UFO sightings are centered around wealthy governments and high populations rather than poor, high land mass areas... Nothing to do with them being military connected, im sure...

Originally posted by PW229
What!? You mean it wasn't two guys on Skype? Are you telling me that the "years" of experience Shots has with this type of comms could be *gulp* wrong?

There is nothing wrong when you admit you were wrong and I clearly stated I did not think the recording sounded out of the norm to me it sounded as if you were in the aircraft.

atleast I did not claim there was a nato aircraft involved that would be you so there you too were wrong

As for my experience it stands on its own the facts even pointed out I was right when it came to the call sign didn't they? If I had my hands on that tape and if I were still in the AF their commander would be having a few choice words with them as I can assure you they did not follow standard radio procedures.

reply to post by PW229


I'm not going to doubt the incident, because of the letters provided, although from reading them it bears no resemblance to the title of the thread, because they didn't scramble at all, and instead were asked to look at something unusual. Different kettle of fish altogether.

I *do* doubt the recording. I don't think its real. Like Shots (and wow...I'm agreeing with Shots on something, its a miracle!) said, the radio procedure is awful and - to me at least - the comms are way way too clear to be a Radio Ham intercept.

So - I'll postulate a little - I wonder if its an "interpretation" or "re-enactment" pieced together from what might have been heard.

Anything near the U.S. air base over there would get intercepted by F-15s they can out run anything in the British air force and its the worlds best interceptor except for the new Raptor. Yes the Ham guys do have air force tower frequencies and there are some huge Ham sites in England.

Interesting, but i just want to know one thing where was this UFO headed like NE or NW if someone could find out.

Originally posted by Sky watcher
Anything near the U.S. air base over there would get intercepted by F-15s they can out run anything in the British air force and its the worlds best interceptor except for the new Raptor. Yes the Ham guys do have air force tower frequencies and there are some huge Ham sites in England.

Please read the whole thread.

Then please understand that the UK is a completely different country to the USA, and has its own Air Force, which is more than capable of dealing with interceptions.

Please also try and learn about peacetime rules of engagement, and the fact that the US Air Force actually has to respect them.

please also try to remember that the Eurofighter kicks the F-15's ass.