The truth is out there: UFO sightings over Britain 'double in a single year'

Dont know if this has been posted but im in a rush so sorry if it does.

Daily Mail today.

The truth is out there: UFO sightings over Britain 'double in a single year'

Officials have admitted the number of UFO sightings more than doubled last year - including one spotted hovering over Parliament.

A total of 285 unidentified flying objects were reported in 2008, compared to just 135 in 2007, according to a Ministry of Defence document.

The mystery craft spotted hovering opposite Parliament was reported on February 12.

According to the document: 'There was a craft that had green, red and white lights. It was still and static in the sky. It was seen for about half an hour.'

The rise in the number of sightings - the biggest since 1998 - was described as 'phenomenal' by experts.

The MoD only investigates reports of unidentified flying objects that it considers may pose a risk to national security, and most of the incidents seem just to have been logged and ignored.

Many of the sightings appear to be the products of somewhat fevered imaginations. For instance, on May 6 someone reported a 'fast moving green object' on the M6 motorway.

On June 28, near Cobham in Somerset, the document notes that someone reported seeing 'something interesting' in the sky.

A few days earlier, it states: 'Twenty-five amber lights were seen leaving the Heathrow area. They were seen travelling West at 45 degrees, 200-300 knots'.

In July, on the A6 road near Buxton in Derbyshire: 'There was a distant bright light, like a star'.

On October 30, above Wakefield, West Yorkshire, the document records: 'There was an orange object in the sky. It was the size of an aircraft.'

And a UFO the size of a 747 was reported above Leeds, West Yorkshire, in February.

That craft was described as a 'jumbo jet sized object which was flat and round with a blue ripple underside. It made no sound and then disappeared.'

The dossier was published just one week after it emerged the RAF has tried to shoot down UFOs under instructions from the MoD.

Pilots have took aim at UFOs several times but failed to bring them down, former MoD employee and UFO expert Nick Pope claimed.

Mr Pope, who worked on the MoD's UFO section for three years, said the 'shoot down' directive had been in place since the 1980s.

'We know of cases where the order has been given to shoot down - with little effect to the UFO,' Mr Pope said.

Firing at UFOs was 'not automatic but happens when something in our airspace is deemed to be a threat' he said.

'In the case of UFOs, whether the object is causing a threat is very much a (pilot’s) judgment call.'

And last month it was claimed that a UFO ripped a 60ft blade off a wind farm turbine.

Hundred of witnesses reported hearing an earsplitting bang at 4am.

One saw orangey-yellow spheres skimming across the sky, while another reported a 'massive ball of light' with 'tentacles going right down to the ground'.

But MoD insiders claimed the craft that wrecked the turbine could have been a secret unmanned stealth bomber on test flights.

The personnel reportedly said that a black delta-wing craft called Taranis was making test runs on the coastal bombing ranges at Donna Nook and North Coates in Lincolnshire, near to the site of the damaged turbine.

Pics also on link

www.dailymail.co.uk...

reply to post by imsteve


I wonder if this reflects an increase in UFO activity and/or an increase in people reporting their sightings?

Back in 2002, I didn't have a clue who to report my sighting to. I also thought that the authorities wouldn't believe me As I recall at the time, there was rarely anything in the media about UFOs.

Media exposure has stepped up over the last years - along with certain authorities releasing their files. No doubt this in itself has led to an increase in reportings, with people feeling more confident in registering their sightings.

Interesting stuff OP

[edit on 5/2/09 by lizziejayne]

reply to post by lizziejayne




I would say, defintiely an increase. There is no other explanation for it to shoot in the roof at such a short time-rate.

is project bluebeam beginning?

Isn't it strange that the same year UFO sightings doubled in the UK the trend for launching Chinese lanterns caught on in this country!
"Me! Sceptic! Moi!"

Originally posted by Mintwithahole.
Isn't it strange that the same year UFO sightings doubled in the UK the trend for launching Chinese lanterns caught on in this country!
"Me! Sceptic! Moi!"

Yes, it is very strange that the "Lanterns" was shaped like gigantic cigars and shiny discs.

reply to post by Nightchild


i got abducted by a lantern. they were nice ppeeples

In 2007 The Sun featured shark stories every week throughout Summer. "Great White Shark sighted near Dover!!" Example They drove the stories to the point that other tabloids joined in too. The broadsheets even wrote about the tabloid frenzy. It built up a momentum during the Summer 'silly season' whilst Parliament was closed and the football season hadn't started yet. Coincidentally, people started seeing sharks all the time. Great Whites haven't been conclusively seen in UK waters. Suddenly The Sun has dozens of them. They published pictures of Great Whites without horizon or landmarks. One was found to be taken by a guy in S. Africa.

In 2008, The Sun featured a UFO story almost every day. Their website featured mobile phone clips of blurry lights. The Daily Mail joined in too. Chinese Lanterns became popular. UFO sightings double

reply to post by imsteve


I think it is a combination of things, some likely some less likely. IIRC there was a similar bump with the airing of the first episodes of the X-Files caused by people looking up at the sky with prejudice . I think the reason for the bump could be the following:

• Raised public awareness of official channels to report UFOs
  
• Media reports of UFOs causing people to scrutinise the sky at night - leading to many misidentifications of Venus & lanterns, other common phenomena, as well as occasional real UFOs (in the sense of unidentified - not oh poop!!! aliens!!!)
  
• Increased tension between the US and Russia (although nothing like the Cold War) causing an increase in surveillance flights
  
• An increase in relatively cheap and deskilled recording devices such as camera phones
  
• People being less aware of military aviation - anecdotally I think there are less people who are nerdy about military aviation than during the Cold War
  
• The reinvigoration of SDI under George Bush
  
• Post modernist editorial policies in the media that subscribe to all sources of information deserving equal airtime, regardless of logic
  

What would be very interesting would be to tally up the sightings per month.

I've done that (quickly and I'm knackered - these figures need to be double checked) for the MOD 2008 UFO summary:

www.mod.uk...


Sightings by month

January: 2
Febuary: 14
March: 7
April: 5
May: 10
Jun: 24
Jul: 37
Aug: 19
Oct: 18
Nov: 11
Dec: 24

The bump in July could be influenced by the Weather. Without comparing 2008 with earlier years I don't know whether the increase of sightings in February is normal. But if it's not it's possible that media had an impact on February.

The others can be checked here, from Kandinsky's post:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

A tally would best be carried out by someone less tired than I because I've got a feeling I'm not doing too well counting off the screen. Could also tally by day.

Correlation does not necessarily equal causation though - so nothing is written in stone. It also doesn't indicate if multiple sightings of the same UFO were recorded or just the first instance is noted in the summary.

Hi lizziejayne

Would you mind telling of the experience you had?

reply to post by imsteve


Certainly! I was driving on a busy road when I noticed "something" - to the right, ahead, in the near distance and relatively low in the sky. As it was dark and raining, I initially thought it to be a reflection from my dashboard or another car's lights. However, it was still there when I wound down my window.

It's very hard to describe what I saw, as it didn't seem to fall in line with anything easily described (if that makes sense?). Essentially, it was a very large 3D rectangle. However, it was opaque - almost looking like it was both there and not there, distinct yet indistinct (again, if that makes sense). It had three bright lights that seemed to be inside; which if I recall correctly were two red either end and one green in the middle. For the duration that I looked at it - which was probably around 30 seconds - it was static and just hanging there in the sky.

I tried to keep it in sight for as long as I could, which as you'll appreciate was quite difficult due to night-time driving on a wet winter's evening. Due to the nature of the road, it was impossible to stop - which I still regret to this day. Once I passed the object, I looked behind me - turning around and looking in my mirror - but it had either vanished or travelled out of sight.

As it appeared to the side of a busy road, I was convinced I would read something about it over the next few days. However, nothing was ever reported in the media to my knowledge. What particularly interested me was the fact its location was relatively close to a RAF base. Hmmm...

I never reported it because I seriously didn't think that "they" would take me seriously, particularly if I was the only one who did report it. I was an avid reader of UFO literature growing up and almost everyone around me thought me somewhat eccentric for this interest

TBH this is why I postulated that the increase in sighting volumes could be correlated with the increase in media reportings. Perhaps now it's more in the public domain and considered to be less esoteric as a topic, people are feeling more confident in reporting what they experience?

[edit on 5/2/09 by lizziejayne]

reply to post by lizziejayne

You are right "they" won't take you seriously. So report it to the MOD, at least you will receive a nice MOD letter explaining that your sighting was of no defence significance.

reply to post by ufoorbhunter


TBH I wish I had done. However, it's been more than 6 years now, so any report would probably be redundant.

If it did happen again, I wouldn't hesitate to report it - even if it meant being told "we can confirm there was a wedding in the area at the time of your sighting and we are confident that what you perceived to be an almost invisible giant shoebox was, in fact, a rather large chinese lantern that was coincidentally released very close to a RAF base"

Sorry for derailing the thread OP!

[edit on 5/2/09 by lizziejayne]

reply to post by ufoorbhunter
Are you sure the ufo was a triangle? Did you see just the position of the three lights and assume it was solid, or did you actually see the machine?

reply to post by ufoorbhunter
Edit double post.



[edit on 5-2-2009 by ufoorbhunter]

reply to post by ufoorbhunter


It was definately a rectangle. I remember at the time thinking that it was an odd shape for something that was clearly capable of keeping itself in the air.

I couldn't see anything inside it except for the lights. In terms of it being solid, it's very hard to describe - but it was definately solid, even though it was opaque and almost not there. It did cross my mind that it might be a projection of some sort, simply because it seemed to contradict itself as an object. However, as it was clearly 3D, I dismissed that - rightly or wrongly - almost straight off.

Strange stuff

[edit on 5/2/09 by lizziejayne]

Good stuff lizziejayne very interesting

Can I ask where abouts this happened?

reply to post by imsteve


It happened in South Wales, somewhere relatively close to RAF St Athens.

Apologies for monopolising your thread imsteve



[edit on 5/2/09 by lizziejayne]

No probs, the idea of the thread is to provoke thoughts and experiences.


Thank you for sharing your experience. It would be very interesting to see something like that for myself. Im moving to cornwall Saturday so ill keep an eye in the stary sky