Post by pixi on Feb 7, 2005 5:36:17 GMT -5
The great bright light first appeared above the village of Iwerne Minster in Dorset, scorching a trail through the night skies. Just eight days later, an uncannily similar object was seen above Devizes, Wiltshire, and that same evening above Swindon.
This spate of UFO sightings last September was yesterday revealed in previously secret documents disclosed to the Western Daily Press.
The files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, sparked frenzied speculation among UFO experts that the West may have been visited by extra-terrestrials. "We should not discount the possibility," said James Bazil, a ufologist from Withywood, Bristol. "We've got three different accounts painting a similar picture.
"The West has been a hot spot for UFOs for many years. The longest ley line in the country runs from Dundry, near Bristol, down to Salisbury, and we think this may have something to do with it."
Ley lines are supposedly prehistoric routes across the landscape.
The classified files revealed that last year there were a total of 88 UFO sightings reported to the Ministry of Defence's UFO unit, five of which were spotted in the West Country.
The spree of West sightings began on September 24, when an object was reported in at 3.50am above Iwerne Minster. The observer said: "It looked like a great bright light and was really intense, like a big ball of fire moving rapidly to the ground."
A report from Devizes recorded an object that "looked like a big ball of fire coming down from the sky with a tail and sparks coming off the end of it".
That same day an orange object was spotted above Swindon.
Denis Plunkett, head of Bristol branch of the British Flying Saucers Bureau, said: "I think it's important we don't dismiss sightings like this out of hand. There is a pattern here, which suggests there could be UFO activity."
Although such reports might be discounted as meteor showers or astronomical phenomena, other sightings are harder to dismiss.
A report from Surrey on May 20 last year, describes a UFO as having "grooves and windows" but no room for humans. Even the MoD inspector notes that the "witnesses have seen it so clearly".
Det Con Gary Heseltine, of British Transport Police in Leeds, runs the database of police-reported UFO sightings, and he is convinced there is something out there.
He said: "After 28 years of investigating the subject I would have to say yes, and the public don't really get told what's going on.
"To my logical, police-trained mind, the officers provide excellent witness testimony, promoting the 'nuts and bolts' evidence that supports the extra-terrestrial hypothesis."
These latest files to be declassified by the MoD are not as complete as reports from 1976-77, which were released last month.
Hundreds of documents kept secret by the Ministry's special UFO department, known as S4F, detail many reports of a possible visit by extra-terrestrial life forms.
In July 1997, Flt-Lt A M Wood reported "bright objects hanging over the sea". The MoD document adds that the RAF officer said the closest object was "luminous, round and four to five times larger than a Whirlwind helicopter". The UFOs were reported to be three miles out to sea at a height of 5,000ft.
This spate of UFO sightings last September was yesterday revealed in previously secret documents disclosed to the Western Daily Press.
The files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, sparked frenzied speculation among UFO experts that the West may have been visited by extra-terrestrials. "We should not discount the possibility," said James Bazil, a ufologist from Withywood, Bristol. "We've got three different accounts painting a similar picture.
"The West has been a hot spot for UFOs for many years. The longest ley line in the country runs from Dundry, near Bristol, down to Salisbury, and we think this may have something to do with it."
Ley lines are supposedly prehistoric routes across the landscape.
The classified files revealed that last year there were a total of 88 UFO sightings reported to the Ministry of Defence's UFO unit, five of which were spotted in the West Country.
The spree of West sightings began on September 24, when an object was reported in at 3.50am above Iwerne Minster. The observer said: "It looked like a great bright light and was really intense, like a big ball of fire moving rapidly to the ground."
A report from Devizes recorded an object that "looked like a big ball of fire coming down from the sky with a tail and sparks coming off the end of it".
That same day an orange object was spotted above Swindon.
Denis Plunkett, head of Bristol branch of the British Flying Saucers Bureau, said: "I think it's important we don't dismiss sightings like this out of hand. There is a pattern here, which suggests there could be UFO activity."
Although such reports might be discounted as meteor showers or astronomical phenomena, other sightings are harder to dismiss.
A report from Surrey on May 20 last year, describes a UFO as having "grooves and windows" but no room for humans. Even the MoD inspector notes that the "witnesses have seen it so clearly".
Det Con Gary Heseltine, of British Transport Police in Leeds, runs the database of police-reported UFO sightings, and he is convinced there is something out there.
He said: "After 28 years of investigating the subject I would have to say yes, and the public don't really get told what's going on.
"To my logical, police-trained mind, the officers provide excellent witness testimony, promoting the 'nuts and bolts' evidence that supports the extra-terrestrial hypothesis."
These latest files to be declassified by the MoD are not as complete as reports from 1976-77, which were released last month.
Hundreds of documents kept secret by the Ministry's special UFO department, known as S4F, detail many reports of a possible visit by extra-terrestrial life forms.
In July 1997, Flt-Lt A M Wood reported "bright objects hanging over the sea". The MoD document adds that the RAF officer said the closest object was "luminous, round and four to five times larger than a Whirlwind helicopter". The UFOs were reported to be three miles out to sea at a height of 5,000ft.
