Reports of Unidentified Flying Object: A British Perspective 1988 – The 1988 Flap
January 4
This day was to prove our busiest of the whole year. In a period of just six hours and fifteen minutes, we received twenty-two reports of UFO phenomena from around the region. The events of that day are recorded by our investigator during the course of that week and beyond.
5:25 p.m
A married couple reported a massive white sphere moving just above the clouds over Harewood, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
7:00 p.m
A woman reported seeing a glowing white object stationary over South Leeds at a height of 1,000 ft. The object slowly moved south after some two minutes. She could see several dark points or patches on the object.
7:20 p.m.
A gentleman in the small Yorkshire village of Mosbrough, near Rotherham, rang to say he was observing a cluster of brilliant red- and yellow-colored lights at a height of between 500 and 1000 ft. Local investigator Allan Petres hurried to the scene, and confirmed the sighting .
7:30 p.m
Mr. J. S. Rhodes, an experienced ex-RAF officer, observed a strange-looking “aircraft” without wings over Scholes, West Yorkshire. It glowed orange in color, but had five darkened portholes running the entire length.
He also noticed two aircraft, possibly military, near the scene. There was sound coming from them, but not from the mysterious shape which was quickly leaving the area.
7:45 p.m
Two young women were leaving their work premises in the center of Derby when they were astonished to see three brilliantly lit white spheres directly overhead.
There was absolutely no sound or movement, but as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared.
7:46 p.m.
Two young men parked in the center of Chellaston, Derbyshire, observed a large circular shaped object that looked to be made of glass, “sewn together by threads. “
8:00 p.m.
Mr. Bill Moran was making his way home to Kimberworth, Rotherham, when he saw an· intensely lit bright ball of light moving extremely slowly toward the north-west at very low altitude. It had two distinct colors, yellow and orange.
8:02 p.m.
Mr. Thomas Jordan and his son were puzzled to see a brilliant yellow sphere move slowly due north above their home in Roundhay, an attractive suburb of Leeds. Not unfamiliar with aircraft, neither could offer any explanation for what they saw.
Surprisingly, three air craft in formation appeared to head after this object shortly afterward. Both men are very keen amateur astronomers and have always been skeptical about so-called UFOs, yet despite this they were sufficiently impressed by their experience to contact our organization.
8:15 p.m.
A gentleman from York, North Yorkshire, reported seeing an object which to him resembled the old V-I flying bomb. It flew at very low altitude and emitted sparks, debris, and flames.
8:15 p.m.
An entire family was watching television in their home at Kirkhamgate, near Wakefield, West York shire. Through the downstairs window they saw a large luminous green ball of light traveling slowly across the sky. They rushed to the window, then made their way outside to get a better look.
The object was releasing some kind of vapor behind it which was clearly visible due to the bright light coming from the object itself. It finally disappeared out of sight beyond some hills, but apparently following the course of the nearby M I motorway.
8:15 p.m.
A woman in York was outside her home, about to call for her children who had been playing in the street, when she saw a brilliant yellow and orange sphere of light move slowly across the night sky heading west.
8:17 p.m.
Mr. Lee was traveling along the dual carriageway of the A38 near Shelton Lock, Derbyshire, when he suddenly became aware of a large ”lemon-shaped’ ‘ object moving westward in the sky. It was totally white in color, but surrounding it there appeared to be a blue- or green-glowing halo.
It was moving extremely quickly, and at one point Mr. Lee thought the object was set to crash into the ground.
8:45 p.m.
Two men traveling over the moor-tops at Blubberhouses, North Yorkshire, heading east, saw an object emitting sparks and debris at low altitude, and were convinced it was going to crash into a hillside. Both men thought the object resembled a V-1 rocket.
8:50 p.m.
Several witnesses reported seeing two extremely large, glowing white spheres that flew side-by-side near Collingham, West Yorkshire. At one point, the spheres descended quite close to the vehicle in which they were traveling, causing one or two unprintable expletives!
One man said the effect was like putting a brightly lit lorry in the sky.
8:50 p.m.
Mr. Jones of Guiseley, West Yorkshire, observed a thin green ”laser beam’ ‘ that”, shot from horizon to horizon in a matter of seconds. ‘ ‘ Being ex-RAF, he felt suitably qualified to suggest that some sort of test was being carried out in the upper atmosphere, but of what and by whom remains unanswered.
8:50 p.m.
Mr. Scotsman from Selby, North Yorkshire, reported seeing a thin pencil-shaped object above the area. It displayed several constant blue lights, and a number of red ones along its side.
9:10 p.m.
Gordon Blake, an ex-RAF resident of Leeds, had been outdoors when suddenly a large, glowing, orange light appeared in the north-east sky. His immediate reaction was to study the light more closely, because, in his words, “it did not conform to any aircraft navigation lighting system that I had been used to. ” A few seconds elapsed and then the object drew closer, finally enabling him to see that it was truly gigantic, and in his estimation, some 400 ft in diameter. It had several “layers” and at least twelve lights flashed in or around it in formation.
Mr. Blake is very familiar with air-refueling exercises that can often be mistaken for something more exotic by ground observers, but he dismisses the theory for this particular sighting.
9:10 p.m.
Mrs. Robson and her friend had never seen a UFO before, but now they are not so sure. Close to their home in Morley, on the outskirts of south Leeds, they saw a “rocket-shaped object” move across the sky, then downward at high speed. Blue- and red-colored flames poured from the rear.
Without any prompting from us, they compared the object with an ”old V-I rocket. ‘ ‘
9:15 p.m.
Close to the AI near Wetherby, West York shire, a married couple reported seeing “a large white light with several smaller lights within”
9:16 p.m.
Two residents at Harrogate, North York shire, were disturbed to spot a large, glowing, orange colored object high above the town, practically stationary.
It did move slowly toward their position, however, and they could make out three separate points of orange- and yellow-colored lights within the main body, almost in cluster formation.
11:30 p.m
An elderly couple from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, were about to retire for the night. As they were about to close the bedroom curtains, they were astonished to see a large brightly lit object, like a dinner plate, move back and forth across the sky. They managed to open the window to get a clearer look and could hear a loud “swishing noise, ” presumably from the object itself. They watched, fascinated, for as long as ten minutes, before the light, which had given them the best aerial display since Guy Fawkes’ night, simply ”switched off. ‘ ‘ Perhaps this was a means of suggesting to dozens, if not hundreds of people who had witnessed the night-time events: “That’s all folks! “
This ended any further reports that night, but over the course of the next twenty-five days, fifty-six more UFO encounters would be placed in our computer files, leaving each and every one of us involved quite astonished.
January 11
One of the most intriguing encounters occurred in daylight on Monday, January 11· at 10:30 a.m. It happened on the B6265 Grassington to Skipton road, North Yorkshire. This beautiful part of the English countryside has possibly seen more reports of alleged UFO sightings than any other region of the United Kingdom over the past twenty years.
Steep hills and fells overlook the area for miles around, and one needs only to progress a few yards in any direction to become virtually isolated from civilization. We could write a whole chapter on fascinating reports that have emerged over the years from this one spot alone.
Tony Dodd is head of YUFOS Research and Investigations. For twenty-five exemplary years, he served in the North Yorkshire Police Force before retiring in 1988 . Based at Skipton, then later in Grassington, Tony has a high regard for the people in the area. His deep-seated interest in the subject began in the late 1970s, when he personally witnessed a number of, strange aerial craft at close proximity (one of which is described in detail in Above Top Secret3). These encounters, also witnessed by several colleagues in the force, convinced him we were dealing with a “nuts-and-bolts” phenomenon.
For the witnesses’ own protection, we have used pseudonyms in this case, which was investigated by Tony Todd, but their backgrounds and qualifications are genuine.
Dr. P. T. Watkins (Ph.D. Oxon.) is a retired professor of organic chemistry, aged sixty-five. His wife, Mrs. A. D. Watkins (M.A.), is sixty-seven years of age. They were traveling toward Skipton by car and were approximately one mile on from the Grassington side of the Craven Heifer public house, when an object suddenly appeared ahead of them, resembling a flat ‘ ‘hovercraft’ ‘ or disk. It was descending all the time from a height of 200 to 300 ft, and was 100 to 200 yards away, approximately 20 ft in diameter, and moving between 0 and 50 m.p.h.
Their immediate reaction to the pulsing object was to believe some kind of partially deflated meteorological balloon was about to come down. It was traveling in a south-west to north east direction.· Mr. Watkins described the object, and what happened next: ‘ ‘The object seemed to have a flange or rim which undulated as it came down. It had appeared in front of us very suddenly, as though it had made a very rapid vertical descent. It then changed direction to move parallel with the ground. The front edge of the object appeared to be moving toward us initially as it passed in front of our car. “
Its edges were sharpened, and the color appeared silvery-pink. It veered to the left of the vehicle, as if to make a landing, but then disappeared from view. Tony carried out a meticulous search of the area in question, known as the Crookrise Plantation, but found no evidence of anything untoward. He questioned the farmer who owned the land, and spoke with several workers on the plantation, but no one could add anything which might have produced an explanation. Checks with the regional police force and MoD were made, but again, Tony’s investigations drew a blank. The witnesses are highly respected members of the local community, and their sighting must be considered a genuine Close Encounter of the First Kind.
That same evening, a YUFOS team in the Kimberworth valley area of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, identified several unknown “targets” at 8:05 p.m. , 8:30 p.m. and 9:05 p.m., Several photographs of the phenomena were taken using an Olympus camera and 1600 ASA film. When developed and analyzed, these showed an unusual orange colored ball of light.
There was another sighting on January 1 1 , reported from southern England. According to the Camberley News, Mr. Fred Clarke and his stepson Darryl Robson, were driving to work at 6:30 a.m. when they saw strange bright lights in the sky. On reaching Bentley, Hampshire, Mr. Clarke stopped to go to a shop. ‘ ‘I looked up and there was a massive object moving slowly toward Farnham, ‘ ‘ he said. ‘ ‘It was shaped like a fifty pence piece and was larger than an airplane. ‘ ‘ The object had a light at opposite ends and was making a droning noise.
January 16
At 12:45 a.m. on January 16, Police Sgt.Thompson and a colleague, along with numerous members of the public, watched a glowing red ball of light hang motionless above the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Such was their concern that they officially notified headquarters, and questions were asked among regional military establishments if an exercise flare was being used, but the authorities denied any knowledge of the sighting. Both police officers said that the object remained hovering for at least seven minutes, until it finally vanished in an instant.
https://scienceandspace.com/ufos/the-ufo-report-a-british-perspective-1988-the-1988-flap-part-1/
The UFO report: A British Perspective 1988 – The 1988 Flap (Part 3)
https://scienceandspace.com/ufos/the-ufo-report-a-british-perspective-1988-the-1988-flap-part-4/