Reports of Unidentified Flying Object: A British Perspective 1988 – The 1988 Flap
January 22
More and more reports were coming in from the region, where the phenomenon appeared to be concentrating. A highly interesting case occurred near Kettlewell, North Yorkshire, at 9:00 p.m. on January 22. Mr. and Mrs. Alan Davidson had been driving north when they encountered a large triangular-shaped object directly in front of their car, moving left to right across the windscreen. In the few seconds available to them before it disappeared, they both saw that the object had a bank of lights on its base, with several more across the center. A number of these were flashing on and off across the whole length of the 60 ft plus structure. It was totally noiseless so far as they could ascertain.
The couple, quite understandably, had been badly shaken by this experience. They negotiated a difficult bend, then stopped the car and walked back to see if they could catch sight of the strange craft, but a search of the sur rounding fields and sky proved fruitless.
January 23
Ivan Spenceley is a man of impeccable background, well educated and informed. When he first gave details of his extraordinary sighting, which took place near Chester field, Derbyshire, at 12:45 a.m. on January 23, we could not fail but to be impressed by his attempts to rationalize his UFO encounter. During 1988, we had worked closely with researchers at Central Television who wanted to pre sent a live UFO debate on the national network. We pro vided some material, and more importantly, witnesses who we felt would do the subject justice, such as Ivan.
He was out walking his dog late at night close to wood land, a task he had performed regularly for a number of years, when he suddenly became aware of a “massive” oval object in the sky. On closer inspection, he could make out straight and curved lines around it. There were a series of red and blue lights constantly shining, but not in a position where you would expect them to be on an aircraft, or airship. From what appeared to be tinted windows, light was emanating continuously. The object was very low in the sky and moved at a snail’s pace away from him, with out any sound.
February 3
Reports continued to pour into the organization during February, and we have selected a few that typify the diversity of the phenomenon and the backgrounds of our witnesses. On Wednesday evening, around six-thirty on February 3, an incident took place on the main Harrogate to Skipton road. This often narrow and winding route carried a coachload of forty pupils and staff who were shocked to witness an oval-shaped ball of yellow light travel along side their vehicle.
After descending to their level very suddenly, the object “paced” the vehicle for a few seconds, moved for a while slightly ahead of it, then sped off at an estimated speed of 120 m.p.h. toward the village of Blub-berhouses. Twenty seconds later, a similar object came from the rear of the coach and carried out almost the same maneuver.
February 8
A 23-year-old housewife from Sheffield had opened her attic window to allow in some fresh air, when she saw a brightly lit object descend through thin cloud and hover approximately 100 ft above the ground. It was illuminated by an array of beautiful, colored, dazzling lights. These were peppermint green, ice-blue, and bright red. At the object’s base she could see a massive circular white light.
For a staggering twenty minutes, this young woman watched in awe as the rooftop-shaped craft remained still and quiet. A streetlight nearby dimmed during this time, and her bedroom light would flicker on and off. The object then moved away very slowly, close to housetops and trees, before quickly disappearing at an estimated speed of 100/ 120 m.p.h.
Approximately one hour before this particular sighting, two independent reports from the Rotherham area cited a cone-shaped object displaying orange and white lights moving slowly over the town, which was only several miles from the housewife’s location.
February 15
At 12: 15 a.m. on February 15 , in Rothefham yet again, a father and son were returning home from an enjoyable evening out with friends. The son was attracted to a cluster of bright lights which appeared to be hovering high in the sky ahead of them. There was little traffic around them at the time, and the night sky was clear and the weather crisp. James Adams, fifteen years old, had not mentioned the lights to his father at the time, but when he saw the object descend over an electricity pylon approximately a quarter of a mile away, he frantically drew his father’s attention toward it. “My dad was amazed, ‘.’ James said later. ‘ ‘We could see this disk-shaped thing with a large dome on top and flashing lights around the base. ‘ ‘ These lights were colored red, green, yellow, orange, and white.
The light on top was brilliant white. ‘ ‘After twenty seconds,” added James, “it moved away like a bullet, but we never heard a sound. ‘ ‘
February 16
On February 16 two separate police patrols observed a UFO over Walsall, West Midlands. According to the Birmingham Daily News, Sgt. Stuart Griffiths and PC Michael Powell were on a panda car patrol when an extraordinary sight brought them to a halt.
“In the sky up in front of us was a very bright light, ” reported Sgt. Griffiths. “I cannot be sure but the object could have been oblong in shape. It had green and red lights which were either flashing on and off or spinning around. ” The officers got out of their car and were amazed to find that the craft was noiseless. ‘ ‘We watched it for about two minutes and then it suddenly disappeared to ward the south-east. It seemed to move much faster than an airplane, ‘ ‘ said Sgt. Griffiths.
Fifteen minutes earlier, at 9: 15 p.m. , Inspector Roger Clarke and Sgt. Steve Godwin sighted a UFO in Darlaston when they were on patrol . ‘ ‘We were driving toward Cald more when we saw a massive object in the sky, ” Sgt. Godwin reported to the Birmingham Evening Mail. ‘ ‘There were loads of lights but it was far bigger than any aircraft I ‘ve seen. “
On the same evening, Mrs. Margaret Brannan and her two children, together with two other young witnesses, had an extraordinary sighting near Redditch, Worcester shire. ‘ ‘My brain was telling me it must be a plane, ‘ ‘ said Mrs. Brannan, “but as I looked I realized that it couldn’t be. It was the most fantastic thing I have ever seen . I still can’t get over it, ” she told the Redditch Weekly Mail. “It was like a floating city in the sky, and the most vivid memory I have is of the tiny windows on it, which made it look like a block of flats.”
February 24
Just nine days later, a Hull taxi-driver spotted a reddish orange, spinning-top-shaped object near the Leeds Road roundabout at 4:00 in the morning. He said it was about the size of a hot-air balloon and made several changes of direction. He was sufficiently impressed to call the police immediately.
We received many reports like this during February. They came from policemen, security guards, schoolchil dren and their teachers, housewives, and various members of the public. Each case was fully evaluated and judged on its merit, and where possible, comparisons were drawn with other cases that may have been somehow connected.
March 10
Such a connection appears to have occurred on March 10. Ian Smith, a local UFO investigator for the organization in South Yorkshire, submitted a report of his sighting which appeared to tie in with another UFO report sent to us on March 23, but relating to that night of the 10th. So we had totally independent witnesses, who had no prior knowledge of each other’s sighting in Rotherham and Ossett, West Yorkshire .
Ian was driving back from Sheffield with a colleague and fellow Society member, Paul Garner. Close to the junction of the A629, Paul drew Ian’s attention to an elongated object which appeared to be internally lit by some form of orange light. The entire length of the object, which was low in the sky, approximately 400 ft above the ground, appeared to pulsate. Both men could see distinct black lines running vertically around the object giving the impression that they may have been some type of windows.
The experienced investigators could hardly believe their luck-here was a possible UFO staring at them in the face!
They had, of course, immediately stopped the vehicle and taken precise notes of every aspect of the object’s size, color, and shape. At precisely 8:55 p.m. the object dis appeared from view traveling in a northerly direction. Twenty minutes later, over the town of Ossett, Dianne Wild, aged twenty-eight, was closing her kitchen curtains when she noticed a brilliant yellow light approaching from the south. Although indoors, and with both windows and doors closed, she could hear a distinct humming noise.
The object approached steadily, and, somewhat taken aback at the growing size and shape of the object, Dianne remained rooted to the spot. “It was shaped like a cross, and at least the size of a football field, ‘ ‘ she said. ‘ ‘I saw a red flashing light toward the rear, and yellow lights ran along its side. I could clearly see gray and black stripes on the underside as it passed overhead, slightly to the left of our house. I have never seen anything as big or as clear in the sky before.”
Further Activity
The center of UFO activity then appeared to be concentrated in the Midlands. Local newspapers, including the Chase Post in Cannock, highlighted the events, reporting no less than ninety separate UFO sightings. Amongst these were twenty-six over Rugeley, Bumtwood, Boney Hay, Lichfield, Brownhills, Willenhall and Walsall. In just two hours, sixteen sightings came from Rugeley alone.
A frightened 12-year-old-girl and two friends saw a huge, oval-shaped craft hovering at 600 ft, covered with green, blue, and white lights which moved in and out of the object . Four police officers in separate towns also spot ted the amazing craft. P… cigar-shaped craft hovered over a Lichfield church one early morning at eight o’clock. Mr. Edwards of Friday Acre said: ‘ ‘It was huge and had a mushroom-shaped top which came down to a long, cigar shape underneath. ” Other witnesses reported seeing a similar object rise from behind trees.
Another sighting was reported by an RAF jet engine technician with ten years’ service. He spotted an unusual craft in Boney Hay, and said he had never seen anything like it. He claimed to have seen a ‘ ‘brilliant white, smoke ring at nine o’clock in the morning. “
Above it was an object with a small rotating blue light. It hovered at the spot for a full minute before moving off at great speed, leaving what looked like a vapor trail coming from the object’s left side. Within a minute or two it had disappeared completely. A radar operator was reported to have disclosed to the Chase Post newspaper that he could confirm something unusual had been seen, but could not go into detail .
When ordinary men and women encounter UFO phenomena, and are brave enough to speak about their experience with investigators or the media, their description of events offers a valuable insight into this hugely complex, but fascinating subject.
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 2)
https://scienceandspace.com/ufos/the-ufo-report-a-british-perspective-1988-the-1988-flap-part-4/