UK Pilots Reporting UAP
www.ukpilotsreportinguap.co.uk

1952 - THE LITTLE RISSINGTON INCIDENT 

Case summary:

On 21 October 1952, Flight Lieutenant Mike Swiney flying a Gloster Meteor Mk 7 fighter aircraft was on a training flightwith student David Crofts, a Navy Lieutenant as his backseat passenger when at 13,000-14,000 feet they passed through some clouds to see three white circular object literally ‘framed’ in their cockpit window.

Swiney’s immediate reaction were that they were parachutes canopies but soon realised that they were circular in shape     and they all appeared to be ‘stationary’ in the sky.

The objects quickly began to climb so Swiney pursued them as they soon reached 30,000 feet. As the aircraft climbed noted that the objects were more ‘plate-like’. (1)

Then the objects changed course and moved from his port side to his starboard side. Initially it was Swiney that saw the objects before he alerted Croft, sat beside him, to see if he could see them. Crofts quickly confirmed he too could see the three objects. A short time later they had sped away and out of view.

Swiney was initially keen to pursue them but after talking with Crofts they decided not continue because there were accounts of US pilots having done so and some had proved fatal.

Neither one was able to gauge their size.

Swiney duly reported the incident to air traffic control and he was told to return to RAF Little Rissington.

After landing Crofts was told to go to his room and not go to tea and food would be brought to him. He was also told not to talk to anyone about what had happened. Finally, he was told to report to the Wing Commander’s office at 0900 hours the next day. Swiney recalled that as soon as they landed they were immediately separated from each other. The next morning both men were interviewed separately about the incident.

Crofts stated that an unnamed person in plain clothes told him that the three objects had been confirmed on radar travelling at 600 mph. He was asked to draw the objects which he did. Later he drew three saucers in his flight logbook against the date of the incident. Swiney too marked his logbook with the word ‘Saucers’.

No official RAF documents have been found to date corroborate their accounts however there is no suspicion that they are lying about the incident.

The only things that confirm that the incident occurred are respective flying logbooks and the entries they made on them. In addition, the RAF Little Rissington Operational Record Book states,

21.10.52 “Flight Lt M J E, Instructor and Lt D Crofts RN, student, sighted three mysterious saucer shaped objects travelling at high speed at about 35.000 feet whilst on a high-level navigation exercise in Meteor V11. Later ATCC Gloucester reported radar plots to confirm this, but the Air Ministry discounted any possibility of ‘extraterrestrial’ objects.”

Swiney would later rise to the senior rank of Air Commodore and when he was able to, he asked to see the report into his sighting. When he did so he was surprised when he was shown the file, despite the fact that he had been told that the records of his incident had been routinely destroyed after being held for five years. The report he was shown has never been released. This suggests that more documents on the case do exist but are being withheld from public release.

Crofts later claimed that RAF Sopley had seen the objects on radar and had tracked them travelling at 3,000 miles an hour. 

The object was also tracked on radar at RAF Rudloe Manor before disappearing off their tube at an estimated speed of 1,000 mph in a matter of seconds. This corresponds to Swiney’s recollection that he had looked away for a few seconds and when he looked back the objects had disappeared. (3)

Intelligence behaviour:

The three objects moved away from the Meteor as soon as they were detected indicating intelligent group evasion of the pursuing aircraft. 

References: 

1. What do they really Know by M. S. Morgan on Amazon books (2020) Pages 8-11. 
2. Both men later appeared in a TV documentary and recounted their encounter.
3. Out of the Shadows published by Authorhouse (2002) Pages 98-102.

1954 - THE FLT LT SALANDIN PILOT ENCOUNTER

Case summary:

At 1615 hours on 14 October 1954, Flight Lt. James. R. Salandin took off from RAF North Weald, home of the 604th Squadron, flying a twin jet Meteor fighter and had begun climbing southwards into a clear blue sky. As he did so he noticed two other Meteors flying in formation high above him. (1)

When he reached an altitude of 16,000 feet and whilst over Southend-on-Sea he suddenly noticed two circular objects traveling in the opposite direction which passed between the two meteors at high speed. 

He described one of the objects as silvery in colour with the other gold. He continued to watch the two objects until they disappeared from his view.

Then as he turned his gaze forward away from the where the objects had been he suddenly saw a bun-shaped object heading straight toward his aircraft. He described the object as having a bun-shaped top, a flange like two saucers in the middle, and a bun underneath.

The object was so close to the aircraft that it completely filled the cockpit windscreen area (estimated at 37 feet at 150 yards). Suddenly, at the last moment, the object swerved and narrowly avoided colliding with the plane.

Salandin was very shaken by the incident and waited for approximately 10 minutes to gather his thoughts before reporting to ground control what had just occurred.

When he landed, he gave a full account of the two incidents that day to Derek Demster who was the 604 Squadron’s intelligence officer who later became the editor of Flying Saucer Review in 1955 who published his story. (2)

Salandin’s encounter was also published in the London Illustrated News. (3)

He was later interviewed by UK author and researcher Timothy Good and he told him, “I have no satisfactory explanation for what I saw, but I know what I saw.” (4)

Intelligent behaviour:

The object made an intelligent high-speed movement to avoid collision with the aircraft.

References:

1. UFO Evidence published by NICAP (1964) Page 256.
2. London Illustrated News 2 December 1954.
3. Flying Saucer Review July 1957.
4. Tim Good interview in 1985.

1956 - THE LAKENHEATH/BENTWATERS INCIDENT

Case summary:

At 2130 hours on 13 August 1956 Airman 2nd Class John Vaccare of the USAF stationed at RAF Bentwaters began to track an object on radar (type AN/MPN-11A) that flew 40-50 miles in 30 seconds which equated to a speed of 7,500 to 9,500 km per hour. Several minutes later he tracked 12 to 15 unidentified radar targets which ‘merged’ together into one large blip on the screen 40 miles northeast of RAF Bentwaters. The size of the blip was considered larger than any known aircraft of the era. The blip then stopped on two occasions briefly before disappearing from the screen. 

At 2200 hours a single radar target tracked by RAF Bentwaters covered an area of 55 miles in 16 seconds which equated to 12,000 km per hour.

At 2255 hours Bentwaters Ground Control radar picked up another target traveling east to west moving at an estimated speed of 2,000-4,000 km per hour.

At approximately the same time someone in the Air Traffic Control Tower observed a ‘bright light’ passing over the airfield from east to west at an approximate altitude of 4,000 feet.

At approximately the same time the pilot of a twin-engine C-47 aircraft flying over RAF Bentwaters reported seeing a ‘light’ pass under his aircraft traveling east to west at a ‘terrific speed’.

Soon after radars at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath detected a stationary object 20-25 miles southwest of the     latter base. At that point the object began to move north at 400-600 mph but there was no acceleration – it was a constant speed. The object was seen to make several abrupt changes of direction without slowing.

At 2330 hours an RAF De Havilland Venom jet interceptor was scrambled from RAF Waterbeach. According to the USAF report (1) on the incident it stated: 

“Pilot advised he had a bright white light in sight and would investigate. At 13 miles west he reported loss of target and white light. Lakenheath (radar) vectored him to a target 10 miles east of Lakenheath and the pilot advised target was on his radar and was ‘locking on’. Pilot then reported he had lost target on his radar. Lakenheath GCA reports that as the Venom passed the target on radar, the target began to chase the fighter.”

The pilot tried to ‘shake’ off the object but he was unable to do so. A second Venom aircraft was scrambled to the area and at one point the two pilots were heard by those in the Lakenheath Tower talking to each other and the original pilot was heard to confirm that he had seen an object which he described as ‘the darndest thing I’ve ever seen’. 

The case was included in the University of Colorado Condon Report (2) and its conclusion was,

“In summary, this is the most puzzling and unusual case in the radar-visual files. The apparent rational, intelligent behaviour of the UFO suggest a mechanical device of unknown origin as the most probable explanation of this sighting. However, in view of the inevitable fallibility of witnesses, more conventional explanations of this report cannot be entirely ruled out.”

Intelligent behaviour: 

Controlled high-speed manoeuvres, deliberate following of the Venom aircraft as it attempted to ‘shake’ of the object without success.

References:

1. USAF Air Intelligence Report filed by Captain Edward. L. Holt on 31 August 1956.
2. Condon Report (1969).

1957 - THE MILTON TORRES ENCOUNTER 

Case summary:

On the evening of 20 May 1957 two Super Sabre jet fighters belonging to the 406th Fighter Interception Wing were on a five-minute QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) standby to scramble at RAF Manston in Kent. The pilots were Lt. Milton Torres and Lt Dave Roberson who were members of the 514th Fighter Squadron on attachment to the 406th. (1)

Late in the evening they were scrambled to an unidentified radar confirmed target that had been seen for some time over the East Anglia area. At the time of the incident the weather conditions were poor with low cloud cover. Both were asked if their aircraft were armed. Torres, who went public with his account many years after the incident confirmed that his aircraft was armed with rockets.

Even though there was poor visibility he was authorised to open fire at the object when he confirmed he had a ‘solid’ target on his onboard radar. Seeking confirmation of the order to open fire he requested the necessary authentication code for the release of his weapons. He described the size of the radar target as being similar to that of a B52 heavy bomber aircraft.

At 15 miles out from the target he was able to a acquire a radar lock-on on the object despite the fact that he did not have a visual on it. However, before being able to fire his salvo of rockets he advised ATC that the object had suddenly broken the lock-on and was speeding away and beyond the range of his onboard radar that was limited to 30 miles.

Upon landing back at RAF Manston, they spoke with ATC who told Torres that the object had disappeared off their radar in just two sweeps which indicated a fantastic speed of several thousands of miles an hour.

Torres states that a day or so later he was interviewed by someone who claimed to work for the National Security Agency who told him not to speak about the incident as it was ‘classified’.

Roberson’s recall of the incident is slightly different stating they were asked if they were armed and because he wasn’t they were both diverted to RAF Bentwaters where they were loaded with rockets. During the incident Roberson was did see the object on his radar but he was unable to get a lock-on and at no time did he have a visual on the object.

Despite Torres going public many years later about the incident no records, either at the National Archives and the RAF have been found to corroborate the incident however, there is no suggestion whatsoever that either men are lying.

Torres retired from the USAF in 1977 with the rank of Major.

Note: This story did not emerge until 1988 when by accident UK researcher and solicitor Harry Harris met with Torres at a social function who asked him if he had ever seen a UFO. As a result, details of the case emerged.

A detailed written account by Torres is contained in Reference 2. (2)

Intelligent behaviour: High speed evasive action.

References:

1. What do they really Know by M. S. Morgan Amazon books (2020). Pages 36-41.
2. https://colinandrews.net/UFO-MiltonTorres.html

2007 - THE ALDERNEY INCIDENT (CHANNEL ISLANDS) 

Case summary:

At 1338 ours on 23 April 2007, Captain Ray Bowyer took off from Southampton airport in a light aircraft owned by the air carrier Aurigny Air Services bound for the Alderney in the Channel Islands, located close to the coast of France. It was a 45-minute flight Captain Bowyer, a pilot with 18 years of flying experience, had undertaken regularly for eight years. The weather was clear, perfect conditions for flying. There were approximately 10 passengers that were sat directly behind the cockpit of the plane.

As the plane approached the Channel Island of Alderney at an altitude of 4000 feet, Captain Bowyer saw something directly ahead that he initially interpreted as some kind of reflection. He then used binoculars to get a better view and saw an elongated yellow coloured object with sharp ends that he estimated to be in the region of one mile in length. He then noticed a second object that had been partially obscured by the first object. Both objects appeared to be stationary in the sky.

Captain Bowyer then contacted Guernsey ATC and asked if there was any traffic in the position of the objects. This was denied, however, the operator told him there was a faint radar trace of something that was not showing any transponder. Note: the ATC radar was equipped to look for ‘stationary’ objects.

For corroboration he asked a passenger who was sat directly behind him to look for the object and he confirmed that he could see two objects, one directly behind the other.

Further corroboration came from a pilot Captain Patterson who was flying another aircraft that was moving in the opposite direction to Bowyer’s plane. When his plane was near Sark, another of the Channel Islands, the pilot confirmed that he could see one of the elongated yellow unidentified objects.

A short time later Bowyer saw the two objects change position, from being stationary, they now moved to a stack formation, i.e., directly on top of each other. At this point Bowyer was able to see that the objects had a darkened section on the fuselage which was different from the light emitting yellow light of the rest of the object.

At this point he began his descent toward the airport where he was scheduled to land. After passing through a haze layer of clouds he lost sight of the objects.

Duration of the event - 15 minutes. The first object was initially seen at a distance of 55 miles from Captain Bowyer’s aircraft. (1)

Bowyer later said, “This (was) a big object in the sky, very big object. I did not want to be too close to it and it was at that time that we had to descend to land. We descended through the 2000-foot haze layer and lost sight of it.”

“There was no hiding it, they were just there. I wasn’t too happy. I was quite glad to get on the ground….” (2)

Intelligent behaviour: 

Initially the two objects were seen in a stationary position, one behind the other before moving to ‘stack’ formation, on top of each other. They appeared to be identical, huge, structured objects featuring a darkened section in the same position on the fuselage on each of them.  

References:

1. Ray Bowyer testimony at the National Press Club in Washington D. C. in 2007.
2. Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Alderney_UFO _sighting.

2008 - POLICE HELICOPTER ENCOUNTER IN SOUTH WALES

Case summary:

08 June 2008. At 00:40, an Air Support Unit Police helicopter was coming into land at RAF St Athan airport, South Wales, at the end of a flight, when the pilot saw an illuminated spherical object about the size of a basketball that flew, ground up towards the helicopter as it descended. 

It stopped in front of his face, about three feet outside the cockpit window. It then kept pace with the helicopter, the downwash from the rotor blades having no effect on it at all. 

It was translucent, like a bubble, with a small red and green light side by side inside the sphere. He called the attention of his two colleagues who also saw it. The object then shot off down into a farmyard and disappeared. They followed it and hovered while they searched for it. The sphere then reappeared, and flew towards the Bristol Channel coast, and they followed it again, but then turned back due to running low on fuel. The object continued across the Channel. 

Interestingly, although they could see the sphere with the naked eye, they could not see it with the hi-tech night-vision goggles. The object did not emit a heat signature. The pilot reported the encounter to Cardiff Airport ATC. It was subsequently suggested to the pilot that what he and his crew had seen was a drone. He categorically rejected this explanation, as there was no way a drone could have withstood the downwash of the helicopter rotor blades. 

Source: The pilot was interviewed by Emlyn Williams © SUFON (Swansea UFO Network).

2016 - POLICE HELICOPTER CREW FILM UAP ON FLIR CAMERAS

Case summary:

In September 2016 the National Police Air Service (NPAS) unexpectedly released a tweet and some FLIR footage taken by a police helicopter crew.

It was recorded by South Wales police over the Bristol Channel and captured a strange UAP that was only detected on the on-board FLIR camera system. It was filmed for several minutes and was seen moving against the prevailing wind. It was not seen in the visible spectrum by the pilot and crew.

Following the submission of an FOI to NPAS the following response was received. 

On 25th November, almost 2 months later this was their response:

Date: 25/11/2016 

Dear Mr Heseltine, 

Thank you for your request for information, received by West Yorkshire Police on 27/09/16. You requested the following information: With regard to the tweet that was released on 23 September i.e. hot, invisible & flying into the wind" UFO captured by police helicopter In St Athens, Wales With onboard FLIR Camera. 

17/9/2016 - Can you please provide the following information under FOI: How many people were aboard the police helicopter at the time of the sighting? 

At the time of the sighting described above, there were three members on board the aircraft. 

Please provide an audio copy of the incident (as a former police detective I know that all aircrew conversations are automatically recorded). 

Please see the enclosed DVD showing an unidentified object captured by an NPAS aircraft camera. West Yorkshire Police is unable to provide an audio copy of the footage. This is exempt by virtue of Section 30(1) – Investigations and proceedings conducted by a public authority and Section 40(2) – Personal Information. Further to this redactions have been made to the footage and is exempt by virtue of Section 40(2) – Personal Information. Please see appendix A for a full explanation. 

What was the name of the police officer spotter on-board?

The on-board Tactical Flight Officer was PC xxxxxx xxxxxxx. 

Please provide a geographical map of the incident plotting the objects movements as recorded on the FLIR camera. 

West Yorkshire Police do not record flight paths and therefore no information is held. 

What was the total duration of the incident? 

The total duration of the incident was 7 Minutes and 45 seconds. 

Please provide accurate timings of the incident. 

The incident occurred at 21:21. The thermal imaging camera had a date and time setting inaccuracy which had a one hour discrepancy, however after identifying this the camera’s software was updated and this has now been rectified. 

What was the total duration of the FLIR recording? 

The total duration of the thermal imaging camera recording was 7 minutes and 45 seconds. 

Was there any visual sighting by any of the crew at any point during the incident?

West Yorkshire Police do not hold this information. 

Did any ground or airborne radar detect the object recorded on the FLIR camera?

West Yorkshire Police do not hold this information. 

I note that the date shown in the released clip is dated 16th September and not the 17th September as stated? Can you provide an explanation for the discrepancy? 

The thermal imaging camera had a date and time setting inaccuracy which was a one day discrepancy, however after identifying this the camera’s software was updated and this has now been rectified.

Conclusions and further Questions

So, after almost two months the NPAS responded with some limited information. Firstly the positives: I learned the name of the police officer involved and that the total duration for the event was 7 minutes 45 seconds as opposed to the limited video clip that was released by NPAS with their original twitter comment. 

I duly received a DVD of the event lasting 7 min 45 seconds in duration.

I asked for a copy of the audio file from the helicopter for the incident but this was denied. I do not believe this is an inadequate response to my submission and any sensitive information/locations could have been edited out.

Nor could they provide any kind of plotted map of the flight which I find very strange. So if it had been chasing a murder suspect they would not have provided a plot for court? Nor could they provide any information about whether the object had been detected on any radar system. 

An in-depth article on the incident appears in issue 22 of UFO Truth Magazine.

Source: Gary Heseltine