UK Pilots Reporting UAP
www.ukpilotsreportinguap.co.uk

12 FEB 2024 - Launch press release - UK Pilots Reporting UAP (UKPRU)

Launched today is a new website, UK Pilots Reporting UAP (www.ukpilotsreportinguap.co.uk) the brainchild of Gary Heseltine, a long-time respected British UFO/UAP researcher and author.

Heseltine, a former police detective and the current Vice President of the International Coalition for Extraterrestrial Research (ICER) has now decided to tackle the issue of UK pilots who have had encounters with UAP.

He has put together a small specialist team of leading UK UAP researchers (Alan Foster, Dave Hodrien and Chris Gaffney) who will investigate British pilot reports (and other aviation personnel including radar operators and Air Traffic Controllers).

The team stress that there are genuine air safety implications for pilots who for decades have been seeing strange objects in the sky that they cannot explain.

Since 2017 there has been a resurgence of interest in the subject of UFOs, now referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), especially in the United States where there have been a number of Congressional Hearings held recently.

The issue of ‘air safety’ in relation to UAP encounters is now the subject of proposed new legislation (in association with Americans for Safe Aerospace (https://www.safeaerospace.org) in the U.S. that seeks to coordinate and standardise UAP reporting procedures and also calls for greater transparency on the issue with regard to pilot reports.

Heseltine believes that all countries should be doing likewise and wants to raise the issue of pilots reporting UAP in British airspace to the highest levels of government and the aviation industry.

Selected media quotes from me:

“UAPs are seen by pilots on every continent and the UK is no different. There needs to be a worldwide, coordinated and standardised set of reporting procedures along with greater transparency on the issue.”

“I believe the time is now right for a new phase of research. In recent years the U.S. authorities have confirmed that craft of unknown origin are flying in their airspace with impunity, many of which move in ways which seemingly defy our current understanding of physics.”

“I have no doubt whatsoever that UK pilots and International pilots (transiting through UK/Irish airspace) are encountering similar objects but they rarely report the incidents for fear of it effecting their career and being the subject of ridicule. It’s high time British pilots were encouraged to come forward without such stigma being involved and that there should be a transparent, standardised set of reporting procedures to deal with such reports.” 

“The stigma that has dogged the UFO/UAP issue for decades is fast receding with a worldwide resurgence in interest in the subject  in recent years. These objects are real and represent a clear air safety issue in the UK which needs to be fully addressed.”

UK Pilots Reporting UAP* aims to address these issues.

We appeal to British pilots and aviation personnel to come forward and contact us.

Your communications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

*UK Pilots Reporting UAP is a non-profit website.

Gary Heseltine, founder and press spokesperson

15 FEB 2024 Launch Update:

The UK Pilots website has been heavily promoted on X with 18k views on one particular tweet by Christopher Sharp of the Liberation Times.

In addition, UAP News did a full page on the promoting the launch press release. 

The UFOTalker podcast with Michael Ryan did a nice 'shout out' for the website on his latest show.

Thank you for all those supporting this initiative.

We now have UK Pilots Reporting UAP Facebook and X pages.

Standby for further updates. GH.

29 FEB 2024

On 12 February 2024 after several months of preparation, I launched a new website ’UK Pilots Reporting UAP (www.ukpilotsreportinguap.co.uk).

I have put together a small team of experienced UAP/Aviation researchers, Dave Hodrien, Alan Foster and Chris Gaffney.

I have been frustrated for a while that the UK is lagging far behind the developments that have been taking place in the United States since 2017 and the famous New York Times article which revealed details of the hitherto secret AATIP UFO study program.

Despite numerous significant legislative procedures set in place in the U.S. the UK by comparison has done little or nothing, at least publicly to do likewise? This is odd in itself because the UK usually takes its lead from the U.S. and adopts the same approach, but not this time. Why not?

The UK seems almost totally dismissive of the U.S. developments, it’s almost as if they don’t exist! The trouble is they do so when the likes of former military pilot, Ryan Graves, argues the need for U.S. air safety regarding UAP and after the successful launch of ‘Americans for Safe Aerospace’ organisation (www.safeaerospace.org), I believe the time is now right to try to raise the UAP issue of ‘air safety’ for pilots in the UK.

I have no doubt whatsoever that UK pilots are encountering UAP in British air space but few incidents are reported and those that are, are handled in an uncoordinated way. 

At present, as far as I can see, the term UAP is not even mentioned in any reporting procedure for pilots, military or civilian! I think this is unacceptable and the team at UK Pilots Reporting UAP are determined to raise the issue at the highest levels of the aviation industry. 

However, I don’t think this is going to be easy because of the ‘backward’ approach to the topic taken by the British government, the poor mainstream media coverage and the failure of the aviation industry to recognise and adapt its reporting procedures to deal with legitimate UAP issues. 

On behalf of the team, all I can say is that we are going to try and make a difference and it won’t be quick. It will take time.

The website will cater for UK pilots reporting UAP in British airspace and also overseas.

In addition, we will also record UAP reports made by UK aviation employees (i.e. radar operators, air traffic controllers etc), whether they be military or civilian. For example, if you think of the 2006 Chicago O’Hare Airport incident in the United States it was the baggage handlers who looked up into the sky and were the first to report to the Tower that there was a UAP hovering above one of the terminal gates. 

Later other aviation personnel came forward and the case was eventually confirmed as a genuine UFO/UAP related incident. 

Therefore, if a similar incident took place, say at London Heathrow Airport, UK Pilots Reporting UAP (UKPRU) would seek to obtain staff reports to gather comprehensive data in order to make a reasoned determination, based on ‘best evidence’ as to the nature of the incident.

UKPRU are determined to be transparent and when investigations are complete, so we will release our final report into an incident to whoever wishes to examine it.

Whilst we fully support the scientific method and approach we recognise the nature of UAP reporting is far from ideal, due to the nature of the subject matter that is still dogged stigma, albeit at a receding level.

We also aim to provide searchable scientific data deriving from a stand-a-lone database maintained by Dave Hodrien.

Ultimately we will use that data to ask questions of the British Government and the UK aviation industry regarding the UAP issue. 

We believe there needs to be a genuine discussion about UAP in British and Irish airspace. GH.