Posted on 06/22/2007 7:27:08 AM PDT by Havok
One of the largest UFOs ever seen has been observed by the crew and passengers of an airliner over the Channel Islands.
An official air-miss report on the incident several weeks ago appears in Pilot magazine.
Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer, 50, flying close to Alderney first spotted the object, described as "a cigar-shaped brilliant white light".
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Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer, 50, described what he thought to be a UFO as 'a cigar-shaped brilliant white light', similar to the image supplied by Dennis Plunket of the British Flying Saucer bureau
As the plane got closer the captain viewed it through binoculars and said:
"It was a very sharp, thin yellow object with a green area. It was 2,000ft up and stationary. I thought it was about 10 miles away, although I later realised it was approximately 40 miles from us. At first, I thought it was the size of a [Boeing] 737.
"But it must have been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could have been as much as a mile wide."
Continuing his approach to Guernsey, Bowyer then spied a "second identical object further to the west".
He said: "It was exactly the same but looked smaller because it was further away. It was closer to Guernsey. I can't explain it. This was clearly visual for about nine minutes.
"I'm certainly not saying that it was something of another world. All I'm saying is that I have never seen anything like it before in all my years of flying."
The sightings were confirmed by passengers Kate and John Russell. John, 74, said "I saw an orange light. It was like an elongated oval".
The sightings were also confirmed by an unnamed pilot with the Blue Islands airline.
The Civil Aviation Authority safety notice states that a Tri-Lander aircraft flying close to Alderney spotted the object.
"Certain parts of the report have not been published. I cannot say why," said a senior CAA source.
Earlier this year however, the MOD declared its intentions to open its UFO files to the public.
Save your breath and fingers.
Most of these . . . . belong to the
Church of the Unroyal Lowness Sacred Right of the Mean Spirited Skeptics.
They bow only at the shrine of their reflections in the glass and consider all others of
lower IQ,
lower coolness,
lower sanity,
lower intellectual abilities,
lower hip-ness
. . .
When, actually, the opposite is true . . . comparatively.
On FR, it’s long been a tradition that ignorant, rabid, mean-spirited, hostile, assaultive, uninformed, clueless skeptics take apart limb by limb those who want to discuss the topic seriously.
Color me underwhelmed.
That’s an awesome lenticular! I’d like to see a higher-quality pic of that for wallpaper.
Ian Punett, who hosts Coast to Coast Live on Saturday night has been trying to make sure that the hostile invading alien armies that are even now, hovering silently above our atmosphere, know that they should Eat the Canadians First! They're the free-range north americans. Yessir, they should definitely check out them tasty canadians first.
Hey we could use that thing to put all the illegals in and fly them home!!!!!
I’d want to do some research before moving.
Wanna make sure I am not on their BBQ Menu.
Otherwise I agree with you.
My buddy loves that show.
it was ok for 1 season.
Him and the staff remind me of a domitrix (sic) fantasy come true.
yell belittle yell belittle...
Yes Chef. Yes Chef.
Excellent question. The answer is, "They can't." It's impossible to accurately estimate the size, distance and speed of any object moving against the sky with no other reference points. For comparison, just last week, a zeppelin-like device accidentally went adrift over Salt Lake City and sparked mass UFO reports. The general consensus of the witnesses was that it was over 100 feet long. But we later discovered exactly what it was and who had made it. Turned out it was less than 30 feet long. But I'm sure this UFO really was exactly a mile wide.
BTW, I'm a longtime member of a Skeptics group, was the editor of their newsletter for several years and have written for CSICOP's Skeptical Briefs. I guess I just enjoy hanging out with ignorant, rabid, mean-spirited, hostile, assaultive, uninformed, clueless skeptics. You know, university physics professors, engineers who've worked on government projects such as the superconducting supercollider, a top level FAA airline crash investigator, morons like that. Good times!
If you get any further information on this would you let me know? Not all of us are skeptics.
Primarily the wind direction and the lay of the land. Here in SE Tennessee we get wave in a variety of directions off the Cumberland Plateau. The highest altitude gains, and the current TN state altitude gain record of 17,400', are in the NW wave, although it's also the most turbulent to get to and it's usually blowing stink on the ground when it sets up. The South wave is much more docile, with almost no ground wind, but not nearly as high as the NW wave. What you have to avoid is the areas between the waves, most notably between the downwind side of the primary wave and the upwind side of the secondary wave. If you know the wind direction it's not hard to predict where the up's and down's will be.
Perhaps the consumption of large amounts of LeBatts would make them "grain fed"?
Very true. Smooooooth, like baby's bottom.
I towed a guy in an ASW-27 a couple of years ago on a really strong wave day. When we reached the wave I pulled the throttle on the Pawnee to idle and we were still climbing at 1400 fpm with the glider still on the string! Smooth as could be in the wave, but gettin' her back on the ground took four passes and a lot of stop to stop control movement......and I had bruises on my shoulders from banging off the straps.....
Hwy, I’ve got a pile of Skeptical Inquirers up in the attic. They were fun.
I like to ask people which is bigger, the sun or the moon. And then have them explain their answer.
Aw, it’s just Russia and China testing their Longitudinal Wave Interferometers again.
Yes, the interplanetary war is over, and the saucer-builders and triangle-builders lost, or at least have been beaten in our sector. :’)
Hmgh, can you explain why neither you or anyone else on the plane had a video recorder or digital camera or at the very least a camera phone?
???
Being able to weed out BS through everyday commonsense sucks dont it?
Whatever.
Wow! Thank you; I printed your post off and have added it to my ongoing notebook of flying fact and observation.
I fly over 'the rock pile' to Reno/Carson City; take friends and visitors over Lake Tahoe. I always check the ridge from my front window for a 'lens' as I've heard the stories.
I've considered glider training and have taken a few rides up in Napa. Thing is, there's no such thing as a 'missed approach'! But, I fully appreciate the awareness that it instills.
Thanks again FRiend. VFR and, in your case, upward thermals!
Thanks Thermal. Yours, and with the response from another FReeper, provided much in the way of de-mystifying (no pun!) the phenomena
I'll still give 'em wide leeway tho'...
I as I told cpd,I've considered glider training and have taken a few rides up in Napa. Thing is, there's no such thing as a 'missed approach'!
Thanks again!
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