Report into West Midlands Police Officer’s UFO sighting 02.25 5.8.2012 (Comprehensive)

At 9.25am on 10th August 2012, we made our way over to Canley Police Station situated on the A45 Coventry Road, West Midlands where we met up with the uniformed police dog handler (D/G) in the front office.  On this occasion we were accompanied by Mr Bob Tibbitts, a personal friend and formerly the head of the Coventry based UFO Group (CUFORG) .

The officer (who asked that his name be withheld after consultation with Dan Barton of  the West Midlands Police Press Office) was accompanied by a colleague, (D/S) who confirmed that he had received a call on the radio from the officer following the UFO having been seen, and that all communication was then made via a personal ‘phone.

The officer (D/G) then acting sergeant now 12months from retirement, told us that he was travelling along the A45 out of Coventry heading towards Birmingham, towards the Stonebridge Island along the darkened section of the A45. Weather conditions were described as being clear with a moon and intermittent cloud cover, although fog developed later. About a quarter of a mile past Map location SP280812:

“I noticed a light in the sky which was pulsing rhythmically. It was very bright and had a bluish tinge to it. I thought at first it was plane and then realised as it was only a single light this was not likely to be the case, as I had never seen an aircraft in that  part of the sky. A couple of seconds later it shot off at an incredible speed silently heading towards the Birmingham direction. As it did so the pulsating continued but of course diminished as it moved away, now over the Birmingham Airport direction. Suddenly it shot straight upwards into the sky at a phenomenal speed far too fast to have been any aircraft. About 2-300yards past where I had seen it I pulled into a lay-by on the left and radioed a colleague (D.S) also on duty that night and told him what I had seen”.

The incident, for obvious reasons, was then reported via mobile phone rather than contacting the Force Control room using the Police radio.

The Officer then contacted a relative to report the matter, and then made his way to Birmingham Airport where he discussed the matter with the ATC and the crew of the Police Helicopter.    According to ATC nothing had shown on radar and no flights were plotted for that time (15minutes before and 30minutes later).

The officer dismissed any suggestions made that he had seen a fireball meteorite, a sky lantern or jet aircraft.   He feels that what he saw wasn’t man-made, and maintains an open mind as to the identity of the object.  He also stressed that if it had been an aircraft travelling at the speed, then why didn’t it break the sound barrier as it moved through the sky?

While we were unable to identity what it was the officer saw, we had of course come across many other examples of this phenomenon before during our research.

Those examples also include occasions when film has been taken of these pulsating flickering objects which are seen stationary in the sky before suddenly shooting away at speeds, which rule out the possibility of any terrestrial explanation.

One such example took place in Greenlands near Redditch a few years ago. The witness - a taxi driver - called the police who attended but were unable to offer any explanation.  

Another witness living in Longbridge, Birmingham also filmed a UFO over the Birmingham area in 1995. Interestingly, she told of seeing a dark, hardly noticeable object rotating around a luminous object creating what appeared to be the pulsating effect. 

Whether these have any bearing on what it was the officer saw, we can’t say; all we can say is that although these are examples of unidentified flying objects,  which continue to be seen around the skies of the UK, we should only judge each case on its individual merits and not jump to any conclusions, rather than attempting to sensationalise incidents like this (as is often seen in the media) by suggesting that they are extra terrestrial in origin. Nothing may be further from the point!

Crop Circle discovered on the 4th of August 2012

A mere few hundred yards away from the lay-by, a crop circle was discovered on the 4th August 2012. Wondering if there was any association with what the officer had seen we made our way to the location after having been to the Police Station.

After climbing over the gate and walking along the public footpath from its entrance on the side of the lay-by, and walking along the tram lines, we arrived at the irregular formation, clearly visible from the road, and approximately a few hundred feet away from the main A45 road.  

Following our  visits to various crop circles and formations over the years, and finding  evidence of what appeared to be some form of microwave, or energy, interaction having taken place through burning and feathering of the crop on the outsize edges, we felt there was no evidence to suggest this to be a genuine crop circle. However, we were curious about the number of bird feathers contained within the lay of the corn, but these could have been crushed down through the action of pressing the corn, which - for all we know - may have happened a few days before the 4^th.

There was no damage to the nodes of the corn. All of the corn plants were snapped

about half way down and reinforced our convictions that this was a crude hoax, although we are the first to point out that we are not specialists  in this field (excuse the pun).

We discussed the matter with worldwide renowned expert Colin Andrews and sent him the photos.  He had this to say:

“Thank you so much for sharing so generously your reports and photographs.  One other observation I can make from a couple of your photographs of the Pickford formation, is

the roughly yard wide band around the outer edge, forming the circumference.  This is frequently the system of laying out the bones of the design before the flattening process

is undertaken - by humans I mean.  So, yes I would agree with your conclusions.  Also the proximity to a roadside convenient parking place is often another sign, has been over the years.  Yours was the lay-by. The police officer report is very interesting. You two do a great job - long may it be so.”

UFO over Great Yarmouth

An uncorroborated report from the UK-UFO website tells of a UFO sighting that took place on the 5th August 2012 between 2.40am and 3.05am at Great Yarmouth, when the unnamed witness told of waking up in the early hours, and - on going to the bedroom window – saw:

“A bright golden yellowy ball of light, it looked closer than the other stars and did not move. I saw three distinctive thin beams that looked like tentacles coming from the ball of light. The beams were unusual as they were in a continuous line but broken lines of bright light. Surprised at what I was seeing, I opened the window fully for a clearer view,. The ball of light appeared to split itself then reform. The rays of broken light disappeared then reappeared. After about 10 minutes, darker shadows seemed to be radiating from both sides of the ball of light. I continued to watch this strange happening until it suddenly grew smaller and seemed to shoot off within seconds backwards out of sight . Anyone else seen this unusual sighting? (Source: www.uk-ufo.co.uk)

UFO over Thanet, Kent

At 10.55pm on the 5th August 2012, Thane resident Nicola Wickham was fetching a glass of water when she saw, “a candle like light over the area of Thanet. At first I thought it was a plane but it remained still. Then a light shot away to the left of it and disappeared. The original light stayed at the same place flickering. I called my daughter to witness it with me and we watched it slightly move to the right and then fade and reappear, for twenty minutes. At 11.20pm it was gone.” (Source: www.uk-ufo.co.uk)