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Published 26/4/2007
Pilot’s UFO shock
by Joel de Woolfson
UFO sightings are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence.
Two experienced airline pilots on separate
flights saw something up to a mile wide off the coast of Alderney on
Monday afternoon. Surprisingly, Jersey radar equipment did not pick up the
object, although an air traffic controller said he had received
simultaneous reports from the Aurigny and Blue Islands
pilots. Aurigny’s Captain Ray Bowyer, 50, said he saw the strange
object during a flight from Southampton. He spotted a bright-yellow
light 10 miles west of Alderney while his plane was about 30 miles from
the island and at 4,000ft. ‘It was a very sharp, thin yellow object
with a green area. It was 2,000ft up and stationary,’ he said. ‘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
737.’ A 737 is slightly smaller than a jumbo jet. ‘But it must have
been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could have been as
much as a mile wide.’ As he continued his approach to Alderney, Capt.
Bowyer saw a second identical object further to the west. ‘It was
exactly the same but looked smaller because it was further away. It was
closer to Guernsey.’ The sightings come days after reports that
scientists have discovered outside our solar system an Earth-like planet
capable of supporting extraterrestrial life. ‘I can’t explain it. At
first, I thought it might have been a reflection from a vinery in
Guernsey, but that would have disappeared quickly. This was clearly visual
for about nine minutes.’ The sightings happened at about 3pm. Capt.
Bowyer, who has flown commercial planes for about 20 years, said he had
described the objects to air traffic control and filled in an incident
report. ‘As I got closer to it, it became clear to me that it was
tangible. I was in two minds about going towards it to have a closer look
but decided against it because of the size of it. I had to think of the
safety of the passengers first.’ He added that the experience had been
quite scary. ‘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.’ Paul Kelly, 31, the air traffic controller who
was on duty, said the Blue Islands pilot had made a similar report, but
nothing had appeared on his radar. ‘The pilot from Blue Islands was en
route to Jersey at the same time and as he went past Sark he described an
object behind him to his left,’ he said. ‘The description was very
similar to Captain Bowyer’s and they described it as being in exactly the
same place. But they were looking at it from opposite sides.’ The pilot
told him the object had been 1,500ft beneath his plane. ‘The Blue
Islands plane was at 3,500ft at the time so, again, both pilots placed it
at the same altitude. ‘If the object was stationary, our equipment
would not have picked it up because the radar would have screened it out.’
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