UFO Spotted in Felpham
Felpham residents, Leo and Rosie Lindsay were standing in front of a bedroom window on October 4 at approximately 6pm when they saw two football-shaped objects moving high in the sky above the trees. Leo was upstairs when he first spotted these UFOs. When he went down to alert his wife, they watched the objects change into ‘multi-faceted diamond shaped discs which moved further apart’. Ten minutes later, he and his family watched two RAF planes arrive on the scene. Mr. Lindsay has since been searching for people who happened to be in the area when the UFOs appeared.
“I can’t believe no one else saw the objects. I would estimate they were each about the size of a house.
“Anyone walking along Felpham seafront at that time would not have been able to miss them. I hope they will let me know on 01243 855728.”
UFOs and the RAF
John Hanson, (Retired Police Officer ), &Dawn Holloway,
(Consultants for FSR) ©
Accounts of UFOs being seen by Airmen, during the 2nd World War,
always make interesting reading, if only for the fact that those early
eye-witness accounts were primarily untainted or influenced by the
unforeseen unexplained mass of peculiar flying objects that were
to be seen in the skies of post War Europe and USA during the period
of 1947, often now wrongly misidentified as being the ‘beginning’ of
a Phenomena from which the terminology ‘Flying Saucer’ was borne,
following the sighting(s)by Kenneth Arnold. In 1947.which may well
erroneously create the impression we are dealing with a modern
20th Century Phenomenon when in fact, this is unlikely to be the case
at all, its just the ‘label’ that has been changed to suit.
What an irony it is that something remarkable and out of the normal,
sometimes seen only once or twice in a lifetime by just a tiny part of the
population but overall seen by many thousands of people moving in and
around the skies of our Country is still unexplained despite tremendous
research by so many dedicated people over the years -should provide the
catalyst, not for enlightenment but the creation of a science fiction
culture, whose existence continues to thrill audiences worldwide
through the media of television films, books and magazines continually
depicting Mans heroic struggle against the Aliens’ whatever their shape
of form.
Despite attempts to rationlise and ‘explain away’ strange objects seen
in the sky, UFOs - like Crop Circles and their associated Phenomenon,
still continue to excite the Public’s imagination, irrespective of
various attempts made over the years by the Authorities to
explain them away rationally.
During our research into the UFO subject, spanning well over a
decade, we were to come across a plethora of accounts of all manner
of strange objects seen both in the sky and occasionally on the ground,
stretching back to the early 1940’s, from many people who had nothing
to gain but everything to lose after facing the inevitable ridicule which
soon arrives after having had the courage to report what they saw, rather than
what the Media believes they saw, although having said that, it is clear
many recent newspaper accounts of UFO sightings tend to be now ‘written-
up’ factually, rather than those banner grabbing headlines of yesteryear
with their garish overtones and thinly veiled scepticism.
Reports involving military aircraft and UFOs provide fascinating reading,
particularly when the RAF attempt to intercept, as has happened, we suspect,
on many occasions throughout the history of the UFO Phenomenon,
which surely raises the question how often have UFOs been fired on by
RAF Jets? , taking into consideration the implications of what USAF Pilot -
Dr Milton Torres, reported recently in the UFO Magazine, when he came
within seconds of launching his missiles against the UFO. Who on earth
sanctioned such an order over UK civilian territory? -and this was in 1957.!
We thought it appropriate bearing in mind an incident brought to our attention
which took place on the 4th of October 2007, involving what appears to have
been some response by the RAF following a UFO being seen over Bognor
Regis to examine our catalogue of reported sightings involving the RAF, to
let the readers have the benefit of examining for themselves some of the
incidents we have covered over the years relating to RAF Personnel and
UFOS which should be read in conjunction with the Felpham report
UFO seen over Lancashire 1947-Eye witness account.
An even earlier account from 1947, involving UFOs and a possible
USAF response, was brought to our attention by Mr. Stan Roberts, from
Heydock, Lancashire, who was out walking with friends near the
Black Horse Public House, Burtonwood, Warrington, close to RAF
Burtonwood, one afternoon.
‘A coal lorry travelling along the road suddenly stopped. The driver
got out and pointed upwards into the sky, then another lorry stopped
behind him. ‘What’s going on?’, I thought and looked upwards, when I was
shocked to see this ‘silver ball’, or sphere, motionless in the sky about a
thousand feet up.
A Sabre Jet flew overhead. I don’t know if he saw it or not. A few seconds
later, the silver object shot away and vanished from sight.’
.
© David Sankey.
We cannot say whether the Pilot on this occasion saw the UFO. Even if
he didn’t, the action of the UFO should now no longer come as a surprise.
There being numerous occasions recorded within UFO history of similar
interceptions by Military Jets. Although we should point out, according
to research provided by our colleague David Sankey into the history of the
Sabre Jet Fighter, while the first plane was flown on the 1st of October,
1947, it was not delivered to the USAF until 30th November 1948 – a point
brought to the attention of Stan, who was adamant the incident
had taken place in 1947.
Is it possible these continued incursions into our Airspace may be as
strange to the UFOs as it is to us, not-withstanding while their actions
appear generally to be determined as non aggressive, why is it
they nearly always move away when approached by RAF Jets?
as if creating the impression of wishing to avoid any encounter, surely
it cannot be this simple.
UFOS plotted on Radar- 1950’s WRAF talks about UFOS
We visited Ex WAF, Mrs. ’Stevey’ Ena Stevens serial
Number 2814374 now living in the Swindon area, who had written to
tell us what she had experienced while serving at RAF Neatishead
Norfolk in the 1950’s under the supervision of ex Battle of Britain
Fighter pilot Squadron Leader Tiger Shaw. Who had this to tell us,
UFOS were frequently plotted on the Radar scopes, as UD’s unidentified rather than ‘Bogey’s a term used to identify unidentified aircraft entering the wrong airspace. Contrary to the Public’s perception now there was little excitement generated when UFOS were tracked on Radar at the base on one of the four Radar scopes installed in the reporting cabin where I worked at the time.
On one occasion I was plotting a Squadron of 24, Meteor Jets from RAF Marham when during the ‘sweep’ I noticed I was picking up 25 returning echoes the last one being at a height of between five and one hundred feet. I double checked the information and contacted the Officer on duty ‘Tiger Shaw’
After discussing the matter with him I contacted the Group leader of the formation by radio and asked him to confirm how many aircraft were operational? He replied 24, I then asked one of the pilots at the rear of the formation to obtain a visual image. He radioed back and told me he could see what looked like a heat mist rising up and down behind the formation.
As the aircraft began their landing descent, the ‘heat mist’ shot off upwards into the sky at a terrific speed before disappearing off both the radar height installations.
Another commonplace occurrence relating to UFOS being plotted on radar involved the nightly flight of the Prestwick Shuttle cargo aircraft which flew between Prestwick Scotland and London Heathrow, quite often the base radar
would identify an echo trailing behind this aircraft, sometimes moving about rather than constant, this regular ‘companion’ became the subject of much conversation with the other girls I worked with why it picked the shuttle and not other aircraft escapes me to this day’
UFO over London 1956 as described by RAF Pilot.
An example of the strict monitoring of ‘Radio’ control’ surrounding sightings
of UFO’s as seen by Pilots and their subsequent cover-ups, was a report from
Distinguished former RAF Serviceman, Mr. Peter Weston, who had served
with a number of Squadrons including Lancaster Squadron 186, at RAF
Stradishall, in World War 2.
© Jane Veinot
Peter was number three in a line of four aircraft flying East of London
crossing the Thames Estuary,one afternoon when: ‘The lead aircraft reported seeing an unidentified flying object to port, described as resembling a long cylinder, with light shining through portholes and a reddish glow at the rear, we acknowledged this and number 2 aircraft broke into to say that they could see something. During our conversations on the radio discussing the incident, all of a sudden a voice came out of the blue, with the following transmission, ‘This is Thames Radar, maintain your height and speed and do not deviate from your route this transmission is finished out’
We didn’t have a clue who was monitoring our radio transmissions, but we were aware there was a clandestine radar system covering the east coast’
UFO over Felpham October 2007 - Military response
While there may be some confusion as to when exactly theincident above took
place, there is no question that something very much out of the normal
happened on the 4th October 2007, involving UFOs and what appears
to be a response by the RAF – actions later denied by the MOD.
We contacted Builder, Leo Lindsay, (60), after reading of his account of
what he his wife, Rosemary, and two Aunts saw from the home address
at Felpham, near Bognor Regis, on the early evening of the
4th of October 2007, initially published by his local newspaper,
the Bognor Observer Newspaper, on the 11th October 2007, under the
banner catching headlines, ‘Man ‘saw UFOs chased by fighters’.
Leo and Rosemary Lindsay© J Hanson
The story quoted the sighting of two round football shaped objects seen coming over the trees, low in the sky from a bedroom window last Thursday October 4th, at around 6pm. - against the backcloth of a light beautiful sky with white puffy clouds and no wind - together with a description of the objects, through binoculars, by Leo and his wife, Rosemary, as being ‘multifaceted diamond shaped discs’ in appearance.
This wasn’t the end of the experience, according to the newspaper, ten
minutes later, as the objects moved away, two fighter aircraft appeared
and ‘headed straight at them followed by the appearance of another believed
Military aircraft later.
An MOD, spokesman who was consulted about the matter said
quote, ‘If required, sighting reports are examined with the assistance of the Department’s Air Defence experts. Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported.’
Leo was kind enough to send an accurate written account of what he
and his wife, Rosemary, had seen on that day, which contains far more
information than what has been previously published.
Leo Lindsay: ‘It was a very bright sunlit afternoon - a puffylone
cloud in evidence. The sky in the West surrounding the Sun was bright pink.
I was upstairs when, at 5.55 pm., I looked out of my bedroom window and
observed two perfectly round orbs gently floating above the houses and
trees.
My immediate thought was of two balloons moving gently upwards and to
me. The UFOs colour was a pinky hue, clearly reflecting the sun away to
my right. At first sight, the perfect circles were very close together but were
moving slowly apart. I went downstairs thinking I’ve never seen a round
balloon before.
A few minutes later, while looking out of our patio door from the kitchen,
I was astonished to see the objects had changed to silvery pulsating star-
like objects. To the naked eye each orb, as my Aunt remarked, looked like
two dancing together. As my binoculars were close by, I looked through them
focused in on the objects. At first, I though. there were two pairs of two
present. I distinctly remember thinking how am I ever going to draw what
I am looking at.
Leo Lindsay ©
This shape seemed to move up and down in a fluttering motion, the sun
catching one side then the other, giving an impression of a double act,
when quite clearly only one object was seen. I must point out that I never
observed the second UFO through the binoculars, not wanting to take my
eyes away. However, my wife did. (Picture One shows the object tilted towards
us with the bright sun on my right lighting up the right-hand side of the craft,
leaving the left-hand side in shade.) It then levelled out to now resemble a shape
familiar to us all, a saucer with a teacup upside down’
© Leo Lindsay.
‘The Craft was now oscillating gently. The upper section revealed a panelling effect, which my wife described as a multi- facetted diamond shape. The only contradiction I can find between my version and my wife’s is that she saw the craft as upside down to mine. As I said, she was the only person to watch both UFOs through the binoculars. We seemed to be losing focus and realised the UFOs, still pulsating, were moving away in a direct line from us and climbing
in altitude.
Suddenly, from right over our heads heading directly for the UFOs, now vertical to each other, appeared two rapidly moving aeroplanes, which I estimated were 200feet apart, the drama taking place against a backcloth of a translucent white puffy cloud which had remained in a fixed position in the sky while this had all been going on.
One UFO was now showing in the cloud; the other was below it. At first, the ‘lights’ were exactly in the middle of the planes flight path. Just before the two aircraft reached the cloud, the ‘lights’, just as bright, moved slightly to my right into the flight path of the right-hand plane. The pulsating ‘lights’ went out and the right-hand plane passed through the spot where the ‘lights’ were last seen,
not close by but exactly. The right-hand plane then turned sharply left and joined up with his companion, continuing on their flight. The contrails they left indicated the aircraft were jet powered.
I have to say that I was surprised at the altitude of these aircraft. They seemed to be operating at about half the maximum height of a civilian airliner, say 15,000 feet. When the UFOs were at their closest to us, say maybe a quarter as far as distance is concerned, my binoculars.
Minutes later, my heart still pounding with excitement, I noticed a plane appear from our right, at a right angle from the first two aircraft, and fly towards the puffy white cloud - now just visible in the sky, and did a ‘U’ turn around it and headed off towards the direction it had come from. Once again, the accuracy was spot on. A few minutes later I sighted the same plane coming from where the original aircraft had ended up and returning whence it came from.
Thirty minutes later I saw a total of six fighter jets appear flying in a line close together across the sky like soldiers on parade, and continue their flight along the same path taken by the previous aircraft over sea.’
Rosemary Lindsay I had been resting my knee when my husband, Leo, came up with a cup of tea at about 5.50 pm. It was a lovely afternoon and he was looking out of the bedroom window, taking in the beauty of the garden, birds and sky, when he told me he could see ‘a couple of balloon-like things’ in the sky, and then went downstairs to the kitchen to obtain a better look.
I got up and looked out of the window and saw two objects which I didn’t think looked like balloons, although it was difficult to make them out as the Sun was glinting on them.
I went downstairs to have a better look at them, first with the naked eye and then through binoculars. By this time the ‘things’ had changed. They were no longer round but more like multi-facetted diamonds, which were pulsating a shining light - that is the only way I can describe these two objects. By this time Leo’s Aunties were also observing the phenomena, totally the like of which I had never seen before.
The Sun was slowly sinking in the sky, so it made it easier to focus. The pink hue was still present and the sky was a clear blue, apart from one fluffy white cloud. The objects then slowly started to move overhead, at which point two Jets flew towards the same direction.
I corroborate what my husband has told you, apart from the fact that I saw them upside down, (as above illustration).’
Computer image prepared by David Sankey as shown to Leo )
In conversation with Leo, who had contacted the local newspaper
with the story immediately after the incident, (published by the Bognor
Regis Observer, on the 11th October 2007), we learnt he had later obtained
information from another party, (who wishes to remain nameless, for obvious
reasons), that a member of her family – who is a serving MOD Officer, had
disclosed in conversation of his own volition with her that quote:-
The RAF had dispatched two RAF jets to investigate the incident!
Bearing in mind the validity of this sighting, obtained from a number of
telephone calls, and a personal visit to the home of the witness and his wife,
following the matter being reported initially to Heather Dixon, at BUFORA,
who had asked a number of pertinent and thorough questions, according to
the couple concerned.
Emails sent to the MOD under the FOI, asking them if they had any
knowledge of this incident, and what aircraft were flying over the locality
on the specified time,( taking into consideration that any such incursions
into our air space of unidentified aircraft would surely have merited
some attention from the RAF, understanding the threat of possible
terrorist action) received the following reply quote:-
A) No aircraft were scrambled,
B) The alleged sighting had not been reported to this Office, which acts as
a focal point for UFO reports across the MOD.
Leo Lindsay - Conclusions.
If these flying saucers do not show up on radar as the MOD would have us
believe, surely there is our first coincidence: how could the planes have
found these flying saucers so precisely? The direct contact plane did not
appear to fire on said objects, so was the pilot’s intention to fly into the
UFO kamikaze style? I think not. But this is exactly what would have
happened had the lights not extinguished seconds earlier, or, have the
pilots some prior knowledge of likely outcomes, (vanishing into thin air)?
It seems unlikely a pilot would risk leaving a life or death decision until
the very last second.
These planes, as far as I can tell, flew in a straight line overhead following
these objects; the UFO’s were moving away also in the direct same path.
It can’t be a coincidence, two pairs of moving craft on collision course on
purpose, can it?
Another coincidence: How could another plane arrive, albeit, late, on the
very same course, hit the target area undeniably accurately, then return from
whence it came? A few minutes later the same aircraft was spotted zigzagging
about presumably looking for something. Can it also be a coincidence that
not only did I spot six fighter jets in the area thirty minutes later flying in a
line like soldiers, but disappearing on exactly the same flight path out to sea?
It would be nice to know if flying saucers were spotted over Northern France
on that early evening.
These objects might or might not have been of defence significance, given
they are plumb centre of a very busy flight path to all points to Europe from
Gatwick and Heathrow. These facts alone should be responsible for a light
going on in the MOD’s head, not least because of safety considerations!
Yet nothing, zilch! It makes no sense for the MOD to ignore, prevaricate,
yes, neglect no, the result of their actions is at the very hub of a story
which is now beyond coincidence.
I know very little about radar, but sure as hell these UFOs must!
Why would whoever is piloting them show (when first spotted), their
largest surface area towards major airports’ radar systems?
Could the occupants be testing our defence response times, as archaic as
they must seem to visitors? This begs the question: Can UFOs hide
themselves from our radar screens at will? For the answer to that:
Why has nobody been able to catch one?
Some will argue that what we saw was a secret craft either ours or
another country’s. If these flying discs belong to Great Britain why
send up planes to investigate our own projects? Surely other countries
would not be so foolish as to test secret craft close to our major airports,
also, mindful of our own air force capabilities.
Sorry I’m not gullible enough to swallow all these coincidences over a
one-hour period, I prefer my own common sense and simple logic for the
answer. I vow never to let this story be swept under the MOD’s carpet.
My MOD source through a family friend and of their own volition reported,
“planes were sent up that afternoonâ€. I feel quite privileged to have seen this
scenario unfold with three other people.
There seems to be only two possibilities to this sighting:
1) ours with all its detail, or 2) the MOD’s in silence. You be the judge.
Would anyone who thinks they have an explanation for any part of this story
please get in touch.’ Leo Lindsay 19th February 2008
It was apparent from a number of conversations held with Leo about the incident
that he was not the sort of man who was going to let a matter of this magnitude
just fade away. He was fervent in his desire to obtain further information about
what had been seen, knowing there was no rational answer to explain the
incident.
The description of the objects and their behaviour has been echoed many times
over during the history of UFOS, how many times had we read about similar
characteristics displayed by the movements of these objects across the sky
of England, which appear to invade our air space with impunity, and whose
agenda (if they have one) is still unknown.
As a result of the publicity given to the incident Leo received a telephone call
from Mrs. Loraine Langridge who lives in a three story house at
Bognor Regis a short distance from the sea she told him of having sighted
together with her daughter two perfectly, round dots hovering one above
the other in the sky.
over the sea, at about lunchtime .
‘It what was a beautiful clear day apart from a few fluffy white clouds, now I
cant say it was the same day as Mr. Lindsay’s sighting, but it would have been
around that time give or take a few days or so, it was only when I read about
Leo’s sighting in the paper did I wonder if there was any connection.
My daughter was on the top floor of the house and rang me to say she had been
watching these two strange dots in the sky for about ten minutes, which hadn’t
moved at all. I picked up a a pair of binoculars and looked through
expecting to see them clearer, the top one appeared further away than
the other but all I saw was a grainy image as if it was moving,
rather than anything clearer, whether it was a long way off I cant say.
Using the parapet wall of a building next to the town hall as a rule of thumb
from our position we measured their distance as about two inches away
from the side of the Building, which they held for 20minutes till moving
away, and out of sight’
We don’t know if this sighting took place on the same day or whether there
was any connection with what Leo and Rosemary had seen, although there
appears to be a similarity between the two cases.
Whilst we admired Leos burning ambition to resolve to his own satisfaction the
answers to what he, his Wife, and elderly Aunts had seen, we knew while very
special to him, other UFO sightings would continue to show themselves
over the skies of the U.K, despite the assertions made by the MOD
who seek to try and convince us , such incidents are of no interest to them,
when commonsense dictates if only from a security point of view some
investigation surely takes place.
We were also told of a conversation Leo had held with an
86 year-old British Ambassador’s wife, previously employed by
British Caledonian Airways, who disclosed to him, quote: ‘many pilots had
seen UFOs but all such accounts were always erased from their
flight log books’.
Further information came to light following details of the incident
being placed onto the Internet, which revealed another sighting
The following day, 5th October 2007,-
Miss Laurie Morris, was travelling to work at 7.20 pm., on a bus from
Brighton to Worthing when she ‘saw what looked like a craft with lights
Hovering over the sea at Lancing. I first thought it might have been
an air sea rescue, or Police Helicopter, but the lights didn’t look right.
There were six red and yellow lights, two of them being larger than the
others. The shape and alignment was all wrong. What the hell is it?
I thought.
I got off the bus at Worthing and was walking towards the Hospital when
this ‘thing’ went overhead and vanished behind the hospital. It reminded
me of a distress flare, tear drop in shape, the size of my little fingernail,
with the arm outstretched, before changing in colour to orange. If it was a
flare, it was nowhere near the sea.’
In at attempt to rationalise what she had seen, Laurie wondered if the object
might have been a meteorite burning up in the Earths atmosphere? except for
the fact the object was no higher than an aircraft. Could it have been a daylight?
fireball, or was there a connection with what Leo and Rosemary had seen earlier?
Interestingly, further research into what appeared to be a spate of UFO activity
occurring around the South Coast in October 2007, revealed
another sighting of something strange, ten minutes later, at 7.30 pm., on the 5th
of October 2007, when a number of school children from Gardners Green
Estate, Horsham, West Sussex, saw what they described as an object resembling
an upside-down saucer shaped object in the sky.
Leo wondered if the objects were over the French Coast. Emails sent to
a number of French UFO Groups, asking them if they had any knowledge of
UFOs sighted over French Mainland on 4th October 2007, remain
unanswered at this current time.
We then emailed the MOD under the Freedom of Information Act, on the 4th
December 2007, asking them firstly if they had any knowledge
of a UFO sighting over Bognor; secondly, were any aircraft in the vicinity
at the time, not forgetting this incident took place below a busy flight path?
We received the following reply, quote: ‘The alleged incident has not been
reported to this office, which acts as the focal point for UFO reports across the
MOD, although we have received a number of FOI requests on this matter,
including your own.
The MOD does not routinely retain radar tape records beyond 30 days,
and we are therefore unable to answer the second part of your question.
It is, however, possible that the Civil Aviation Authority may be able to help
you. What I can confirm is that the MOD did not send aircraft up on an
intercept mission or redirect aircraft already airborne to intercept.
No military aircraft were booked into the low flying system in the area.
Signed Paul Webb
We also emailed full details of the incident to Nick Pope, who made a brief
reference to the event while speaking on the James Whale Talk Sport
programme. Unfortunately, despite a promise that a representative
from the Studio would contact Leo and conduct an interview with him
live on air, this course of action never took place and was to leave Leo
extremely disappointed not to have had the opportunity to outline what
he had seen.
John Hanson, (retired CID Officer) & Dawn Holloway, Researcher,
31 Red Lion St., Alvechurch, B48 7LG Worcestershire, 0121.445.0340,
who are preparing a number of Volumes outlining the history of British
UFOs, together with David Sankey, the Doncaster based UFO Researcher
and Graphic Artist.
By john hanson on April 14th, 2008 at 2:34 am