28 THE UFO FILES
JENNY RANDLES suggests that new technologies mean new ways to do ufology in the 21st century Social media allows us to search for details and follow up on hunches in an investigation
As we start a new decade it seemed appropriate to think ahead to how we might develop investigation of the UFO mystery in the next 10 years. Innovations are few and we are not harnessing the advantages of our new, interconnected world in ways that we might. So I wanted to kickstart a debate here and see if FT readers have any ideas about how we might think outside the box.
As an example, one of the research groups (ASSAP) that has its own forum for discussion on Facebook posted news of a new sighting. Three decades ago, when I was one of the original members of ASSAP and also director of investigations for BUFORA, we often had to wait weeks for a sighting to be reported by post and then distributed to a local investigator. Now it can be online within minutes of occurrence. We should be using this opportunity better than we presently do. But how?
In this particular case, reports came from witnesses on a rural road just off the A629 near Halifax in West Yorkshire. A couple aged 24 and 32 were driving home at 5.16pm on 9 November 2019 when they saw a white glow in the dark skies over the moorland. They stopped and got out to watch as they heard the ‘roar’ of what they took to be fighter jets that seemed to be heading for the UFO. Around them other cars also stopped and sought to attract passing vehicles by flashing headlights and sounding horns. Several others started to film the object and the ‘jets’. The couple did so on their mobile phones, but the footage was blurry as the ‘jets’ were moving fast.
They were wary of reporting such an odd event but were baffled, as no obvious explanation fitted the facts. They had flown drones themselves so knew these objects were much too fast for drones. It was the Saturday after Bonfire Night so a firework was considered an option. However, it too was rejected. Despite being reluctant witnesses, the mother of the driver started an appeal quickly on social media for any of the other witnesses who had filmed the event to come forward in hope they might piece the story together from their footage.
Because this case broke fast and Robert Moore pointed it up on the ASSAP forum I was able to rapidly check flight radar from data now freely accessible online. Matching time and location revealed that, while military aircraft rarely appear on such sites for security reasons, there were indeed two aircraft in exactly the position this report suggests. They were, unusually, flying together but were not military and not jets.
It seemed clear these had to be what was ‘chasing’ the UFO. But no other radar target nearby obviously matched the UFO itself; other aircraft within 30 miles were too high.
ASSAP are, as I write, continuing their investigation, and I will not pre-empt that; but I was able to follow the course, paths, heights and speeds of the two aircraft and identify them. I followed them after leaving
Halifax, heading south west over Rochdale and the Wirral. They landed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport 25 minutes later. They belonged to Ravenair, based here, and their journey south that evening started in the north east, near Newcastle.These planes were quite unusual (though Ravenair had 11 of them used for things such as aerial surveys). They were G-HUBB and G-OBSR, both Partenavia Observers.
The two planes were travelling at 2,200 (670m) and 2,300ft (700m) respectively (though the moorside road was elevated, so they would appear lower). They flew side by side, at different headings and speeds in a weaving path. One of the two planes was fitted with an unusual open canopy covering much of the front of the cockpit and part
of the floor, providing easy access for wide angle cameras as required if filming wildlife immediately below, for instance.
It will be interesting to see what ASSAP conclude, but I note that some of the witnesses and footage that did emerge on social media supports my conclusion that the ‘jets’ ‘chasing’ something were the unusual looking and sounding Ravenair planes. They were very low and would have sounded loud, as witnesses described, when they passed over Mixenden, half a mile from where the couple were parked. One aircraft-savvy witness stated categorically that from the sound heard they were not jets. YouTube has footage from the ground and cockpit of such planes: you can judge the audio for yourself.
I think this case shows a number of things about the UFO mystery and how we might use modern technology in investigating it. It’s not only that we have the opportunity to find out quickly what is in the sky at any given time and place (like having your own radar station on call) but we can see how social media allows us to search for details and follow up on hunches in an investigation that in time, cost and practicality would simply not have been feasible before.
In this case, it allowed the collation of other witness reports and a multiplicity of film evidence – made possible by the ubiquity of mobile phones. Meanwhile, a Google search would reveal that this case happened on the 40th anniversary of one of the most famous British close encounters, when Robert Taylor, a forestry worker in Dechmont Law, Scotland, encountered a hovering UFO and was rendered unconscious by ‘spikey mines’ that emerged from it (see (FT30:31, 56:48-49, 385:31).
This case is best known for being officially investigated as an ‘assault’ by local police, with forensic study being made of traces found at the site. The BBC reported on the 9 November anniversary, so it’s possible UFOs were in the minds of witnesses more than they might normally be on that day.
Another useful and now far easier thing to do is plot online how the sky looked at the time and place of a sighting, revealing astronomical bodies that might resemble UFOs. Doing so here is illuminating: Jupiter was about an hour from setting, low and very bright. Indeed, I was observing it myself around that date as it made a fine sight through good binoculars, with some of the moons visible. It was in the south western sky – the heading of these aircraft – so did it create an illusion of ‘military jets’ coincidentally ‘chasing’ a UFO that was in truth a bright planet low in the darkening sky?
Finding evidence and solving cases using the power of modern tech and social media is just one area to consider. We might also think about several other areas. For example, the number of high-powered night vision cameras now trained on us for other reasons. Railcam, for instance, has several beside railway lines that anyone can monitor on line 24/7. Are cameras of similar power around the world able to detect UFOs and be trained to auto record such anomalies if they appear?
Another area is preservation. In Sweden, the marvellous Archives for the Unexplained (AFU) preserves memorabilia, books and magazines (see FT330:46-49). When AFU chairman Clas Svahn visited me on his latest trip to the UK I was able to fill in some gaps and will continue to support this project to create a treasure trove of books, press cuttings, rare photographs and artefacts connected to famous cases. Just think what might be in your attic: rather than being left there forgotten, it could be preserved.
Other projects by researchers on the net include scanning and preserving copies of UFO group magazines from the past 60 years and making them accessible to all for research. Even archiving old photos of conferences from years ago – perhaps on social media or a website – could help preserve the history of our subject. I posted a series of such images – like the one reproduced here – on my Facebook page. Many of you must have others pieces of our legacy at home. Preserve them before they get lost!
What about holding virtual case conferences online, thrashing out notable UFO events on their anniversaries? Anyone who wished to participate could be invited, including specialist experts from outside the field who could bring fresh insights and ideas to help us dig deeper into these classic incidents.
The Internet makes possible, for free, what would have in the past been impossible to coordinate globally given the costs involved: all it needs is the will and the time.
There must surely be other good ideas out there. So, if you have any thoughts on how we can put the advantages of the modern world to use in furthering UFO research, let us know, either via the FT letters pages or by email to me at nufonnews@gmail.com.