Bizarre UFO witnessed at RAF Boulmer -1977

[karl 12]

Very interesting (radar corellated) RAF UFO report which was so sensitive 'an extra three years was added to its 25 year release date'.

Eyewitness Statement:

"There were bright objects hanging over the sea.The closest object was luminous, round and four to five times larger than a Whirlwind helicopter.

The objects separated. Then one went west of the other, as it manoeuvred it changed shape to become body-shaped with projections like arms and legs".

Flight Leiutennant A.M. Wood. - RAF Boulmer,Northumberland.

UFO also correlated on multiple radar and witnessed by two RAF personnel

UK M.O.D. Declassified Report.

Incident:

Boulmer reports of UFO sightings were hushed up

THE X-Files came to RAF Boulmer as strange flying objects were spotted hovering over the North Sea by a fighter pilot at the base.

In a case that would intrigue TV’s Mulder and Scully, bright objects were spotted by RAF staff in 1977. They changed shape as they watched. So sensitive was the sighting that all records of it were hidden from public gaze and have only just been released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).

It was stored in the Ministry of Defence’s “possible extra-terrestrial contact” department, known only by the code name SF4. It is one of many sightings listed by the Government where credible witnesses, such as military staff, policemen and airline pilots, have reported UFOs. The drama started in July 1977, when Flight Lieutenant AM Wood reported seeing the objects, saying the nearest was luminous, round and four to five times the size of a Whirlwind helicopter.

The two possible UFOs were seen hovering at a height of around 5,000 feet and were three miles out to sea.His report is backed by those of Corporal Torrington and Sergeant Graham, who say the objects parted, with one going west and changing shape as it went.

The objects, with one then looking body shaped, were watched by the three men for one hour and 40 minutes.A radar station at the base also picked up the objects in the same position before they vanished.Checks were made to RAF West Drayton to see if it had spotted them. Flt Lt Wood is described as “reliable and sober” in the report, which adds that radar staff at RAF Staxton Wold also picked up the strange objects.

The RAF Boulmer report was deemed so sensitive that instead of being released to the public 25 years later as normal a further three-year ban was imposed.It is only because of the FOI Act, which came into force on January 1, that the case was reviewed and the details declassified.

Radar Confirmation

One of the most puzzling came from RAF Boulmer, an important radar control centre on the coast of Northumbria. In the early hours of 30 July 1977 airmen on the night shift were alerted by a call from a civilian who could see two bright objects hovering over the North Sea. The duty controller, Flt Lt A.M. Wood and a group of airmen then emerged from their bunker and saw the UFOs for themselves.

In his detailed report to MoD, Flt Lt Wood says the objects were close to the shore and stationary, at a height estimated between 4-5,000 feet. They appeared to move apart and then together as they slowly climbed into the clear sky. “No imagination was required to distinguish the shape,” he wrote. “Westerly object [was] conical with apex at top. Object seemed to rotate and change shape to become arrowhead in shape. The easterly object was indistinct.” He said the UFO closest to the base was “round, luminous, [and] 4 to 5 times larger than a Whirlwind helicopter.”

Flt Lt Wood’s story was supported by Cpl Torrington and Sgt Graham who were on duty at a picket post outside Boulmer’s underground operations room. They said the westerly UFO moved “and changed shape to become body shaped with projections like arms and legs.” All were described as “reliable and sober” in a MoD report. The descriptions, and more significantly, the fact these UFOs were visible for one hour forty minutes make me suspect they may have been bright stars or planets. But in his report Flt Lt Wood says that shortly after disappearing visually, two unidentified contacts were detected on the base radars at a range of between 20 and 30 miles out to sea. These slowly moved northeast as they climbed, “then parted, one climbing to 9,000 feet estimated and moving east, the other holding 5-6,000 ft.”

While the UFOs were being tracked, he contacted the controller at RAF Patrington, an early warning station on the East Coast. He confirmed the two unidentified blips were visible on the radar picture there, which was relayed directly to RAF West Drayton in Middlesex. But oddly, the Senior Reporting Officer at headquarters was less forthcoming when asked if he could see the UFOs.

Links:

British Ministry of Defense Document request -RAF Boulmer (pdf)

http://www.ufo-blog.com/ufo-blog/labels/MoD%20UFO%20files.html

http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/Boulmer-reportsof-UFO-sightingswere-hushed.930633.jp

http://www.uk-ufo.org/condign/secfilunid1.htm

[JonathanVonErich]

very good sighthing...

[karl 12]

Hey bud -it certainly sounds like a freaky object (witnessed by several credible RAF personnel).

I don't think I've ever heard an object being described as changing its shape "to become body shaped with projections like arms and legs” before -

very strange.

Its also nice that the objects were confirmed on separately located radar screens:

..were detected on the base radars at a range of between 20 and 30 miles out to sea. These slowly moved northeast as they climbed, “then parted, one climbing to 9,000 feet estimated and moving east, the other holding 5-6,000 ft.”

While the UFOs were being tracked, he contacted the controller at RAF Patrington, an early warning station on the East Coast. He confirmed the two unidentified blips were visible on the radar picture there, which was relayed directly to RAF West Drayton in Middlesex.

No wonder the British Ministry of Defense postponed the release date of this report due to it being 'sensitive'.

Cheers.

[Big Jon]

would be good if their was a video of this.. would be interesting to check the shapeshifting out

[karl 12]

would be good if their was a video of this.. would be interesting to check the shapeshifting out

Big Jon,it would be very nice to see but I don't think theres any footage.

Cheers.

[sevendaydemon]

What's most interesting about this is the science; what exactly would the physics of such an object be? Solid objects that can change shape as they go? I can't imagine how far we would have to progress science-wise in order to achieve this. Very impressive.

[karl 12]

More on RAF Boulmer incident from researcher Alfred Dodds:

British MOD report - RAF Boulmer Radar/Visual UFO.

The sighting of the UFOs, which were reported to be three miles out to sea at a height of about 5,000ft, was supported by a Cpl Torrington and Sgt Graham of RAF Boulmer, who were positioned at a picket post at the station.

They also observed the strange objects for an hour and 40 minutes and reported the sighting to their commanding officers.

The MoD report confirmed that the objects had been visible on radar at RAF Boulmer as well as the base at Staxton Wold, North Yorkshire.

It said: “On seeing the objects on radar, the duty controller checked with the SRO as to whether he could see the objects on radar supplied from RAF Staxton Wold.”

Researcher of the paranormal Alfred Dodds, 66, of the Northumberland UFO Research Center, said last night: “There have been quite a few sightings of UFOs in Northumberland over the years, with several in the vicinity of RAF Boulmer.

“And I had heard rumors of this particular incident, so it is very interesting to hear that it has been officially confirmed. Hopefully, we will see more incidents come to light as further classified UFO documents are released under the Freedom of Information Act.”

Link

[karl 12]

What's most interesting about this is the science; what exactly would the physics of such an object be?

Have no idea my friend but you´re right about it being an impressive UFO incident.

Cheers.

[karl 12]

More British reports from around the same time as the RAF Boulmer incident:

The events at Boulmer were not the first that year. In May dozens of UFO reports were made by people in Humberside and Lincolnshire to local police and MPs. But the most puzzling report has remained secret until now. At 10.20 on the night of 21 May three airmen at RAF Waddington, where a squadron of nuclear-armed Vulcan bombers were based, saw a “triangular shaped” white light moving erratically overhead. Minutes later the duty controller RAF Patrington tracked a “unidentified contact” moving in a zig-zag fashion in a similar direction. Radars at Waddington also “saw” the UFO for a period of four minutes before their screens were “partially obliterated by high powered interference which subsided when [the UFO] disappeared.”

A report on the case said the equipment was working normally both before and after the UFO appeared. The results of the investigation are not on public record, at least in the files of S4f (Air) who were the MoD’s “X-files unit” at the time. S4 was the civilian MoD branch that, so we have been led to believe, was the single focus for all UFO reports made to the British Government at that time.

link

[Heroic Bishop]

Excellent sighting, credibility of witnesses and an attempt to bury the details by our government for as long as possible, definitely one to pay attention to. I read about this case extensively after the files were released and it is compelling to say the least!

[karl 12]

Excellent sighting, credibility of witnesses and an attempt to bury the details by our government for as long as possible, definitely one to pay attention to. I read about this case extensively after the files were released and it is compelling to say the least!

Vigilanis, it certainly is an interesting one mate and although the description does sound incredibly strange it's revealing that the object was confirmed on two different radar stations to be in the same area of sky as the RAF personnel were indicating.

What the object actualy was I haven't the foggiest but I think if the British Ministry of Defense took this UFO incident extremely seriously then so perhaps should everyone else.

Cheers an happy Xmas!

[Heroic Bishop]

Vigilanis, it certainly is an interesting one mate and although the description does sound incredibly strange it's revealing that the object was confirmed on two different radar stations to be in the same area of sky as the RAF personnel were indicating.

What the object actualy was I haven't the foggiest but I think if the British Ministry of Defense took this UFO incident extremely seriously then so perhaps should everyone else.

Cheers an happy Xmas!

Agreed mate, and a happy xmas to you too!

[Esk]

The British Ministry of Defense Document request -RAF Boulmer (pdf) document.

What is this PDF ? Is it a cut paste from a word-doc? The RAF base mentioned is Ben****ers, not 'Ben****er'. The language and format of the reply generally seems to me untypical of an official communication.

Correct me if you can show me otherwise, but i think in the UK, there is a thirty year rule, not a twenty-five/twenty-eight year rule. And furthermore, a 'restricted' classification isn't a high classification for information, it's a default classification for operational records. Something earth-shatteringly important would be given a seventy year classification or even permanently kept secret.

Consider the context of the 1977 occurence. It's in the Cold War. The East and North East UK along the North Sea is regulalrly active with NATO aircraft and Warsaw Pact aircraft. The various units and special projects of armed-forces were testing new technologies and would do so without informing other sections of their own forces and their allies' forces that this was going on. It was/is need-to-know, as is the culture of military affairs. Their Soviet counterparts would be doing the same too and were often probing UK territorial waters to test responses and gauge capabilities.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Esk

[Mr.United_Nations]

The British Ministry of Defense Document request -RAF Boulmer (pdf) document.

What is this PDF ? Is it a cut paste from a word-doc? The RAF base mentioned is Ben****ers, not 'Ben****er'. The language and format of the reply generally seems to me untypical of an official communication.

Correct me if you can show me otherwise, but i think in the UK, there is a thirty year rule, not a twenty-five/twenty-eight year rule. And furthermore, a 'restricted' classification isn't a high classification for information, it's a default classification for operational records. Something earth-shatteringly important would be given a seventy year classification or even permanently kept secret.

Consider the context of the 1977 occurence. It's in the Cold War. The East and North East UK along the North Sea is regulalrly active with NATO aircraft and Warsaw Pact aircraft. The various units and special projects of armed-forces were testing new technologies and would do so without informing other sections of their own forces and their allies' forces that this was going on. It was/is need-to-know, as is the culture of military affairs. Their Soviet counterparts would be doing the same too and were often probing UK territorial waters to test responses and gauge capabilities.

So the same answer would apply now?

[karl 12]

That's a funny post Esk - you use lots of words but don't realy say anything.

Do you think the RAF Boulmer incident happened, if so what do you think the object was?

If not, why do you think it didn't?

[Esk]

How do you mean?

As in military research and/or overflights of unfriendly territory? Yes, i would assume so but not at the tempo of say, the mid 1970's in the cold war..

\

I'm not trying to totally poopoo it , i just think the chances of misidentifying UFOs off the coast of the north east UK during that era due to military activities are high and need to be considered.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Esk

[Mr.United_Nations]

How do you mean?

As in military research and/or overflights of unfriendly territory? Yes, i would assume so but not at the tempo of say, the mid 1970's in the cold war..

\

I'm not trying to totally poopoo it , i just think the chances of misidentifying UFOs off the coast of the north east UK during that era due to military activities are high and need to be considered.

But what that apply now? or before the 1st world war?

Then you have a problem, which is seriously kept under wraps. If it was a russsian plane or whatever the government would of told us about it like the Russians did when they shot down the U-2

[karl 12]

i just think the chances of misidentifying UFOs off the coast of the north east UK during that era due to military activities are high and need to be considered.

Well I'd agree there and I'm sure a lot of misidentifications do occur - having said that, there are also British reports from the 1970's where the object descriptions and reported flight characteristics sound very strange indeed - Air Ministry official Ralph Noyes makes some interesting points below:

"Here we had a number of object seen coming in across the North Sea on coastal radar. It looked like a Russian mistake. Jet aircraft were scrambled. The objects were travelling at quite impossible speeds like 4-5000 mph and then came to an abrupt halt near to one of these stations not very high up. Jet aircraft picked them up on aircraft radar. The objects then simply made rings round them."

"Inevitably this led to the sort of enquiry which you would put in hand if you had any military responsibilities. Had something gone wrong with ground radar or with aircraft radar? We experienced pilots going out of their minds? Were people having fantasies? We *had* to investigate cases of that kind. Over the years - although there were not an enormous number of such cases - there were a sufficient number to persuade me, and a number of air staff friends with whom I had to work, that something was going on, sporadically, in British airspace which we could not explain."

"But we did not particularly want to make public statements about that. Not for something that we had no explanation."

Ralph Noyes,Senior Official with British Air Ministry - retired as Under Secretary of State in 1977

Statements about the UFO subject

Cheers.

[Huggy46]

I saw two lights move along the main London to Scotland railway line on the east cost in 1977, from my bedroom window, in the village of Longhoughton, near to RAF Boulmer I told my Dad who reported this I belive to someone he knew on the station, it was dark night in the summer, I carn't say what time of night, this was 1977, I know what I saw, and came across this information about RAF Personnel seeing the same thing in 1977, backed up my border radar at RAF Boulmer.

[seeder]

Good lord a 2009 thread revived !!

[EnderOTD]

Do you have Necropostophobia?