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The UFO Phenomenon

UFO reports were common during World War I

By T.K. Randall
March 22, 2015 · Comment icon 17 comments

UFO sightings occurred long before Kenneth Arnold's encounter. Image Credit: Per Johansson
Author Nigel Watson has uncovered numerous cases of UFOs being sighted in the early 20th century.
Several years before the famous Kenneth Arnold encounter from which the term "flying saucer" was originally coined, UFOs were still being reported in the skies above Britain.

In one incident, several pilots that had scrambled to intercept German airships over London reported encountering a mysterious object in the skies above the capital. One of the pilots attempted to shoot it with his revolver while another described it as being like a "railway carriage with the blinds down."

"People tend to see things in the sky that are a bit more advanced than the current technology but still within the bounds of credibility and the possibilities of that time," said Watson.

"It's called ‘cultural tracking' - what we see is conditioned by the media and culture."
During the war, reports of strange objects in the skies over the UK tended to be reported to the police who then passed that information on to the British government.

"Military intelligence officers investigated the sightings," said Watson. "Often they were found, after a few phone calls, to be misidentifications. Some were not explained."

In one unsolved case a military intelligence officer was sent to investigate reports of floating lights that were sighted over the course of two months above the city of Plymouth.

In another, UFOs were spotted so frequently over the Lake District that they prompted a military operation involving troops being sent up to Scotland in search of a hidden enemy base.

Nothing was found but a reward of £100 was offered to anyone who could shed light on the mystery.

Source: Plymouth Herald | Comments (17)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #8 Posted by psyche101 9 years ago
And, no one has yet given any credible explanation either to the UFO's in various famous art pieces either, through the centuries. Your failure to understand and accept refutation of the childish alien proposals does not affect the credibility of the sound explanations that do explain those anomalies in ancient art. LINK - ART and UFOs? No thanks, only art...
Comment icon #9 Posted by Podo 9 years ago
That's cool, actually. I'd not heard this before. The British UFOs were likely just experimental aircraft, but it's still a neat bit of trivia. Thanks for posting.
Comment icon #10 Posted by Sir Wearer of Hats 9 years ago
And, no one has yet given any credible explanation either to the UFO's in various famous art pieces either, through the centuries. I have actually, would you like to ignore it again?
Comment icon #11 Posted by godscountry 9 years ago
And, no one has yet given any credible explanation either to the UFO's in various famous art pieces either, through the centuries. I wonder if the Vatican has any written history by any of the artist's?Its hard to say what the objects were or if there was some religious meaning behind the objects.Interesting to say the least.
Comment icon #12 Posted by Thorvir Hrothgaard 9 years ago
And, no one has yet given any credible explanation either to the UFO's in various famous art pieces either, through the centuries. Sorry, that's happened several times, and several times on this forum. Enough with your closed-minded rhetoric, please.
Comment icon #13 Posted by psyche101 9 years ago
I wonder if the Vatican has any written history by any of the artist's?Its hard to say what the objects were or if there was some religious meaning behind the objects.Interesting to say the least. Try following the link all the way back at post #9.
Comment icon #14 Posted by DONTEATUS 9 years ago
Explanations ? Credible ? Vatican ? Wow ! those three words just dont seem to have anything in common ! In that context !
Comment icon #15 Posted by Sweetpumper 9 years ago
I want to hear about some credible UFO cases. There are some around.
Comment icon #16 Posted by Ad hoc 9 years ago
a railway carriage with the blinds up? lol. I assume that means an elongated shape with a row of lit square windows. I mean, disregarding the fact it's a pretty exact deion of a zeppelin's gondola/s.
Comment icon #17 Posted by Hybodus 8 years ago
According to legend, the Red Baron shot down a UFO and witnessed two beings run away from their downed craft. Thus the Red Baron had 81 kills to his name http://www.ancient-code.com/the-red-barron-shot-down-a-ufo-during-world-war-i/


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