Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 06/08/2024
In June 2024 I was contacted on Facebook by a man named Anthony Spears. He had viewed one of my previous case reports on a Flying Triangle sighted over Christchurch, and wanted to report that he had also had a triangular-shaped UFO sighting very close to this location, one which was seemingly being intercepted by the military. I got in touch with him to discuss this incident via Messenger video call. In doing so I also discovered he had witnessed two other incidents while living in Portland as a child. These incidents have been written up as separate case reports (links towards the end of this one)
Sighting Details
Unfortunately Anthony cannot remember the precise date of the event. He is aware that he was between the age of 19-21, meaning that it took place between 2001-2003. He also stated that it happened around 7pm and that it was fully dark, so it could not have been in the summer months as it would have still been light at this time.
Back then he was living with his parents in Christchurch, however the incident occurred on the outer edges of Bournemouth, several miles to the West. He would often travel to Tesco Extra on Riverside Avenue in Bournemouth to stock up on food.
On this particular evening he and his parents Peter and Sylvia were in their friend Andrew’s car. Andrew was driving, Anthony was in the passenger seat, and his parents were in the back. It was a clear, dry and still evening. They had turned into the car park and were driving along it towards the front of the store looking for a place to park.
Anthony was staring straight forward at the time out of the front window. All of a sudden three large white lights in a equilateral triangle formation came into view, travelling the same direction they were, but at a much faster speed. The lights remained constantly aligned to one another, and Anthony was convinced that they were attached to a singular triangle-shaped black/dark coloured object, although the main body could not be seen due to the lack of light in the sky combined with light pollution from the shopping store itself.
The object looked like it was at quite a low altitude. Anthony estimates it was “about the height of a 10 storey block of flats above the roof of Tesco.” If his estimation is correct, this means it would have been around 130 feet up. It was moving quite fast, at least 100 mph. Judging by the distance between the lights and height that it appeared to be it was about 50 feet across. There was seemingly no sound coming from it (at least audibly within the car) as it flew along on a straight and level course.
Anthony did not have enough time to react or grab his smartphone, he just stared at it transfixed. Andrew was looking around for a space so did not see it, nor did his parents due to having a reduced view from the back seat of the car.
Within five seconds it had vanished from sight beyond the roof of the store. Anthony has a vague recollection of asking “Did anyone see that?” But before anyone had a chance to answer him there was an extremely loud roaring sound coming from above them. Suddenly a jet flew over the roof of the car at low altitude, heading in the same direction as the object. The noise as it passed over was tremendous, and Anthony even contemplated the idea of it being a sonic boom.
Everyone in the car of course heard it and watched as it flew away to the North East. Anthony does not recall many details about it except that it was a grey colour and had a red light on it. He immediately exclaimed “That was a UFO, that was what that was just chasing!” Andrew and his parents of course queried him about this and he explained to them what he had just witnessed.
Anthony was amazed at what he seen. Andrew parked up the car and they entered the store. Inside Anthony overheard some of the staff at the customer services desk talking about the sound of the jet, so they had clearly heard it from inside the store. He did not approach them to tell them about the UFO.
Sylvia's Testimony
Although Sylvia did not actually get to see the UFO or jet herself, as she was in the back seat of the car, she was still present at the time. She provided the following testimonial statement to back up the details provide by Anthony.
"I missed it. I couldn't see. I was dozing as we had been on long journey. Anthony was stunned and said 'Did anyone see that?' I asked 'See what?' and he responded 'It just went over the car park!'
I heard the aeroplane noise. It sounded like a jet going really fast. When we lived in Portland we would see lots of military aircraft so I was familiar with the sound. I heard the jet go over but didn't see it."
Sadly Peter has since passed away so I am unable to speak with him. However Sylvia's testimony clearly supports the details passed on to me via Anthony, and also re-affirms that there was a jet in the area at the time.
Sighting Analysis
There are numerous fascinating aspects to this dramatic sighting. The lights could not have been three other jets flying in formation as if so surely Anthony would have heard their engines just as he did with the latter jet. Also they would have logically looked somewhat similar, and their shapes would have been visible against the sky.
Drones only became commercially available in 2013. While three drones with white lights flying in a triangular formation cannot be entirely ruled out, it seems unlikely. Anthony says the white lights were quite large in size, prominent and bright.
Due to the fact they traced a path from above the car right over the roof of the store and away beyond it, several searchlights bouncing off clouds can be ruled out. Also Anthony says that it was a clear night, and the only reason the stars were not visible was due to the light pollution coming from the store.
The lights were clearly moving at quite a fast speed, so white coloured LED balloons or other lit inflatables travelling on an air current can be ruled out. This speed, and the size of the lights means satellites can also be discounted.
I agree with Anthony that it seems more likely that the lights were attached to a singular larger object, one which could not be seen due to the darkness of the sky. If so then there is certainly the possibility that this was a genuine sighting of a Flying Triangle craft, one of the more commonly reported types. I have investigated many sightings of similar objects before with exactly the same lighting.
If it was a genuine Flying Triangle then the jet flying after it would make sense. Could Anthony have witnessed an actual attempted military intercept taking place? If so, from where was this jet launched?
There are a number of RAF bases in this area of England, including MOD Boscombe Down 50 miles to the North, RAF Odiham 70 miles to the North East, Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton 50 miles to the North West and RNAS Merryfield 60 miles to the North West West. Bournemouth is on the South coast and the object was heading inland on a North North East course when witnessed, but it could have easily changed direction prior to this time.
Unfortunately due to the age of the incident, and the fact that we do not have a precise date for it I will be unable to raise a Freedom Of Information Request with the Ministry Of Defence to attempt to find out whether a jet was flown within the vicinity at this time, and if so for what purpose.
The loud sudden noise which Anthony, his friend and parents heard was very likely just the sound of the jet engines at low altitude, and not a sonic boom. The jet was chasing the UFO at around the same speed, and both were seemingly moving far too slowly to break the sound barrier. This occurs at around 750 mph, and at low altitude the shockwave would have shattered the windows of the shop and vehicles. Also both objects would have only been visible for a couple of seconds at most.
Due to the way in which Anthony has described the incident to me I have no reason to suspect he has made this incident up. He says that outside of his own family he has kept the incident to himself until quite recently due to fear of ridicule, so I am grateful that he has finally come forward with the details, even if it is not possible to make many further checks regarding the incident. If you have any further information relating to this experience please get in touch.
As I mentioned near the start of the report Anthony has had two other childhood sightings while living in Portland. A formation of orange orbs which was also witnessed by his parents, and a silver coloured sphere which was seen by him and a friend. Click here to go to the orange orbs report, or here to go to the silver sphere report.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2024
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