Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 06/08/2024
In June 2024 I released a case report covering a Flying Triangle sighting from Christchurch. In response to one of the shared Facebook posts detailing this report a man named Anthony Spears got in touch to report his own sighting of a similar object. In speaking with him it became apparent he had also had two previous sightings much earlier in his life while living in Portland.
This report covers the second of these earlier sightings. If you’re interested to read about the other sightings too, links to them can be found towards the end of the conclusion.
Sighting Details
As a child Anthony lived with his parents on Coronation Road in Fortuneswell on the Isle of Portland. Back in 1991 he was 10 years old. His parents would often let him play with his friends at an open grass covered park known as Victoria Gardens, which lies just to the South West.
One sunny day in the summer he was down Victoria Gardens with his friend Andy. It was early afternoon, between 1-2pm and they were playing tennis towards the North Western end of the park. There was nobody else present at the time. Victoria Gardens lies on a slope and overlooks Chesil Beach and West Bay to the South West.
The weather was dry and warm, with only light cloud in the sky. Anthony happened to look to the West over the bay and suddenly noticed what appeared to be a silver-coloured spherical object. It seemed to be around the height of the low cloud layer, possibly 4000 feet up. He could see sunlight glinting off the top of the object, and shadow underneath due to the curved surface.
He pointed it out to Andy stating “What’s that? That’s not a balloon!” They both started watching the object. The sphere appeared to be hovering motionless in the air. Anthony was amazed at how smooth and reflective it appeared to be.
After about a minute it began moving slowly across the bay on a straight path heading to the North. They continued to watch it for up to 10 minutes until it had vanished into the distance out over the sea.
Once the sighting was over Anthony walked back home and told his parents about what he’d seen. As they had all had a previous sighting of multiple objects just two years previously they fully believed him. Later on he also discussed the sighting with his brother.
Thinking back to the sighting Anthony wonders if the UFO had been monitoring goings on at the Ministry Of Defence Magnetic Range at Pulpit Rock on the Southern end of Portland, as this is in the direction it was moving away from.
The site, also known as Portland Bill Land Magnetic Facilities, conducts tests based on magnetic measurements. It is positioned in this location because Portland stone is non-magnetic. This combined with the location's remoteness means that the site is free from magnetic disturbance.
Sighting Analysis
This is an interesting sighting of something which clearly caught the attention of the two witnesses. It could not have been an aeroplane as a plane would have been constantly moving, and the object remained stationary for a minute. It was a daylight sighting, so if it was a helicopter the shape would have been possible to make out, even at quite a distance. Due to the reflection of light and shadow on the object, I agree with Anthony’s viewpoint that it was spherical in shape as opposed to a flat disc.
Could the object have been a silver coloured hot air balloon? While most hot air balloons are light bulb shaped, and this shape is obvious even from miles away, there is the possibility that it was a novelty hot air balloon that was spherical in shape. This could of course have hovered still in the sky for a short while before beginning to move.
Another possibility that cannot be ruled out is that it was a novelty inflatable of some kind. It seemed to be at quite a high altitude, so could not have been small in size, but a larger inflatable is entirely possible. The object did not perform any manoeuvres which would definitely indicate it was under intelligent control. Perhaps initially it was not drifting relatively still in the air, but then got caught in an air current and began slowly moving on a straight course.
Neither of these possible explanations can be confirmed beyond doubt, so there is still the possibility that this was a genuine sighting of an advanced craft. I have investigated many cases of silver spheres before, some of which have performed incredible manoeuvres or remained stationary in stormy weather conditions. So how you view this sighting will be down to your personal interpretation.
If it was a genuine craft, then it is entirely conceivable that it had been observing the MOD Magnetic Range at the Southern end of Portland, just as Anthony believes it may have been. There are many cases on record of UFOs being seen in the vicinity of military establishments around the world.
As I mentioned at the start of the report, Anthony has had two other sightings. His previous sighting of a formation of orange orbs over Portland can be read about here. To learn about his later sighting of a Flying Triangle in Bournemouth click here.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2024
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