Strange Happenings in Tyneside

SECRETS of strange happenings on Tyneside have been revealed in unseen UFO files.

Glowing lights and amber aircraft are among the night-sky mysteries which spooked people in the region between 1986 and 1992.

The classified Ministry of Defence (MoD) reports were released for the first time yesterday, published by the National Archives.

And among the hundreds of descriptions are dozens from the North East. A night security guard in Newcastle was baffled by a white lights hovering over the city in 1987.

On June 30 he alerted RAF Boulmer to the flying saucer sighting, which he said lasted 15 to 20 minutes.

The former member of the armed forces wrote: “ A large, white light was travelling west to east. The other five lights travelled in various directions.”

He described the weather conditions as clear, but said it was too high to estimate the distance of the lights.

Meanwhile, three terrified Gosforth residents made separate reports of a green object in the sky above Newcastle in the same year, on March 6.

One UFO spotter looked out of his window and was shocked to see what he described as a pale, bright, green object.

The report continued: “Nil sound or smell. Steady movement, then it disappeared.”

It was reported to Northumbria Police and then to Newcastle Airport.

Police were alerted to the green object by a second Gosforth resident, who described the light as green and glowing.

It was seen outside his house for a few minutes.

Then a third report came from a Gosforth resident, who made the sighting while outdoors in Longbenton.

He saw a green sphere for five minutes and immediately alerted the police.

Six months later a customs officer spotted a bizarre sight near Newcastle Airport.

He claimed to see an unusual aircraft for one or two minutes, which he described as a cigar-shaped object, gold and orange, with bright lights on descent.

The police officer who took the call seemed convinced by the report and said the caller sounded rational and intelligent, although a little breathless.

Another UFO was reported near the airport in November 1987, when someone spent 15 to 20 minutes watching blue and amber lights.

The file reads: “One object, approximately the size of helicopter, with blue and amber lights – very bright.”

The sky was clear, and the aircraft hardly seemed to move. A neighbour backed up the caller’s report and no explanation could be found

Experts at the MoD created more mystery when they tried to explain UFO sightings near RAF Boulmer in Northumberland in 1987.

Responding to a letter about suspected flying saucers, the squadron leader wrote: “We have checked our records covering the period April 2 to 22, 1987, and are unable to confirm or deny that your reports of unknown targets originated from aircraft taking part in exercises being carried out at the time.

“I can inform you that our day-to-day practice sorties are carried out over the North Sea and would not normally be visible from the coast.

“However, between April 6 and 10, 1987, we were involved in Exercise Mallet Blow and from April 13 to April 15, Exercise Priory took place in a similar area. Both of these events did include a number of low-flying target aircraft which would have flown inland from the North Sea toward firing ranges in the Otterburn area.

“Unfortunately I am unable to tie any particular aircraft to any given UFO sighting.”

Alfred Dodds, of the Northumberland UFO Research Centre, says all the reports are vital in helping build up a picture of UFO activity in the region.

He said: “I think everybody in the industry is interested in these files.

“When we get sightings in, I compare them with sightings that have been registered, so it helps in that way. It gives a better idea of whether to investigate further or not,” said Mr Dodds.

“A couple of years ago there was a report of two red lights circling each other in a way that airplanes don’t do. And when the last files were released, there was a report from down south that was exactly the same.

“There have been quite a number of reports from this area in the past five years. These files are very important to shed light.”

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