‘UFO’ Claim Brings MoD Response

By Luke Page

The Diss Express has been handed exclusive images following last week’s article about mystery lights seen in south Norfolk. One image came from Brad Roberts, of Bressingham, who took photos of a party in the village and noticed a strange light in the top corner of one.

He said: “I thought it must have been a flash, but I can’t really see any reason for it.

“I thought it could have been the moon, but it wasn’t out that evening, and it was too late in the evening for it to be the sun reflecting off something. Aircraft lights look much smaller as well, like stars.”

Mr Roberts, who has lived in Bressingham for about eight years said he had never seen anything like it before, but said it possibly could have been some kind of military aircraft.

Another reader, from Diss, has sent in a recreated image of what he saw, similar to the description of Jeremy le Poer Power’s sighting, featured in last week’s Diss Express.

His reconstructed photo shows a beam of light, which he described as white with a faint yellow centre, which was flashing on and off, and was moving quickly.

The reader did not want to be named but said: “I can’t explain what I saw and I certainly don’t want the public to think I am mad or anything, I just thought these may help jog people’s memories or help in some way.”

Many readers have speculated that the sightings could be linked to military aircraft due to the amount of airbases in the region.

A statement from the Ministry of Defence department responsible for UFO sightings, said they had not received reports of any in the area, but were unable to confirm aircraft activity in the area at the time of the bulk of the sightings.

The MOD has however released what it describes as ‘X-files’ on the National Archives website, which include UFO files dating back to 1970.

An MOD statement said: “To date, independent experts have concluded that there are realistic explanations behind alleged UFO reports, such as aircraft lights or natural phenomena.

“Reports are examined by the Ministry of Defence, solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised military activity.

“If required, sighting reports are examined with the assistance of the Department’s air defence experts.

“Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, no further work is undertaken to identify the nature of each sighting reported.”