Welsh UFO Sightings 1996

 
Keith Stevenson, aka Llowarch the columnist for the Cambrian News, was driving through Swyddffynnon at 21:45 one September night when he saw a yellow ball of light. He said "it was extremely bright, yellowish white in colour and approximately circular in shape. It was at an elevation of approximately 45 degrees and to the North East of the road." Three days later while walking his dog just before 05:00 through Pontrhydfendigaid he saw a similar light cross the sky from south to north.

Source: Northern UFO News #178, winter 1998.


In October the Cambrian News reported that James Davies, of Aberystwyth University's astronomy department, opined the sightings may have been satellites:

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Contact
Autumn 1996
Prestatyn

The Whitworth family in Prestatyn frequently saw an odd cloud formation out at sea with a bright pulsating light. The case featured in Awareness V22/N2.

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MOD FILES
Wednesday 2nd October
Port Talbot

Witness saw a large UFO with spherical spotlights. The object was grey and shaped like a 50p piece.

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PRESS
Sunday 13th October
St. Thomas, Swansea

PENSIONER IN UFO CLAIM: A Swansea pensioner claims to have seen a UFO hovering over a city church. Anthony White, aged 72, of Dyfatty, claims he saw blue flashes come out of the sky above St. Thomas Church. After seeing the strange light, Mr White went to bed but woke up at 1.30 am to see the flashes again. He said: “It was on October 13 and the sky was blue and there was a white puff of cloud two or three times and then the cloud gradually receded and faded away. There was no sound. It must have been an energy source hidden in the condensation to create that kind of phenomenon.

Source: South Wales Evening Post, 25 October 1996.

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MOD FILES
Wednesday 30th October, 21:00
Porthcawl

Witness, along with three fishermen, saw a bright object moving in 'a very unusual manner'. Another report - possibly the same witness - described a pale blue object with a downwards beam of light making slow circular motions.

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MOD FILES
Friday 1st November, 21:30
Maesteg

Very bright round UFO seen with red, yellow and blue lights.  



21:35

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PRESS
Thursday 7th November, 18:45
Menai Bridge

A family were driving from Bangor to Menai Bridge when the wife (sat in the front passenger seat) noticed two lights, one red and one green, and then another white light in the sky to her left. There seemed to be a faint triangular shape behind the lights, but when they stopped the car to look closer nothing could be seen. However she saw the three lights again over the Straits when she arrived in Beaumaris; a few moments later the object moved off slowly towards Llandegfan.

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MOD FILES
Sunday 17th November
Caernarfon

Witness was driving when they saw a spherical bluish-white UFO. It moved lower to the ground, flashed three or four times, then shot straight upwards.  

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Thursday 21st November, 20:45
Penparc, Cardigan

SUFON Summary: Mrs Patrica James was watching television at home in Penparc, near Cardigan. Suddenly she heard a noise like the low rumble of distant thunder. It gradually grew louder, until it had developed into a very loud roar. She said:

"The sound felt as if it was penetrating my chest. I asked my husband what it could be then I decided to go outside and investigate. At first I couldn't see anything, but the noise was so intense, I decided to stay outside. I looked up at the sky, over to the right of me and then I changed my position and looed over to the left. It was then that I saw a huge triangular object travelling slowly, just above rooftop height. It was clearly a triangular shape with curved tips and there were red and blue lights on the tips."

There was a silvery bright light surrounding the craft, which was clear against the night sky. There was another object following it, with a single white flash. The triangle travelled at the same speed until it was out of sight. Mrs James reported that the object was, "Grey, but not matt grey."

The size estimate was approximately 8" wide at arm's length. The craft appeared from the North West and at a slow, steady speed, disappeared towards Cardigan in the South East [Shouldn't that be North East to South West? - E.W.]

Source: https://isaackoiup.blogspot.com/2021/01/flying-triangle-ufos-continuing-story.html citing Omar Fowler: 'Flying Triangle UFOs: The Continuing Story' - Phenomenon Research Association 1997.



Various reports came in that night of both triangles and balls of light, as described in this November article from the Cardigan and Tivyside Advertiser:


The West Wales Paranormal Group put together "a report into unusual atmospheric and aerial phenomena which was observed in Mid and West Wales on the evening of 21st November 1996" which was shared in online mailing lists.

The phenomenon is popularly known as The Flying Triangle - a type of UFO which has been sighted elsewhere in Wales as well as many countries throughout the world since the early 1980’s. Our sources have included signed witness reports and personal interviews with witnesses. We have found no evidence of collusion in these reports, most witnesses were totally amazed at the quantity of corroborative evidence gathered for this report. We have omitted the names of witnesses to respect their privacy but many have readily agreed to subsequent investigation by other bona fide researchers. Please contact us for further details.

We would like to express out thanks to everyone who contacted us in regard to these events and to those public services who patiently answered our enquiries - even if it was only to say that they knew nothing about the events. We’d also like to express our thanks for the journalists and staff on the local newspapers who printed the initial stories and helped in our enquiries, without whom this report would have been less comprehensive. We look forward to the day when such reports can be published without ridiculous and sensationalist headlines and without the ludicrous "explanations" by so-called ‘experts’ that inevitably follow in subsequent issues!

We would also like to thank the staff at the Ministry of Defence, but unfortunately the standard response we received from them proved to be of little assistance. It seems inconceivable that the RAF were unaware of this craft as it flew around Mid and West Wales for several hours - or if they weren’t then they simply are not doing their job properly. It seems probable that they are instructed to stay well clear of these craft, possibly due to the electro-magnetic discharges. It is also possible that the craft operates at night and at such low altitude us to avoid collisions with civil aircraft. The MoD response therefore can be seen to be correct only if they have prior knowledge of these otherwise unidentified craft - however they have said elsewhere that they do not operate an aircraft recognition service and therefore feel under no obligation to identify "UFO"s even if they could. Perhaps such obstructionism is part of the "deal"?

We’d also like to thank everyone who has attended meetings of the West Wales Paranormal Group at New Quay, Aberaeron and Lampeter, some of whose experiences are recorded here. We also hope to be able to publish all our other UFO sightings from 1996, together with those from earlier years that have recently been made known to us. We would like to make it clear that although this evening’s sightings were unusual in their number, that we do not consider the area to have been especially favoured in the quantity of sightings - the East Midlands have seen a large number of them - and the Belgian sightings from the early 1990’s involved thousands of witnesses. 

We would also like to point out that we would initially pursue a rational and terrestrial explanation for this Flying Triangle phenomena (and UFO’s in general) and would not suggest an extra-terrestrial explanation without some positive evidence for it. If you have any information regarding these sightings or any other interesting "paranormal" phenomena (especially on the 21st Nov 1996), then please email us at: byrlip@enterprise.net.

SIGHTINGS

Swansea Area - 4.10 pm. Witnesses saw a large elliptical shape craft, with tailfin, pass through the air at approx 2,000 ft moving in a N/NE direction over Swansea. The object was travelling at normal jet speed and had a white smoke trail behind it. The object glowed white and was not clearly defined around the edges. It was brighter than the moon when it passed in front of it. Weather was reasonably clear, with the sun setting in the west. There were several witnesses, one of whom viewed the object through binoculars, and stated that no wings were visible on the craft. Size unknown. No positive identification forthcoming but it was possibly a normal airliner dazzling in the setting sunlight?

Cardigan Area - 6.00 - 6.30 pm. Three witnesses were driving in their car from Dinas to Cardigan, near Eglyswrw, in a NE direction. What sounded like two aerial objects with flashing red and green lights flew low and slow over the car. The Shape(s) was uncertain but the lights were described as being "Christmas Tree" like. When the craft/s was passing over the car it emitted a loud noise "a bit like a jet". No positive identification was forthcoming but it could just possibly be the two Hercules transport planes seen near New Quay although the times the sightings are inconsistent.

Cardigan Area - 7.30 pm. Two witnesses in a car saw a low flying triangular shaped craft flying S/SE from Cardigan Bay coast over Mwnt and Penparc, between Cardigan and Aberporth. Initially they just saw flashing blue and red lights in the sky but as the craft passed over their car they could clearly make out the triangular shape. As the craft flew further on it glowed yellow and then suddenly "shot off, like a bullet towards the Preseli hills" (S/SW direction.) A few minutes later the craft then returned (witnesses presumption) and hovered over the car before disappearing extremely quickly once again. N.B. a possibility of two separate craft must now be considered in view of this and other witnesses accounts and the correspondences as stated.

Cardigan Area - 8.45 pm. The second witness initially heard a loud rumbling noise and thought it was an aircraft flying extremely low - perhaps about to crash. The witness ran into the back garden which is in village of Penparc. She looked up to see a large triangular shaped craft flying slowly overhead. The craft was described as having rounded corners, black underneath and having grey sides. It was surrounded in an orange glow which clearly silhouetted the craft. There were red and blue lights in the tips, with a secondary flashing light following (i.e. detached) from the craft. A fairly clear description of the Flying Triangle "UFO".

Cardigan Area - 8.50 - 9.20 pm. A driver initially saw a bright flashing orange/yellow light seawards off the Cardigan to Penparc road on way home. On arriving at home in Penparc his family watched the flashes for a while. They seemed to be every 5 minutes or so. No sound was heard. No positive identification was possible. The witnesses said the flashes were definitely not lightning. No storms were reported in the area.

Cardigan Area - 9.00 pm. Witness, 3 miles north of Glandwr (7 miles south of Cardigan) saw a bright flash of light outside. Went out of the house to investigate and saw intermittent very bright flashes, approx 2 seconds in duration. They were seen in a northerly direction which lit up the surrounding cloud. The weather was clear and definitely not lightning. There was a 5 minute pause between the groups of flashes.

Cardigan Area - 9.30 pm. Cardigan Bus Depot. Witness saw flashing blue, red and yellow lights which lit up the surrounding white clouds very clearly. The flashing lasted about 10 minutes and was accompanied by "crackling like static". Not a storm.

Aberystwyth Area - 8.50 pm. A witness in Rhydyfelen, just south of Aberystwyth, saw an object out of his living room window. It was travelling extremely fast and very low over the roof tops. The object appeared to have a white light at the front and a red light to the rear, this appeared to merge as the craft was moving so fast. No sound was heard, the object moved very rapidly and out of sight towards the sea (W).

Aberystwyth Area - 9.10 pm. Witness in Rhydyfelen saw a brilliant white column of light, "about 10 times higher than it was wide", for 2/3 seconds about 2 miles out into Cardigan Bay. It was reported to the police as she felt it could be a distress flare. No ships or boats were at sea at the time. The following day the local police reported that they had been contacted by police in Hereford to say that an identical column of light had been seen there at the same time - no further information available.

Aberystwyth Area - Time unknown (before 9.30 pm). Sub-editor with local paper talked to someone in Aberystwyth who had seen a bright light in the sky overhead.

Aberystwyth Area - 10.30 - 11.00 pm. Two witnesses at Llanbadarn Fawr saw a large grey mass flying along the valley tops of the Rheidol Valley. The object was emitting a slowly pulsating streak of light. It flew in an arc out into Cardigan Bay where it was seen to hover in a pillar of light. The object made several circles of Aberystwyth during the 30 minutes it was observed. Diameter of circles was approx. 15 - 20 miles. Movement of the object described as being a mile or so at a time on each pulse of horizontal light (much brighter than sheet lightning.) The flashes were between 1 - 3 seconds long, sometimes there were multiple flashes between 3 - 7 seconds in duration. No sound was heard. The object’s speed was said to be much faster than a normal jet, almost too fast for the naked eye to track. Object finally disappeared off towards Nant-y-moch and the Hafren Forest. Weather described as hazy with 25% cloud cover, dry with a light breeze and near freezing temperature.

Cardigan Bay Coast - Time unknown. Two witnesses in Aberaeron contacted the local coastguard on seeing bright flashes going off in Cardigan Bay. Coastguards arrived after flashes had stopped and assumed the flashes were lightning. No storm was reported in the area.

Cardigan Bay Coast - Time unknown. Witness at Llangrannog reported seeing bright white flashes going off over Cardigan Bay every few seconds.

Cardigan Bay Coast - 5.30-6.30 pm several separate witnesses saw 2 RAF Hercules transport planes flying low, they were following each other closely together and at moderate speed. They were seen near New Quay travelling up the coast (S-N) towards Aberystwyth. n.b. this single report is included for information but is not considered to be related to the other sightings neither do we consider that the Hercules were mistaken for the FT by any witnesses. There is a possibility that they might have been sent as ‘decoys’ to conveniently account for any forthcoming UFO reports but admittedly, we have no evidence to support this.

Cardigan Bay Coast - 8 - 9 pm (uncertain) witness left his house at top of the hill in Ffosyffin, he saw the horizon brilliantly lit up about 20 miles out to sea. The white light seemed to have a "central core" and was "sitting over the horizon". There was continuous illumination for 30 secs-1 minute. He called his father who also witnessed the light and shortly afterwards they spoke to several others who had also seen the light/s.

Cardigan Bay Coast - 9.10 - 9.15 pm Driver going North to Aberystwyth at Llanrhystud saw a bright white flash that lit up the sky for two seconds. Definitely not lightning. No sound.

Cardigan Bay Coast - 10.10 pm. Driver at Llanon, coming south on coast road, saw an enormous burst of white light to his right (i.e. seawards), like a 1,000 fireworks going off at once. No sound.

Teifi Valley - 9.0 - 9.30 pm.(approx). Bright flashes of light seen behind Adpar hill by witnesses in Newcastle Emlyn (i.e. to the East).

Teifi Valley - 9.30 pm.(approx) Driver and four passengers were on route to Llanybydder from Pencader, approx 1 mile from home when they spotted a moving white light low over the tree tops moving an NE direction. Initially thought this was a shooting star but it was too low and lasted too long and was too slow. As object moved across sky it changed to an orange colour before disappearing in a brilliant whiteflash. Witnesses thought it may have been a plane crashing so investigated area but nothing was found. No sound heard.

Teifi Valley - 9.20 pm. Bright flashes of light seen westward of Llanfair Clydogau by witness while driving, seen approx 700 feet above sea level (NE of Lampeter). Had a panoramic view over the area. Particularly noticed two very bright flashes close together.

Teifi Valley - 9.45 pm. Driver in the vicinity of Llandewi Brefi (NE of Lampeter) saw a bright white flash illuminate the sky and the surrounding area and was almost blinded by it. Then saw a second flash, not so intense, further to the north. Thought the light had come from an adjacent field about 100 yards further on the right and had the impression that there may have been a rectangular object. Clear night, no thunder or other noise heard.

Shrewsbury / Welshpool / Machynlleth - Driver going home from Birmingham to Aberystwyth area. 10.00 pm saw a bright green "star" descending vertically on the horizon in the direction of Shrewsbury (i.e. to the West). Further along the A5 came across a police diversion due to what looked like deliberately spilled pile of sand. Diversion took them through Shrewsbury and back on to the A5 and thence the A458. As they approached the Trewern Bridge (5 miles NE of Welshpool) they saw the first in a series of extremely bright, bluey white flashes that projected upwards from behind the hills to their right (i.e. North). The flashes continued every 4/5 minutes until they reached the east side of Welshpool, when they seemed to be left behind. Witnesses bewildered! 30 minutes later, in the Mallwyd area, 3 very bright flashes dazzled witnesses. This time flashes came from in front of them (i.e. West) as well as behind the hills to their right (i.e. North). Witness also reported seeing several military helicopters flying in a "hurried fashion" during the drive home - exact location unknown.

Subsequent Investigation

As one of the initial explanations for the flashing lights had been that there was an electrical storm in the area, the Met Office were contacted. According to their records there was no report of a storm that night, although they said they could not rule one out. No witnesses in the entire area heard any thunder that evening, nor was there any rain. Weather was generally described as "clear", with patchy cloud. It seems impossible that a storm could traverse such a wide area and not give any rain or thunder. Furthermore, many witnesses described the flashes as coming from ground level and the range of colours and length of flashes is atypical of a storm. Conclusion is simple. No storm.

As much of the area is designated as a Military low-flying and missile testing area it seemed a good idea to contact the Ministry of Defence. They simply trotted out the usual line about there being "no UFO sighting reported in the area at the time that was considered to be of defence significance" and that "there was no unusual air defence activity, no penetration by hostile military aircraft of the UK Air Defence Region, no unknown aircraft activity on any military radars and that no Quick Reaction Alert Aircraft were scrambled". Incidentally, such quotations as worded above would prove useful if and when such time arises as a new technology craft is announced as the MoD could simply truthfully say that, "yes - it was not unidentified" (we knew), and "yes - it was not of defence significance" (it was one of ours)! With a ‘secret-technology’ hypothesis the answer would both be true and logical whilst neatly sidestepping the real issue - another indication of the usual modus operandi of the MoD.

The MoD did inform us that two air-to-air missiles had been fired from Aberporth testing station that morning but this, of course, would not have been at the relevant time. There also seems to be a contradiction in there being a ground-based firing range firing an air-to-air missile but this may well have been a typographical error. In any event, the missiles would probably have been fired from land or sea along the Cardigan Bay coast into Cardigan Bay and certainly not towards land. Interestingly, the Aberystwyth Police informed us that two RAF Hercules aircraft had been seen in the area on the day but unfortunately they could not confirm the time for this. Hercules are known for low-flying in this area and may be responsible for some UFO sightings involving small flashing aerial lights. However, to our knowledge, they have never been associated with the huge brilliant white flashes nor the Flying Triangle-type-craft as seen by many witnesses. It is interesting that the MoD did not report the existence of the low flying Hercules.

We were unable to find out if there were any civilian aircraft, blimps or so forth in the air. However, it would seem unlikely for them to be around during the night at low altitude in a designated RAF low-flying area. Aberystwyth police claimed that a civilian pilot on an inward bound transatlantic flight contacted Air Traffic Control at Heathrow asking about bright flashes of light but ATC referred us to the military ATC at West Drayton and no information on this has been forthcoming.

Initial news reports on the radio on the following day claimed that local police and the RAF "UFO Unit" were investigating UFO reports from West Wales, the Midlands and Herefordshire. We were unable to get further information as to the source of this news. It is possible that the witness in Hereford, mentioned above, may have been responsible as he is a radio producer for the local radio station. It seems unbelievable that this news would have been given out if there had been an easy explanation for the sightings. None of the local police stations contacted gave any indication of having been contacted by a "RAF UFO Unit" or of there having been any official enquiry. So officially we drew a complete blank - nobody was willing to give us information other than to follow the official line that nothing happened that night. None of the police stations contacted reported having received any calls from the public (other than Aberystwyth with one single report) nor that any of their officers had seen anything unusual whilst on duty that night.

And yet we have 18 reports, many of them by multiple witnesses of seeing something very unusual happening in the skies of mid and west Wales on the evening of 21st November 1996. Although it is possible that the two earliest reports are unrelated to the main events (although Omar Fowler subsequently informed us that there had indeed been elliptical craft - with tailfins - sighted in the Midlands only a week or two prior to our report!) it still leaves 16 reports which are all unexplained, other than that they all are consistent with the Flying Triangle "UFO" reports that have been compiled by various sources, in particular Omar Fowler’s Phenomena Research Association.

Correspondences of reports on 21st Nov sightings with other reports.

Shape. Two reports of witnesses clearly identified the outline of a triangular craft. One of those reports also gave the rounded corners which are sometimes characteristic of these craft.

Sound. In general there was no sound associated with the reports, with the exception of the low overflight at Penparc, when a loud rumbling noise was heard. This is typical of other reports, the Flying Triangle is normally silent unless one is directly underneath it and it is flying slow and low.

Lights. These can be divided into three groups: white flashes, coloured flashes and orange glow. One of the most outstanding "trademarks" of Flying Triangle reports are brilliant, almost blinding white flashes. These usually, but not always occur when the craft rapidly accelerates or decelerates. These often occur in pairs as it appears the craft often hovers or flies very slowly for 5 minutes or so before taking off in a flash at tremendous speed only to "stop on a sixpence" 5 seconds later. Several witnesses saw two closely timed flashes, some distance apart. Besides these flashes, several witnesses saw flashing red and blue lights. Note that normal aircraft operating at night have continuously flashing anti-collision and navigation lights, which are red, white and green. These are never extremely bright and do not go on only every 5 minutes or so. Whatever the Flying Triangle is, it does not conform to standard aeronautical practice! There are numerous variations between observed lights coming from FT’s but blue and red are quite common, along with green, yellow and white. Lights in the tips are also a common feature as is a white light on the leading tip and an orange one in the centre. Finally the yellow/orange glow that direct observers of the craft saw, just prior in two cases, to its taking off in a flash. Again this is standard for the FT, it would appear that the orange/yellow glow could represent some form of "Charging-up" of the air around the craft to enable rapid acceleration.

Electro-magnetic disturbances. One witness reported that the air seemed charged with static. Again not uncommon, and perhaps indicative that the motive power for these craft is not conventional jet power.Following lights. Initially this sounded very unusual but Omar Fowler’s booklet actually reports many such lights, sometimes singular, as in the Penparc report, sometimes multiple.

Speed. Our reports are again very typical of FT phenomena. It would appear that the craft operate in two modes: hovering or slow (50 - 100 knots) and extremely fast (speed unknown but appears to disappear "in a flash" with no appreciable transition between the two (seemingly inertia-free). Again this is not conventionally possible either in terms of propulsion devices or in terms of the inertial effect on possible crew members (the g forces would, in a conventional aircraft would cause a blackout or even totally squash the crew not to mention the probability of wrecking the machine itself!).

Operating height. For some reason these craft spend most of their time flying at very low altitude. Typical phrases are "just above the roof-tops", "behind the hills" and so forth. Given the speed that these craft operate at when accelerating (which most estimate to be well in excess of Mach 1 - yet no sonic boom!) this would appear to be extremely dangerous, yet there is no evidence that there is any way the crew (if any) can see where they are going - no cockpits are sighted and the edges of the craft appear to be solid. Logos or insignia are not seen, Neither are any aerials, masts or other normal distinguishing features. A further consideration is that if, as seems likely, the craft operates within an intense electro-magnetic field, then conventional magnetic compasses, radar and radio would be appear to be useless, so how the craft navigates and tracks other craft in the area and communicates (if it indeed does so) remains a mystery. It is possible that navigation is by an inertial system and that some form of laser or microwave-based digital pulsed communication system is involved. This may also account for the lack of IFF transponder response which has been alleged in other encounters with the craft.

Size. No witnesses were able to give a reliable estimate of the size. One, possibly of "jet airliner size" in length, is the closest report given for the 21st November sigthing. From other sources we know that many other witnesses have seen craft of this type and shape ranging in size from 30 feet to 700 feet in length. In some cases even quoted as "the size of a football pitch"! The accuracy in judging the size would greatly depend on an accurate judgement on the height of the craft above the observer. This can be particularly difficult against a dark sky with no other point of reference especially if the craft perhaps has some special kind of non-reflective ‘stealthy’ coating.

Time and Date. Although these craft have been seen in daytime and summer, they are most commonly seen in the evening during the hours of darkness in autumn and winter, as was the case with our reports.

Conclusion

Mid and West Wales were definitely visited by one or more (probably two) craft of the "Flying Triangle" type on the evening of 21st November 1996. Speculation on the Identity of the Flying Triangle "UFO". There are two schools of thought about these craft. Either they are "Our Secret Technology", that is they are terrestrial in design, manufacture and operation or they are extra-terrestrial in some or all of those aspects. There can be no doubt that whichever is true, the Flying Triangle is more typical of other "UFOs" than it is of any publicly known terrestrial aircraft type in either design, propulsion or use. All of the reported characteristics of the FT are familiar to anyone who has studied the ‘UFO’ phenomenon and their variously differing designs and characteristics. This similarity would suggest a common source and/or propulsion system.

Nearly all "UFOs" manage to combine the ability to move practically silently, apart from a humming/whirring noise when very close to the observer; the ability to change speed and direction in an instant; a range of speeds from hovering and very slow upwards to extremely fast - some claim above Mach 10; they often give off electro-magnetic effects, including interference with TVs and radios, car electrics etc; they are often seen to be inside a glowing (usually red/orange/yellow) field of, presumably electrically charged/ionised air; their arrival and departure is often spectacularly bright and rapid and so forth.

In short all these craft, including the Flying Triangle, appear to be propelled by an some form of electro-magnetic device which also could possibly act as an anti-gravity force-field providing for inertia-free acceleration/deceleration and flight. Rather than this speculation being a flight of fancy (forgive the pun), it is understood, for example, that ARCO together with Japanese scientists test-flew an aircraft 150 miles in Canada in 1987 using a microwave energy source and that theoretically, an aircraft powered in this way would be able to fly almost indefinitely provided the power continued to be beamed at it. It is worthy of note that many reports of the ‘next generation’ stealth aircraft suggest that they are remotely piloted vehicles (RPV’s) with virtual reality control from the ground, via satellite or from conventional aeroplanes such as the AWACS-type 747 - more probably a combination of the three. This would alleviate the problems associated with high g-force effects on pilots.

It seems bizarre that if this is terrestrial technology that has been around for 50 years, at least, nobody has been found to be manufacturing or designing such craft (or paying for them!) Similarly, they might need to be crewed (unless remotely controlled) and certainly maintained but again nobody has come forward to claim to have done so. Furthermore, before such craft would have been built the underlying technology and scientific theory would need to have been publicly discussed to ensure that the project was viable. With regard to the Flying Triangle in particular, these have been around for at least 10 years in their present designs, and have been very widely reported when flying around - yet where do they come from, where are they based? It is believed that British Aerospace have prototype scaled-down versions of this design operating from Wharton in Lancashire, but they are a mere 30 feet long and have only been flying for a year at the most. It seems most unlikely that BAe would build full-scale aircraft of such an unconventional design, operate them and then only afterwards, build the scaled down prototypes!

A conjecture that is not generally considered by other researchers is that the Flying Triangle flight characteristics and styling are partly or wholly modelled on the assumed manoeuvres and physical form of extra-terrestrial craft - whether real or otherwise. The reasons for this possibility could be either to divert public attention from a top secret military project with obvious earthly origins and/or to purposefully reinforce a manufactured public belief system in an extra-terrestrial ‘reality’. For whatever reason the latter may be so, we can only guess as to why. There does seem to be a mounting body of evidence to suggest that widespread covert forces exist to spread counter dis-information to actually reinforce a ET reality. This double-bluff is contrary to the popular belief that the UK, US and other governments are attempting to hide the reality of an extra-terrestrial presence. However, regrettably, this alternative theory is not readily absorbed by the growing body of biased researchers who seem bent on ‘proving’ an extra-terrestrial connection. It may turn out that they are being used to perpetuate the myth - only time will tell!

It is interesting to note that in 1987 there was some public concern over a British Aerospace facility in the Hafren Forest in Powis due, in part, to anomalous "strobe-like" lights being seen over the hill tops in the area. BAe refused, at the time to inform the locals about what was going on but did say that they had chosen the site (in a disused quarry in the middle of a huge forest) due to its distance from domestic and industrial electromagnetic "smog". We are currently investigating whether BAe is still operating at the site and its purpose - it certainly wasn’t or isn’t a conventional airfield or manufacturing site! However, it is possible that the UK Government has given permission to another government (USA?) for the Flying Triangle craft to be test-flown over Wales and elsewhere in exchange for technological know-how or additional defence facilities. It maybe that given the apparent massive discharges of electro-magnetic energy coming from this type of craft that it is not permitted to fly in certain countries, but that the UK is once again acting as the USA’s hand-maiden. With the UK’s secrecy laws and culture of denial in the civil service it would be easier to maintain a "plausible denial" of FT operations here.

Other considerations include: if they are of terrestrial origin who has given them permission to fly so low over populated and rural areas, with a propulsion system that is guaranteed to be spotted by anyone who is out and about (hardly stealth!) and so low that when it "flashes" it practically blinds any motorist who has the misfortune to be nearby. Further, to operate in British skies it would need to have been granted a certificate of air-worthiness, which should be publicly available for inspection. On the other hand some reports of ‘close encounters’ with purported Flying Triangle "crews" have suggested that they are flown by USA military personnel, but how reliable these reports are is a matter for conjecture and beyond the scope of this report. Elaborate hoaxes may not be beyond the bounds of possibility.

So, what to conclude? We are reluctant to suggest the extra-terrestrial hypothesis in the absence of any positive evidence but we cannot confirm the terrestrial alternative for similar reasons. However, a terrestrial alternative does seem the most likely and logical explanation given the evidence available to-date. Until further evidence is produced, the jury must remain out on the true nature and origin of these craft. One thing is most definitely certain - they exist and they are here!

Current Investigations

We are currently researching the possible propulsion system and power source/s of the Flying Triangle and hope to publish a further report on this subject in the future. We are willing to exchange information with others in this field and would welcome contact with like-minded researchers. Our local M.P. Mr Cynog Dafis (Plaid Cymru), has expressed an interest in our preliminary report and has agreed to actively pursue the matter further. It is hoped that the issue will be raised through the House of Commons Parliamentary Questions procedure.

Adam Whaley & Richard Alexander of The West Wales Paranormal Group, 23rd May 1997.

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MOD FILES
Tuesday 26th November, 17:50
Penderyn

Slight haze. A UFO investigator and writer from Ton-Pentre, was driving his car near Penderyn, in the company of two others, when he saw an object hovering over a hillside between the mountains to the south-south west, near a quarry. He described the object as having red strobing lights, oblong lights and two central lights. Lights strobing 7 – 10 hta. He reported the sighting to RAF St. Athan and local police.

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MOD FILES
Thursday 5th December, 23:30
Whitland

"11.30 PM. Clear frosty night. A husband and wife were at home and saw through a window a very bright, pulsating, ‘rocket-shaped’ object with pink-red, white, blue and green lights. They observed the object with the naked eye and through binoculars. It was motionless in the sky close to the Plough for over an hour. There was no sound or smell associated with the object. The woman phoned local police and was advised by them for her to call Wiltshire Police, which covered the Warminster area!" (SUFON summary)

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MOD FILES
Friday 13th December, 19:30
Morriston Hospital, Swansea

Clear sky. The witness, of Swansea, was in a car at Morriston Hospital and saw an orange light about a third the size of the moon, and brighter than the moon, about 6 miles to the south at an elevation of 20 degrees.

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BUFORA
Monday 16th December
A487, Aberystwyth

"Triangle 'chased by' tornado." Included in a sightings statistics report in BUFORA Bulletin #9, March 1999.

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MOD FILES
Monday 23rd December, c. 08:00
Cilfrew, Neath

A 'ball of flame' was seen moving towards the south. The coastguard said they had received no reports of sightings.

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UFO WATCH
? 1996, 21:00 / 23:00
Govilon, Abergavenny

Lisa Dando (14) reported the same sighting twice to the website some 12 years later with slightly differing details, e.g. time of night. Lisa was standing on the side of the road talking to her dad and uncle, as they were leaving her uncle's house, when she noticed a large bright star above the sugar loaf mountain. After a while it began to move slowly across the sky, getting larger as it came closer. Suddenly it seemed to disappear. Then, a few minutes later, she saw a dark triangle shape with a dark shadowed circle in the middle directly overhead. It had no lights and made no sound, hovering for around five minutes before moving off and appearing to only just clear the top of the Blorenge mountain.

"Started out as a large bright star above the sugar loaf mountain. It was stationary for a long while until the star started to move across the sky. The light went out, but as I searched the sky and then my eyes got used to the dark, I saw a Triangle shape with a dark circle shape inside. When directly above us, in relation to size, it prob would have been as big as a folded A4 sheet if you held it at arms length above your head. | When the ufo was in light form it moved as quick as you would expect an aroplane to travel. As it changed to the dark triangle it sort of moved really slowly, hovered for about 5 minutes directly above us, then continued to move slowly over the blorenge mountain. | 00.10.00 | all times are approximate as i was 14 at the time, which is nearly 12 years ago now."

"LARGE BLACK TRIANGLE WITH A DARK CIRCLE SHAPE ON THE UNDER SIDE. THE OBJECT GOT BIGGER AS IF IT CAME LOWER TO THE GROUND. NO SOUND. | I WAS STANDING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TALKING WITH MY DAD AND UNCLE AS WE WERE LEAVING MY UNCLES HOUSE, WHEN I FIRST NOTICED A BRIGHT SHINING STAR IN THE SKY, IT DIDNT REALLY APPEAR, IT SEEMED TO ALWAYS HAVE BEEN THERE, STILL, LIKE A STAR, BUT I ONLY REALLY PAYED ATTENTION TO IT AS IT STARTED TO MOVE SLOWLY ACROSS THE SKY. AS IT MOVED IT BECAME SLIGHTLY BIGGER AS IT SEEMED TO MOVE CLOSER ABOVE US. SUDDENLY AS I WATCHED, IT SEEMED TO DISSAPPEAR. SO I WATCHED FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES HOPING TO CATCH SIGHT OF IT AGAIN AS I BECAME CURIOUS OF WHAT IT WAS. AS I LOOKED DIRECTLY ABOVE, THERE WAS A DARK TRIANGLE SHAPE, WITH A DARK SHADDOWED CIRCLE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. IT HAD NO SOUND AT ALL, AND NO LIGHTS AT THIS TIME. I THINK IT WAS HOVERING FOR A FEW SECCONDS AS I HAD TIME TO OBSERVE IT. IT CONTINUED TO MOVE VERY SLOWLY ACROSS THE SKY STILL, NO SOUND OR LIGHT, UNTIL IT WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN AND OUT OF SIGHT. IT MUST HAVE BEEN MASSIVE OR REALLY LOW, IT APPEARED TO HAVE ONLY JUST SKIMMED ACROSS THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN. WE COULDNT BELIEVE WHAT WE HAD SEEN. A CAMERA WOULDNT HAVE PICKED IT UP I DONT THINK AS THE SHAPE WAS DARK AGAINST THE DARK SKY. | 00/15/00 | i DONT LIKE TO SAY WHAT I THINK IT COULD HAVE BEEN AS MANY THINGS IN THIS WORLD ARE UNEXPLICABLE, BUT WAS REALLY STRANGE ALL THE SAME."

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SUFON
? 1996, between 23:00 - 00:00
St. Fagan's, Cardiff

Clear sky. Nathan Bond was with three friends, waling through woods near St. Fagans Castle. They came to a clearing and stopped to make a camp fire. They were talking amongst themselves when they suddenly noticed in the sky above them, a triangular-shaped object displaying a white light at each corner. It quickly stopped dead and then shot off in a straight course and disappeared. A few seconds later a helicopter flew over them. They couldn't believe what they had seen.

Duration of sighting: 10-20 seconds.

Source: SUFON Files. Witness submission on website - December 2020.

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Parliamentary Question

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1996
South Wales

This NDE (near death experience) of Julie from Llanelli comes from Dr Penny Sartori's 2014 book The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences. In the book Sartori explains that electrical sensitivity and affecting appliances is common for people who've had NDEs - obviously something that has close parallels in alien, poltergeist, and other cases.

It happened in 1996 after I had a haemorrhage following a tonsillectomy. I'd gone home then had to go back to hospital because I had started bleeding. I was admitted to a ward then I started haemorrhaging really badly. Blood was gushing from my mouth like a waterfall. I pressed the buzzer and a nurse came in, then there were nurses and doctors from everywhere. One of them held my hand while the others rushed around. They put me on a heart monitor. 'Then I got weaker and I heard the nurses and doctors say, 'Quick, we're losing her.'

The next thing I knew I was in some kind of . .. all I can describe it as is . .. like a big kaleidoscope. It was as if I was conscious but in this big kaleidoscope with white, silver and purple circles. I was weird. Then I saw a slide show of the whole of my life played before my eyes. Everything that had happened in my life from childhood topresent was just played before my eyes. It wasn't fast but very slow and once one image was shown then another one would appear. The last image I saw was one of my mother's face (she's still alive). But it was all as if I was very much awake; it's hard to describe.

Then after the image of my mother's face I just saw like orbs of light - purple and silver orbs of light floating in front of me. Then a bright light appeared, it was a very bright light that got brighter and brighter. Then it started to dim as if it was like a dimmer switch and then it got really dim. I was just surrounded by this dim light for the next ten minutes or so, I would think. I can't really put a time on it. It was as if I was just suspended there in this dim light and then I started to hear the nurses calling my name and I woke up in the recovery room.

The funny thing is that I wasn't scared; in fact it was a fabulous experience. I was really comfortable and I was enjoying it. Since the experience I've had some weird things happen. It was as if I was picking up on everyone's feelings. I seemed to know what people around me were feeling and thinking. Even complete strangers I'd never met before.

Once I was on holiday in Spain and I was sitting by the pool reading a book. I glanced over and saw a man and woman also reading. Then all of a sudden it was as if I engaged with his thoughts, I knew what he was thinking. The words 'I hope she will be happy with this, I miss her. Why did she have to die?... cancer ..then that was it. I thought I was going mad. When I went to bed that night I said to my partner, 'I feel really sorry for that man by the pool, he's lost someone close to cancer. Then we went off to sleep. The next day my partner went down to the pool before me and got talking to the lady who I'd seen with the man. She told my partner that they'd just got married and his previous wife was her best friend and she'd died of cancer. I arrived at the pool about an hour later and my partner told me - then teased me that I was a freak!

I used to get that quite a lot. I would be in board meetings at work and I could just look up and tap into people's thoughts. It was like an empathy . . . I knew what they were thinking ... that's all I can describe it as. It lasted for about five years or so and was very powerful at first but then gradually got less and less and its gone now. I'm still empathetic and pick up on peoples feeling but I can't read their thoughts any more. It used to freak me out and I thought I was going mad.

Another thing is that I couldn't wear a watch for about three years after the NDE. I've got a nice expensive watch but it would just go haywire. I bought new watches but they would just not work for me; it was really frustrating and used to really annoy me. I can wear one again now but it will lose time now and again but only ten to fifteen minutes, nothing like it used to be. Then, whenever I was around electrical items, things just went haywire too. I would walk into a room and the TV would switch itself off. I could walk into a room and the hi-fi would switch itself on.

The most noticeable was when I went to the dentist - every time I sat in the chair the equipment stopped working. The dentist had to take me into the other room; it was only with me that it happened! These things used to happen but theyve stopped now and I'm glad - I didn't want those abilities! One thing that has stayed with me since the experience is that I'm not afraid of dying any more. Whenever I talk about it with friends and they say they are afraid of it, I'm not. I'm definitely not afraid of dying.