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This section contains descriptions of unexplained facts provided by eyewitnesses or published in the media, as well as the results of their analysis by the group.

UFO. United Kingdom

ID #1604516483
Added Wed, 04/11/2020
Author July N.
Sources
Phenomena
Status
Research

Initial data

Initial information from sources or from an eyewitness
Incident date: 
08.1978
Location: 
Somers Road
Малверн
United Kingdom

Richard Upson lived in Somers road, Malvern. 

In 1978, when he was 16, he regularly went outside after dark and looked at the stars. One evening, he and his friend Kevin were watching the sky on Link Common and were returning home. It was a very clear, quiet evening with very little cloud cover. They had almost reached the garden gate. 

Looking up, Richard saw what at first appeared to be a bright star. He was there for a long time and was completely motionless. Suddenly, without warning, it split into two identical points of light, which immediately began to move away from each other! The acceleration was instantaneous.

Richard pointed to the moving lights. A person is heading South a little faster than a satellite can travel. The other initially moved in a North-easterly direction. However, it soon began to move in a wide circular arc. It continued to turn around until it had completed a full circle, and then continued on its way into the distance to the northeast. 

In total, the observation lasted about 90 seconds, until both objects disappeared in the distance. The boys immediately ran into the house and excitedly told Richard's mother Ann what they had seen. They then called the local police station to report the incident. 

The officer they spoke to recommended that they contact the nearby Worcester UFO organization Skyscan, which they did shortly after. 

The next day, Richard wrote a letter to the Department of defense to report the discovery. He soon received a standard response letter from them thanking him for the letter, but giving no explanation for what he had seen.

The testimony of the mother

Unfortunately, Richard doesn't keep in touch with Kevin, so I can't talk to him about what happened. However, below, Anna's direct statement of what she recalls took place: 

"It was late in the evening, very dark, in the summer of 1978, when my son Richard and his friend Kevin ran into our house in Somers road, Malvern. Both were pale and gasping for breath. They were walking home along Worcester road and around Osborne road to our garden gate, looking up, when they realized what they thought was one of the many stars in the sky above them, splitting in two. 

One continued South, the other completes a 360-degree turn and disappears to the northeast. The boys were very shocked and puzzled by this strange incident and called Malvern police, where one of the officers offered to report the incident to Sky Scan in Worcester, who were interested in their story."

Visual analysis

This is an interesting long-range observation of unidentified objects in orbit. Obviously, all that was visible were dots of white light, however the moment they performed makes it impressive. Let's first assume that the objects were in space as they appeared, and not at a high altitude in the atmosphere. 

They could not be satellites, since they are moving on a straight course at a constant speed, they cannot move from a place or change direction at all. 

Meteorites cross the sky very quickly and move in a straight line again. 

It seems that the objects were under intellectual control. At the beginning of the observations, it seemed that there was only one object, after which it was indistinguishable from a star. It was only when it split into two parts and instantly began to move that the boys became interested in it. It is impossible to tell whether it was a single object that split into two, or whether two objects in close proximity looked like one until they began to move away from each other. 

If we assume that they were some kind of spacecraft, then nothing that we now know about could have made such maneuvers. 

There is a small chance that the objects were actually at a very high altitude, and not outside the atmosphere. If that were the case, the only reasonable explanation would be two helicopters. 

Chinese lanterns seem unlikely for a number of reasons. The lanterns were white, so Chinese lanterns could not be Chinese, as they are usually amber-orange in color and tend to flicker in brightness. In addition, they were not available for purchase as early as 1978.

Led balloons have only become available in recent years. Also, the observed movement patterns were too directional for the inflatable boats to drift in the air currents. 

Planes can't stay in the sky for a while. If you look at the horizon, it may seem that they are hovering if they are flying towards the observer, but the point of light that the witnesses initially observed was overhead, so it could not be an airplane. It also doesn't explain how it could have split into two parts. 

It seems incredible that they were helicopters. If this were the case, they would first need to be placed one above the other so that they look like a single point of light. Also, even at high altitude, you can usually see other navigation lights or flashing strobe lights. 

Looking at these possible explanations, it seems much more likely that the objects were in orbit and also under intelligent control. Do we have any manned ships that we haven't been told about? Or were they items of a completely different origin? 

Copyright Dave Hodrien, 2016

Original news

Richard Upson used to live on Somers Road, Malvern. In 1978 when he was 16 years old he would regularly stand outside after dark and watch the stars. One evening he and his friend Kevin had been out sky watching on Link Common and were walking back home. It was a very clear and still evening with very little cloud cover. They had almost reached the garden gate. Looking overhead Richard could see what initially appeared to be a bright star. It was there for an extensive period of time and completely motionless. Suddenly without warning it split into two identical points of light which immediately began moving away from each other! The acceleration was instantaneous. Richard pointed out the moving lights to Kevin. One headed South a little faster than a satellite would tend to move at. The other initially moved in a Northeast direction. However it soon began to move in a wide circular arc. It continued turning until it had gone completely round in a circle, and then continued away into the distance to the North East. In total the sighting lasted for about 90 seconds until both objects had vanished into the distance. The boys immediately ran into the house and excitedly told Richard’s mother Anne what they had seen. They then rang the local police station to report the sighting. The officer they spoke with recommended that they contact nearby Worcester-based UFO organization Skyscan, which they did soon after. The following day Richard wrote a letter to the MOD to report the sighting. He soon received a standard response letter from them, thanking him for his letter but not providing any explanation to what he had seen.

Mother’s Testimony

Unfortunately Richard has not kept in touch with Kevin so I cannot speak with him about what happened. However below a direct statement from Anne about what she recalls took place: “It was late evening, just dark, in the summer of 1978 when my son Richard and his friend Kevin came rushing indoors at our home in Somers Road, Malvern. Both were white faced and breathless. They had been walking home down Worcester Road and round Osborne Road to our garden gate, staring upwards, when they became aware of what they thought was one of many stars In the sky above them, splitting in two. One continuing towards the South, the other completing a 360 degree turn and disappearing to the North East. The boys were very shocked and puzzled by this strange happening and rang the police in Malvern where an officer suggested they report the sighting to Sky Scan in Worcester who were interested in their story.”

Sighting Analysis

This is an interesting distant sighting which appeared to be of unidentified objects in orbit. Obviously all that was seen were points of white light, however the moment patterns they performed is what makes it impressive. Let’s first assume that the objects were out in space as they appeared to be, rather than at high altitude in the atmosphere. They could not have been satellites as these move on a straight course at a constant speed, they cannot move from a standing spot or change direction at all. Meteorites cross the sky extremely fast and again move in a straight line. It appears that the objects were under intelligent control. At the start of the sighting there only appeared to be a single object, at which point it was indistinguishable from a star. It is only when it split into two and began instantly moving that the boys took an interest in it. It is impossible to say whether it was a single object that separated into two, or whether it was two objects in close proximity that looked like one until they began moving away from one another. If we assume that the objects were spacecraft of some kind, then nothing we currently know about would have made such manoeuvres. There is the slim possibility that the objects were actually at very high altitude rather than in outside the atmosphere. If this were the case then the only reasonable explanation would be two helicopters. Lit inflatables seem very unlikely for a number of reasons. The lights were white so could not have been Chinese lanterns, as these are usually amber orange in colour and tend to flicker in brightness. Also they were not available to purchase back in 1978. LED balloons have only been available in recent years. Also the movement patterns observed were too directed to be inflatables drifting on air currents. Aeroplanes cannot remain still in the sky for a period of time. When viewed at the horizon they can appear to hover if flying towards the observer, however the point of light the witnesses initially observed was overhead so could not have been a plane. Nor does this explain how it could split into two. It seems improbable that the objects were helicopters. If this were the case then initially they would have to have been positioned one directly above the other so as to appear as a single point of light. Also even at high altitude it is usually possible to see other navigation lights or flashing strobes. Looking at these possible explanations, it seems much more likely that the objects were in orbit, and were also under intelligent control. Do we have manned craft out there which we have not been informed of? Or were these objects of another origin entirely? Copyright Dave Hodrien 2016

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