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Reconstruction


Air 2/18564, DDI Tech file (closed until 1 Jan 2002)
8th May 1957

This entry refers to a briefing given to a Defence Minister who is preparing to answer a Parliamentary Question on UFOs. It is signed by A. Giffen Peacock.


"In 1956 a total of six unidentified flying objects were received. Of this total three were radar sightings. One was made by the navigator of a Vulcan aircraft but the captain was unable to make a visual sighting although the object approached the aircraft. The duration of the sighting was 1 minute 15 seconds.

"Another was a report of an unusual object on Lakenheath Radar which at first moved at a speed of between two and four thousand knots and then remained stationary at an high altitude. No visual contact was made with this object by the Venom sent to intercept it and other radars failed to pick it up.

"The third radar report was of an object on the screen at Wethersfield. One of the two aircraft sent to intercept made a momentary contact the other made no contact at all. No other ground radars who scanned the area were able to find a trace of any object."

[All three of these cases are later classified as "unexplained radar cases".

Later on in the file there is mention of another radar case from Lakenheath in 1957, under the heading "radar cases under investigation..."]

"Signals from Royal Air Force stations Bempton and Lakenheath on 19 March (1957) reported unusual responses which did not resemble those from conventional aircraft. Aircraft sent to find the object made no contact with anything in the area of the response.

"The meteorological office are at present trying to find whether any unusual phenomena were observed by their stations in that area. It is possible that the response was due to a seasonal phenomena known as Angels and Anaprop which is the result of inversion and reflection from the ionosophere."