Im wondering if any serving or ex-service people have any tales to tell, seeing as we tend to spend a lot time outdoors, contemplating the night sky...... Here is my story(no names etc!)
In February 1996 I was on a detachment on board a British Naval Destroyer somewhere in the North Atlantic. I was working as part of the communications team, which sometimes occasioned me to work on the bridge, which I was quite happy about as being able to see the horizon helped enormously with my seasickness.
On one night in particular, just after midnight, a bright red point of light suddenly appeared in the sky off the bow. It was about 35 degrees from the horizon and appeared steady and unmoving, that is it did not twinkle. Needless to say this provoked intense interest among the bridge crew! One of the officers contacted the operations room to ask if any of the other ships in the group were operating aircraft. None were, and additionally no airborne objects had been observed by the search radar. An infra-red camera mounted on the bridge roof was used to monitor the phenomena, which indeed registered as extremely bright.
As this information was being considered, the operations officer(I think?) suggested using the tracking radar on the seawolf missile system to “paint” the object and gain a reading of range(this radar could be pointed directly at the light using a camera). This was agreed. On the bridge, some time passed, until one of the EW ratings entered the bridge. He reported, rather breathlessly, that the radar had indicated the that light was an object or aircraft of some kind, but erratically reported the range as between five or fifty miles away. They apparently had to abort the attempt as the launcher was shaking so violently in its attempts to track the object, that damage to the multi-million pound piece of hardware was feared.
As he finished his report, I was looking at the light when it suddenly “switched off” – it was that quick, as if a switch had been flicked.
After that, I understand a signal was drawn up reporting the “contact”, and apart from being a subject of speculative talk among the crew for few days, nothing more was heard. I am still friends with a couple of the people I met on board, and they still remember the “red ufo” and it remains the only unexplained aerial phenomena I have ever witnessed.
In February 1996 I was on a detachment on board a British Naval Destroyer somewhere in the North Atlantic. I was working as part of the communications team, which sometimes occasioned me to work on the bridge, which I was quite happy about as being able to see the horizon helped enormously with my seasickness.
On one night in particular, just after midnight, a bright red point of light suddenly appeared in the sky off the bow. It was about 35 degrees from the horizon and appeared steady and unmoving, that is it did not twinkle. Needless to say this provoked intense interest among the bridge crew! One of the officers contacted the operations room to ask if any of the other ships in the group were operating aircraft. None were, and additionally no airborne objects had been observed by the search radar. An infra-red camera mounted on the bridge roof was used to monitor the phenomena, which indeed registered as extremely bright.
As this information was being considered, the operations officer(I think?) suggested using the tracking radar on the seawolf missile system to “paint” the object and gain a reading of range(this radar could be pointed directly at the light using a camera). This was agreed. On the bridge, some time passed, until one of the EW ratings entered the bridge. He reported, rather breathlessly, that the radar had indicated the that light was an object or aircraft of some kind, but erratically reported the range as between five or fifty miles away. They apparently had to abort the attempt as the launcher was shaking so violently in its attempts to track the object, that damage to the multi-million pound piece of hardware was feared.
As he finished his report, I was looking at the light when it suddenly “switched off” – it was that quick, as if a switch had been flicked.
After that, I understand a signal was drawn up reporting the “contact”, and apart from being a subject of speculative talk among the crew for few days, nothing more was heard. I am still friends with a couple of the people I met on board, and they still remember the “red ufo” and it remains the only unexplained aerial phenomena I have ever witnessed.