By Harvey Elliott, Air Correspondent
A BRITISH Airways passenger jet had a close
encounter with an unidentified flying
object while landing at Manchester airport,
an official report disclosed last night.
The Boeing 737, with 60 people on board, was
overtaken at high speed by a
wedge-shaped craft as the plane descended
through 4,000ft on the final stages of a
journey from Milan. Captain Roger Wills reported
that the UFO, which was
emblazoned with small white lights and possibly
a black stripe down its side, flashed
silently down the side of the jet so close
that his co-pilot, First Officer Mark Stuart,
involuntarily ducked as it went by.
There was no sound and no wake but both pilots
were so concerned that they filed a
formal "airmiss" report. The Civil Aviation
Authority launched an investigation, the
fourth such incident since 1987, and after
a year-long inquiry concluded yesterday that
they could find no likely explanation. The
three previous reported sightings also baffled
the CAA experts.
The incident happened at 6.48pm on January
6 last year with the aircraft just above the
clouds and visibility at least ten miles.
Then air traffic controllers had the following
conversation with Flight 5061:
B737: "We just
had something go down the right-hand side, just above
us very fast."
Manchester: "Well there's nothing seen on radar. Was it an aircraft?"
B737: "Well, it had lights, it went down the starboard side very quick."
Captain Wills and First Officer Stuart are
certain that the object was solid and not a
balloon, a model aircraft or even a military
Stealth aircraft which the captain had seen
before and would have recognised.
Both pilots should be commended for their courage
in submitting a report, the
investigators said.
Copyright: The Times (http://www.the-times.co.uk/)
This story:
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/timnwsnws01030.html?1107954
Some Newspaper Reports of the Original Incident:
The Sun, Saturday, January 26th, 1995.
BA Jet Pilots Duck As UFO Flashes Past At 13,000 FT
Two pilots thought their last moment had come
as their British Airways jet headed for
mid-air collision - with a high speed UFO.
Terrified fliers Roger Willis and Mark Stuart
ducked down in the cockpit when the
brightly lit mystery craft appeared only yards
in front of them at 13,000ft over the
Pennines.
But as they waited for the deadly impact, they
saw the triangular UFO flash down the
right hand side of their Boeing 737 and disappear.
Captain Willis and First Officer Stuart immediately
checked with air traffic control. But
they were told theirs was the only plane on
the radar.
Their flight from Milan, Italy to Manchester
Ringway was 17 minutes from touchdown
when the "alien" invader zoomed past.
The Boeing landed safely, with the 60 passengers unaware of the drama.
Sketches
At first, the pilots didn't tell pals about
the UFO, in case of ridicule. But BA bosses
were informed and they sent a detailed log
and sketches to the Joint Air Miss Working
Group, which is part of the Civil Aviation
Authority.
An inquiry was launched into the January 6th
incident. But a CAA spokesman said
yesterday: "We have not been able to trace
the aircraft involved."
Sensible
The pilots refused to comment. A colleague
said: "They are high grade, sensible
guys. Everyone's talking about what they saw."
Theories that the UFO could have been a new
military aircraft were discounted by
experts.
A spokesman for Jane's Defence Weekly said:
"We know of nothing at all being
developed that could account for this sighting."
Manchester Evening News, Friday 27th January 1995.
Headline:- Ringway jet in UFO terror
A BRIGHTLY-lit UFO suddenly appeared in front
of a British Airways' plane flying to
Ringway.
The two terrified BA pilots, fearing a disaster,
ducked in the cockpit of the Boeing 737
with 60 people on board, which at the time
was at 13,000 feet above the Pennines
approaching Manchester.
Captain Roger Wills, who was in command of
the flight from Milan, and first officer
Mark Stuart, have made reports to the Civil
Aviation Authority and a top-level inquiry
is underway today.
The pilots said in their reports that they
saw a "triangular-shaped flying object" in
front of their plane.
They immediately checked with air traffic control
at Ringway, and were told there was
nothing on the radar other than their own
aircraft. The pilots then saw the UFO travel at
great speed down the right hand side of their
own airliner.
Highly-experienced Captain Wills and first
officer Stuart, 24, did not initially report
what they had seen, as they feared being ridiculed
by their colleagues.
But the BA management was informed, and following
set procedures, reports with
sketches have been sent to the Joint Air Miss
Working Group, which is part of the
CAA. Both pilots refused to speak to the Manchester
Evening News, but one of their
colleagues said: "They are high-grade, sensible
guys".
"Everyone's talking about what they saw and
it is right that it is reported, so the
experts can try to establish what it was".
Despite the drama, which the passengers knew
nothing about, the plane landed safely
at Ringway at 7pm on January 6.
Captain Roger Wills stated: "We were already
above Great Britain. Suddenly a
mysterious, fiercely illuminated triangle
was heading towards our machine in a
straight way. We thought of the worst. We
drew in our heads because we thought
we are going to collide. But in the last second
the object passed our airplane on
the right side".
The captain immediately alarmed the nearest
control tower. The answer from the
control tower: "Besides you we didn't see
anything on the radar!".
At this moment the British air traffic control
handles the case.
Captain Roger Willis and his co-pilot Mark
Stuart were beginning their descent
towards Manchester airport after a flight
from Milan last month when both pilots
spotted something coming towards them. Very
fast. It flashed down the right hand side
of their Boeing 737 twin jet "very close"
according to the formal report...the shaken
crew decided to file after being told by air-traffic
controllers that the only thing which
had shown up on radars was their own aircraft.
The mystery of what was seen by the crew of
flight 506l is one of four reports of
unidentified flying objects which have been
investigated by the CAA's Joint Airmiss
Working Group since 1987, but which are still
unexplained.
Three of the craft have been described as either triangular or lozenge shaped...
The JAWG, which is made up of representatives
of pilots organisations, airlines, trade
unions, military experts and cynics has not
yet tried to piece together the evidence of
what could have caused the near miss...