Birmingham UFO Group Report
Forwarded by UFO Info
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 07/01/2013

Note: Fore reasons of anonymity pseudonyms have been used

Sighting Details

On the afternoon of 11th May 2013 at approximately 3.55pm, Terry and his 12 year old son Lee were sitting in stationary traffic in their car. They were on a road that runs from East to West. It was a cloudy and unsettled day but was not raining. Suddenly Terry realised that there was one particular “cloud” moving faster than the others. It was white in colour but perfectly vertical and shaped like a narrow rectangle! It was travelling to the South East at a slow speed heading out over the English Channel. He was looking up at it at an angle of about 45 degrees, but had no idea of how high in the sky it was or how large it was.

Terry pointed the object out to his son, who confirmed that he could see it too. They watched it for about 30 seconds after which it either vanished or was lost from sight behind other clouds.

Sighting Analysis

Terry says that if it had been any other shape he would have dismissed it as a cloud. But the object maintained its rectangular shape for the duration of the sighting. He says that there is still a possibility this is what it was, but he would be very surprised. Due to the colour of the object, way in which it seemed to fade away and no manoeuvres which would indicate it was controlled in any way I feel that the most likely explanation is a cloud which just happened to appear rectangular in shape.

An alternative explanation would be a solar airship drifting in the sky. These sometimes tip up vertically in the air and can appear like a long thin rectangle when viewed from a particular angle. However there are several reasons why this explanation is unlikely. Solar airships are usually launched on clear sunny days as the heated air inside them is what gives them lift. But it was an overcast day with no sun visible. Purchased solar airships are usually black in colour as they are required to soak up as much sunlight as possible. It is possible to make one out of bags, but these usually have a more segmented appearance like a worm rather than a completely straight rectangle/cylinder. Also the fact that it was overcast and the clouds were moving across the sky indicates that the wind was blowing. Solar airships only tip up completely vertical in still weather conditions, if there are air currents then they are usually buffeted making them appear like a moving snake in the air.

After looking at the information provided by the witness I feel the most likely explanation is an odd-shaped cloud, although of course I cannot say this with absolute certainty. Unfortunately Terry did not get back in touch after providing the initial details so this is the only information available on this incident at present.

Copyright Dave Hodrien 2014