Well headlines blazed today with the announcement by the UK’s own Airprox Board(Air Proximity Hazards) that the UFO incident over Birmingham in June 2008 was of a “sinister” nature.
Now that ought to raise some hackles.
The Airprox Board’s website states that their objectives are:
” The UK Airprox Board’s primary objective is to enhance flight safety in the UK, in particular in respect of lessons to be learned and applied from Airprox occurrences reported within UK airspace.
To emphasise both the scope of its work and its independence, UKAB is sponsored jointly – and funded equally – by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The sole objective of the UK Airprox Board is to assess reported Airprox in the interests of enhancing flight safety. It is not the purpose of the Board to apportion blame or liability. To encourage an open and honest reporting environment, names of companies and individuals are not published in UKAB’s reports.”
Hence the Airprox Board released it’s latest report that has stunned the world including UFO experts. They’ve concluded that the UFO may have been of some sinister intent. That not only implies intelligent control but also intention validating the Board’s concern for air safety for civilian, military, and police aircraft.
Earlier on this blog, Nick Pope formerly of the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain graciously gave me his viewpoint on the Birmingham incident. You can read it here.
Nick Pope’s assessment then came true with the release of the Airprox’s latest report and I’ll ask Nick again if he’ll comment on it.
UPDATE: Nick Pope again has given me a quote regarding this latest news:
”
Greg,
Any near-miss involving an aircraft is a serious issue. However, when the incident involves something that remains unidentified, despite extensive official enquiries, this is even more disturbing. This is because, unlike other near-misses, lessons cannot be learned and no action can be taken to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future. The related issue is that this isn’t an isolated incident. There are numerous such cases in the files of the Ministry of Defence and the Civil Aviation Authority. This is why I’ve called for a full inquiry, so these incidents can be considered collectively and not just on a case by case basis. It’s time to act, before we have a tragedy on our hands.”
Surprisingly I found that in 1998 there was a similar incident with similar results and conclusions. Here’s the story: UK UFO Baffles Aviation Experts
In brief it details that on June 12, 1998 a metallic grey colored object passed within “20-50 meters” from a McDonnell Douglas MD81 jet bound for Oslo. Although the pilots saw the object it too was not detected on radar.
It begs one to wonder if this latest incident is indeed connected to the 1998 incident which also occurred in the month of June. June 15th for the 1998 incident and June 10th for the 2008 incident almost exactly 10 years apart.
With this new report from Airprox, it gives investigators from both sides of the fence of UFOlogy and air safety more grist-for-the-mill on solving these incidents for the better safeguarding of our skies.
When the Birmingham UFO incident occurred, I too was more concerned with the safety of the skies and as a UFOlogist that is part of the territory. We don’t just look at UFO reports hoping to find some extraterrestrial menace or benevolent force from the unknown, it’s a field of study that covers many areas of safety that stretch from aerial collisions to crashes, to contamination of water and soil as well as the effect on livestock and of course persons’ well being.
Many UFOlogists are also professionals of the medical and rescue fields and brook no nonsense in regard to issues of safety and do a great service to everyone. This latest report by the Airprox Board adds more solid data that will allow us to better police the skies and provide safety for our pilots and civilians world wide.
A much needed round of applause is due to the professionalism and stalwart character of the Airprox Board in serving the public once again in light of the controversy undue ridicule that the UFO subject brings.
