LUFOIN - Member Groups

Press Article, Leicester Mercury, April, 1980.

FOR many people the Coalville UFO Research Organisation conjures up a picture of a group spending their time watching the skies for flying saucers. Some may scoff at the idea of such an organisation, thinking that they have been taken over by a fanaticism for science fiction. But talk to them and you find they are a different proposition altogether. Sister Groups - The Coalville group operate in the Coalville, Ashby, Loughborough and Burton-on-Trent areas, but they are not simply looking for flying saucers. They are part of a network of similar groups covering the whole of Leicestershire. There are sister groups in Leicester, Hinckley and Melton, and another group in Nuneaton. The Coalville group was formed three years ago and about 20 members. Their aim - to provide a service to people who have seen unusual objects in the sky. The Coalville group’s chairman, Mr. Mark Brown said, “What we are trying to do, is help people identify what they have seen - Our first task is to try to find a natural or man-made explanation for any unusual sightings which people may report to us - it is only when we cannot find such an answer after exhaustive investigations, that we class an object as unidentified.” In their efforts to identify objects, the group have already built up an extensive library of information to help them. Big library - Books are kept and the shapes and types of aircraft and where their beacon lights are, and accurate information is available on when satellites are due to cross the sky. Many sightings have rational explanations. Once, a group of people at Whitwick saw a large yellowy white light emitting a vapour trail go across the sky towards Shepshed. This was eventually tracked down as being an aircraft on a night flying training exercise from the East Midlands airport, flying with its landing lights on. But there are reports which are difficult to track down to natural causes. Several people saw a bright green light over woods at Willesley near Ashby-de-la-Zouch in early January, and no reasonable explanation has been found. (See Case: 51/80/04/51/80/A) - Frightened - Vice-chairman, Mr. Steve Wilson. Said many people were really frightened when they saw something unusual they could not explain.

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