Sighting Three

At approximately 6.00 p.m., some 45 minutes after Mr. and Mrs ‘F’ had driven past the John Cleveland College area for the second time, three young girls, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, were travelling in a car owned by Beverly L, the eldest of the three. They were travelling slowly along a small road that leads off the main Hinckley to Sapcote Road, (A5070). This small road was later identified as Smithy Lane, which would lead the girls to their destination which was the riding stables which are situated close to Hobbs Hayes Farm, near Burbage woods.

Suddenly, Beverly caught sight of something in the sky off to her right, not very high and apparently not all that distant. She immediately called the other girl’s attention and, as they looked, they saw the same thing as Beverly. All three later agreed that what they saw was a ‘stationary silver sphere’ solid -looking, and sharply defined. They estimated it to be only eighty feet above the ground, apparently hovering above some trees in nearby Burbage Wood. The car was slowed down and eventually stopped, in order that a better view could be obtained of the phenomenon. The three girls watched for a further ten seconds or so, and were then startled to see the object fall or ‘shoot’ towards the ground, disappearing completely amongst the trees. Twelve years-old Elizabeth ‘N’ said that, as it disappeared, the object appeared to change its appearance, becoming more oval in shape.

Investigations into the August 26^th., sightings commenced on September 1^st., 1978, and, of course, intensified when Mr. and Mrs. ‘F’s report was received on September 16^th.

Initially, researches centred on the account of the three girls outlined previously,, and, on September 2^nd., the general location of their sighting was searched for possible traces.

The search lasted for a little over two hours, and approximately one square mile of ground was covered. Nothing of note however was discovered or detected.

The John Cleveland College was contacted via the live-in caretaker during the same week with an enquiry regarding any activities that may have involved the release of either helium or hot-air balloons on the date in question, which may have possibly caused the sighting reports. Perhaps, it was postulated, this action may have been carried out as part of some research project by students etc. It was subsequently discovered however, that the college was closed completely at the time of the sightings, and, as far as it was known, no such projects were planned.

On September 18^th., Mr. and Mrs ‘F’ were interviewed, and both witnesses told consistent stories. They were individually questioned for thirty minutes, and a UFO report form was completed and duly signed by Mrs. ‘F’, who also spoke of several other alleged ‘UFO’ sightings she had had during the early part of the year, around the April period. Although these only aerial lights, viewed from the bedroom window of her home, there was one particular occasion mentioned when an illuminated flying object had approached the witness’s house in the darkness, and remained stationary at a point near her bedroom window. After a few minutes, the silent object ‘zoomed’ away in a general southerly direction. These experiences had clearly upset Mrs. ‘F’, and it should also be noted that although they were considered of little value to the investigation in hand at that time, the witness’s home is situated at a point along Sapcote Road, and, as such, not too far away from the Burbage Common area.

On September 19^th., 1978, totally unexpected, a completed report form was received through the post from Mr. ‘E’. This contained sufficient information useful to the investigation, and, it was realised that investigators were dealing with an object, or objects, that had changed its/their location at various Stages during the time period involved on August 26^th. Mr. ‘E’s statement regarding his observations was as follows:

“At 5.00 p.m. on this particular Saturday, I was walking down Zealand Close, on the Stonygate Estate, Hinckley, towards Laneside Drive, when I noticed an extremely large object just above the houses in Laneside Drive. The object appeared as an extremely bright orange, flattened ball-shape, with an hazy outline. This object seemed to be totally illuminated. The oval was in view for approximately one minute, and had disappeared by the time I had walked around the corner into Laneside Drive. Four people were also standing at the Barwell end of Laneside Drive looking up into the sky.”

From all accounts, although basic descriptions differ slightly, the final assumption was that all the witnesses involved viewed the same object as it moved slowly over the general area of Burbage Common/Leicester Road, hovering at times. The final part of these observations tends to describe however, a bursting balloon. Initially, it was thought that the brightness of the ‘balloon’, as described by witnesses, may have been caused by reflection of the Sun on the object’s surface. Further checks however, that at the times of all the sightings, the Sun was hidden behind 8/8 cloud cover. This cloud later produced light drizzle. In fact, it was already raining at the time of the girl’s sighting. This fact would seem to rule out any suggestion that the object was a balloon of some kind with a shiny surface. Checks were made with various sources that sometimes release research balloons. These enquires proved negative, as did all further enquiries regarding aerial activity over the area involved on the date in question. Further investigations into weather conditions in the area on the date concerned revealed that, at the time in question, surface wind speed was nil, and that it was altogether a very still day. Therefore, it was considered unlikely that any wind-borne object such as a balloon, would have travelled the described distances during the times given by the witnesses.

The possibility that the object/s, in this particular instance, could have been some form of electrical phenomena seems likely, however, the total duration of the event, if the times given are correct, seems unusually long for such phenomena to remain in existence.

The illuminated oval sightings therefore have been classed as unexplained.

N.B. It should be noted that none of the witnesses involved heard any sound produced by the object/s.

BELOW: Same Date Global Reports, UFODNA Data, August 26, 1978.