'Mile-wide UFO' spotted by British airline pilot
22.06.07 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk
 
One of the largest UFOs ever seen has been observed by the crew and passengers
of an airliner over the Channel Islands.

An official air-miss report on the incident several weeks ago appears in Pilot
magazine.

Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer, 50, flying close to Alderney first
spotted the object, described as "a cigar-shaped brilliant white light".

Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer, 50, described what he thought to be a UFO
as 'a cigar-shaped brilliant white light', similar to the image supplied by
Dennis Plunket of the British Flying Saucer bureau
 

As the plane got closer the captain viewed it through binoculars and said: "It
was a very sharp, thin yellow object with a green area.

"It was 2,000ft up and stationary. I thought it was about 10 miles away,
although I later realised it was approximately 40 miles from us. At first, I
thought it was the size of a [Boeing] 737.

"But it must have been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could
have been as much as a mile wide."

Continuing his approach to Guernsey, Bowyer then spied a "second identical
object further to the west".

He said: "It was exactly the same but looked smaller because it was further
away. It was closer to Guernsey. I can't explain it. This was clearly visual
for about nine minutes.

"I'm certainly not saying that it was something of another world. All I'm
saying is that I have never seen anything like it before in all my years of
flying."

The sightings were confirmed by passengers Kate and John Russell. John, 74,
said: "I saw an orange light. It was like an elongated oval."

The sightings were also confirmed by an unnamed pilot with the Blue Islands
airline.

The Civil Aviation Authority safety notice states that a Tri-Lander aircraft
flying close to Alderney spotted the object.

"Certain parts of the report have not been published. I cannot say why," said
a senior CAA source.

Earlier this year, however, the MOD declared its intentions to open its UFO
files to the public.