Subj: 6                     1/2      Conf: (195) UFO
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Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 13:39:52 -0400
From: David Clarke 
Subject: Yorkshire UFO Crash - MOD revelations
To: UFO Updates 
From: Dave Clarke, BUFORA Press Officer
More Parliamentary Questions on "Aircrash Mystery" and exclusive
interview with MOD [Ministry of Defence] UFO Desk
Further questions regarding the incident over Howden Moors,
Derbyshire, were tabled in Parliament one week ago by Sheffield
Hillsborough MP Helen Jackson. This followed the MOD's revelation
that a low-flying exercise had taken place on the night a major
air and land search was launched following reports of unexplained
sonic booms and an  "aircraft" crashing occurred over the Peak
District moors near Sheffield, Yorkshire. A number of witnesses
contacted police and UFO groups to report a triangular shaped
object in the sky, followed by low-flying RAF fighters just
minutes before the "crash".
Following my directions Mrs Jackson asked if the "military
exercise" was carried out over the Sheffield area and whether the
sonic booms were the result of aircraft breaking the sound
barrier.
My intention was to follow up the questions with a direct
audience with the RAF Press Office at Whitehall where I got an
on-record interview with press office chief Alan Pattison (more
to follow!)...
I wanted to put the RAF directly on the spot and ask if the
"military exercise" was pre-planned or was a interception mission
launched to pursue an unidentified object picked up on Air
Defence radar as some have claimed.
Questions in Parliament
On April 7 the Under Secretary of State for Defence John Spellar
replied to Mrs Jackson in a written statement:
"It is not possible, twelve months after the date in question, to
state precisely where military activity was being carried out.
Records kept show only that aircraft were booked to carry out low
flying over the Peak District between 2030 and 2107 hours local
time on the evening of 24 March 1997. No low level flying is
permitted over the Sheffield urban area, or any other major
conurbation. Records of flying at medium level - between 2,000
and 24,000 ft - are not maintained so it is possible that there
were aircraft in the area at medium level [too]."
He adds: "The regulations governing military aircraft flying at
supersonic speeds are contained in the Joint Service Pulbication
entitled 'Military Flying Regulations', an extract of which was
provided in the answer I gave [Mrs Jackson] on 1 April...as for
the sonic event detected by the British Geological Survey at
Edinburgh University, I refer my hon friend to the answer I gave
her on 30 March."
[The military flying regulations stipulate "all high level
supersonic flights are to take place over the sea" and low-level
flying only allowed when a radar visual search is maintained for
shipping, helicopters and civilian aircraft. Supersonic flight
over land not allowed and.all planned flights must be notified to
radar stations in advance and any breaches must be reported by
captains within 30 minutes of aircraft landing]
MOD on the spot
I immediately followed this statement with a direct Press
interview with Alan Pattison who is the current civilian chief of
the MOD desk which deals with UFOs and low-flying, and his
deputy, RAF Squadron Leader Tom Rounds.
They confirmed the planes involved in the incident were two
Tornado GR1 Strike aircraft which were operating from their base
at RAF Marham in Norfolk on a pre-booked and pre-planned
low-flying training exercise over the Peak District. These
Tornados are the type used on bombing missions in the Gulf and
are not fighters which would be scrambled for an intercept.
They also admit other Tornados and indeed Jaguar fighters from
other NATO bases took part in this night-time sortie, which
involved night time flying at a minimum 250 foot altitude over
the mountains west of Sheffield.
These details coincide with the descriptions of witnesses in the
Dronfield area of Derbyshire who reported seeing a "huge
triangular shaped UFO" pass directly overhead at an altitude of
300ft at 9.30 pm  [UFO Magazine, May/June 1997 pg9]. This craft
had "pinkish coloured lights ariound its curved edges and a
blinding blue light on its underside. It gave off "a droning
noise similar to an electric substation" and lit up the street as
bright as day!!...Three minutes after this object passed over two
military jets flew low and fast over the area, followed by two
others. There is an obvious time discrepancy here which can only
be explained by the witnesses being in error or the MOD's stated
times being wrong [note these are only the 'booked' times]
Asked if the incident on March 24 involved fighters scrambled to
intercept this UFO Pattison replied directly:
"This was a regular training flight involving two Tornado strike
aircraft.
These are not aircraft which would be employed to intercept a
threat to UK airspace This type of low-level training is carried
out regularly over areas like the Peak District and is essential
to give pilots experience for possible action in the Gulf and
other trouble spots.
"There has been no cover-up over this incident and we did not
scramble aircraft to intercept a UFO. All missions sent out that
night were regular training flights."
UFO tracked by radar?
I then asked specifically about claims by researcher Max Burns
that a "UFO" had been tracked by the Royal Signals at RAF
Linton-upon-Ouse, near York, at 9.55pm that same night - three
minutes after the first sonic event detected in Leeds.
I had already established from Flight Lieutenant Philip Inman
that the radar at Linton is not used as part of the UK Air
Defence system and when in operation is used for training
purposes over a limited radius. In fact the base was closed down
on the night of March 24. Radar cover for the military exercise
was being provided by West Drayton.
>>> Continued to next message
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