NUFORC Sighting 23168

Occurred: 1977-05-15 02:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2002-06-06 15:54 Pacific
Duration: 20 minutes
No of observers: 0

Location: Kilmarnock (UK/England), , United Kingdom

Shape:
Characteristics: Lights on object

Whisper quiet hovering craft.

I saw lights flying in the same direction as the van i was driving, but about 2 miles to my right. They got closer to me as i approached the town, and we met just about 100 yards into the first street of the town, opposite a golf course. The craft hovered above a row of trees adjacent to the main road, so I stopped and got out. What amazed me most was the lack of noise, with just a very light motor noise similar to a hairdrier or vacuum cleaner, but at 2am I expected it to be more of a disturbance. My experience of attending airshows as a photographer meant that I was aware of helicopter noise and other aircraft noises. It was a year later that I first stood near a Harrier vertical take-off fighter jet, and the noise was deafening. That's when I knew I had seen something spectacular. I did not report this sighting, indeed I have told only a few close friends for fear of being ridiculed, but I feel that your site is for serious reporting so I am entrusting this to you. The date I entered is approximate as I am unsure, but it was definitely early hours Sunday morning and definitely summer 1977 between March and June when I drove the vehicle I mentioned. Most likely May sometime. Visually it was difficult to tell shape because all I could make out were four lights arranged in either a square or a cross depending on what the body of the craft actually was. It hovered at about 200 feet, a height I estimated from being about 4 times the height of the trees, and I estimated them at 50 feet being the exact height of the local rugby football club goalposts. After about ten minutes, the craft seemed to edge away slowly in the direction it had come, and then accelerated to a fantastic speed back in the direction of the local airport about 10 miles away. I racked my brains to think what type of craft it could be, and at that time my best guess was a Harrier fighter jet until I saw my first one in the flesh a year later. What I saw was not a Harrier, not a helicopter and not any type of aircraft I hav! e ever seen in time as a photographer at airshows or a member of Air Training Corps on Royal Air Force trips.

NUFORC Note:

Date in summer 1977 is approximate. PD

Posted 2002-06-12