NUFORC Sighting 75843

Occurred: 2008-06-22 02:50 Local
Reported: 2010-06-19 08:34 Pacific
Duration: 5 min.
No of observers: 20

Location: San Sebastiam (Spain), , Spain

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object

UFO formation over San Sebastian, Spain

Hi, I'm writing this report to inform you I have a video of a UFO sighting recorded on a NOKIA N95 8gb cell phone.

The video quality is not very good, since it is taken at night in the city, with the resulting light pollution, and the digital zoom to its maximum capacity. The recording is spectacular although the conditions of brightness and sharpness common to this type of devices.

The video can be put under all kind of tests to ensure its authenticity. It is absolutely real.

I do not want to avoid comments identify humorous or otherwise by known or not as well known. I hope you do not mind this detail.

I've got a Private Pilot License, and thank to my experience and knowledge about flying, and the knowing on attitude and maneuvers of aircraft on airspace, that's why I'm absolutely sure that this are not "conventional" fixed wing aircraft. The only possible explanation would be that they were helicopters, but given the characteristics of air space location, time of sighting, weather and number of traffics sighted, it's hard to believe we're talking about this type of aircraft (and also due to other reasons explained below).

Let's describe the facts: Location: San Sebastian, Spain Date: 06/22/2008 Time: 2:50 AM (local time) The facts are set in a rainy late night, after a sultry day, classic Basque coast, in the afternoon that triggers a "gale" that completely changes the weather, thus passing a hot sunny day in excess , a late-night and early morning rain, the sky completely covered (the ceiling would be around 600 or 800 feet). Weather conditions certainly were not ideal, either for VFR (visual) or IFR (instrumental) flights.

I leave a disco located near the mouth of Urumea river, 300 ft from the sea, and the first thing I see (outside the disco could at that time be about twenty people watching the scene) is something like flares or fireworks (is the first thing that went through my head just seen the objects).

I never leave my amazement when I see that they are objects that have a bright orange light, fixed and weak (although the video appears in a flashing mode), which seem to be quite large, and maintaining a steady ascent flight (improper of a flare or firework).

This is a sighting made up of at least nine traffic. I say at least it is the number of traffic which document the recording, but I am sure that before I started recording I could see more objects. I think there were around 13 or 15 spotted objects. I think this is a considerable number of traffics, which were moving in groups of 3 or 4, some in pairs and solo, with variable speeds from one another, although all were heading in an east-west direction, looking that its point of departure was off or the sea. I could not hear any sound coming from the objects (sound of rotors, ...). The truth is that my proximity to the disco would probably prevent me hear any sounds associated with them, but it is also true that in the case of many objects, it is logical that it had heard a noise, more so considering that the wind, even weak or very weak intensity, was at that time, and after the passage of the gale, north-northwest direction, so it was not a factor which prevented listening t! o sounds from that area, or that slowed them.

The recording, in mp4 format and weighing 63.4 MB, has a duration of 4 min. and 25 sec., and has audio (with a "taco" or improper word included).

I have to say it was something I could not believe. I was watching something that escaped my mind all logic by the circumstances of the moment, and physics of flight if we think of objects such as flares and fireworks. I had never seen anything like that. I have never spotted suspicious objects to be classified as UFOs but from my experience as a pilot and my knowledge of aviation, and from an objective perspective, I cannot give a logical explanation and some of what happened on that late night/early-morning of Sunday June 22nd on the sky of San Sebastian.

Trying to clear any doubts, I first put in touch with local newspaper "El Diario Vasco" once I got home (around 03:30 AM). From the paper, and to my question about whether they had received any calls or had known what had happened, they said no, and the person writing that I attended dealt with the subject telling me that I would have the exclusive on the matter. I did not provide any information in this medium, because my focus was solely on finding out what had happened, beyond creating a notice or cause any unnecessary minimum alarm.

A few minutes later I put in touch with San Sebastian Airport with the intention of resolving any doubt in the case of several traffics had taken off from this airfield, which is unlikely since these facilities are operational only from 06:00 h. to 21:00 pm GMT. Indeed, a member of airport security personnel, along with several Civil Guard troops, at that time the only staff at the facility, tells me that since the closing time of the aerodrome there has not been any takeoff or landing operation. Thus, in the narration of the facts and seeking a possible explanation between the event, he tells me that there must have been a chopper concentration close to the field ... If so, that is, if it were private helicopters, where did they take off? at that time? in those weather conditions? how many? what was their fate? There are many questions, in addition to the already questionable as "normal" physical characteristics of the flight, since no one respects Training, traffic looking! each flight develops its sole discretion, even at times to provoke some kind of collision between aircraft. Also, the navigation lights are anything but navigation lights. They are more comparable to "landing lights", although these are only used at final approach maneuvers, landing and take-off on, but that's not all, as the brightness, hue, intensity and very important direction of the light beam, not easily explained. Landing light beams are projected in a sense, the flight path, and not through a kind of focus light at an angle of 360 ° as in this case. In the recording can be viewed at all times the same intensity of each traffic light, regardless of their position, and throughout the flight path east-west.

Thinking on the possibility that, being helicopters, were those well known and dilapidated soviet made MIL-MI that usually come from Eastern Europe to Spain for the summer fire season, I contacted next day with the tower of Labacolla Airport (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) for the purpose of ascertaining whether there was a landing operation of such choppers over last morning. The only reason for contacting with Santiago de Compostela Airport was that is the only one airport in the northern half of the Spanish peninsula, with the exception of the Foronda Airport (Vitoria), which operates 24 hours a day (H24 operational). The answer given by the driver in command at that time was negative, indicating that there was only air military exercises of NATO airspace early in the vertical drawn from León to the west, there are therefore any flight plan or known traffic area in the hours watching the events. We are talking about a longitudinal distance between two points (San Sebastia! n - León) approximately 160 nautical miles (300 km). We must take into account the rigor that military and civilian authorities established to determine airspace to such maneuvers, for the danger they entail implicit in the civil air operations.

Given these responses, only have the option of consulting military authorities and the Radar Control Center in Madrid, Spain. Not being easy the access to these establishments, I leave it to anyone interested in the phenomenon of inquiring beyond the initial investigations carried out.

All these details about the physics and flight characteristics of the objects spotted have been discussed with different Airline Transport Pilots of recognized national carriers, they can likewise view the recording made, and very surprised at what is seen in the same, have not been able either to give a priori any explanation of the phenomenon. Like me, they could give as valid only the explanation that they were helicopters, yes, with all the questions raised above.

You can watch the recording at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPUZuTwUmPE Best Regards and thanks a lot!

Posted 2010-06-23