On Sunday April 5th 1992, we received a call from a Karen XXXXXX, informing us about several UFO flights in one night, over the Stapleford area in Nottingham.
The first sighting was of a single orange object at 20:30 hours, on March 29th. The second sighting was at 21:15 and consisted of six orange objects, two of these dived towards the ground and vanished behind houses. At 22.00 hours she, and at least four work colleagues witnessed another single one fly by. Sometimes the UFOÆs appeared stationary and also gave a whirring sound. They appeared to be orange spheres and flickered.
We received another call from a Stephen Turton of Melbourne Road, Stapleford, who claimed to have seen something exactly the same, on the previous night (28th March) and the times differed slightly. This time they passed over at 19:30 hours, 21:30 and 22:00 hours.
The flights were steady on both nights. One Saturday night, the six objects/spheres disappeared into low cloud.
On Friday, April 3rd, I wrote to the M.O.D.
On Saturday, April 4th, I wrote to the Nottingham constabulary.
On Monday, April 6th, Barrie Kerry made some checks about light shows.
On Friday, April 10th, I contacted the Nottingham Recorder to appeal for information.
On Saturday, April 11th, Barrie Kerry and I went to check out the farms around Stapleford Hill. First we went to a Field Farm, off Ilkeston Road, Stapleford and spoke to a farm worker who was ploughing a field. He told us that Mr Taylor is the farm owner, but does not live in the farmhouse. The occupants living in the farmhouse didn't see or hear anything unusual.
We then went to Hulks Farm, on Coventry Lane and this only consists of a farmhouse and outbuildings. The retired farmer, saw and heard nothing unusual.
We went to the farm shop on Nottingham Road, Ilkeston, to find out who owns the livestock in the area. We spoke to the owner of the livestock, and every one was accounted for. No cattle mutilations or UFO Sightings.
On Monday 13th April, 1996 I received a reply from the M.O.D.
On Tuesday April 14th, the appeal for information appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post, and on the following evening it also appeared in the Recorder. I also received a reply from the Nottingham Constabulary.
The appeal brought in a large response, and we received over thirty phone calls during the case, up until Monday April 20th. On Friday 17th, certain details of these sightings were printed in the Evening Post.
The following Day, we received a tip off that some adults were sending up miniature hot air balloons, from a house on the Crescent, Stapleford. That night, Barrie and Simon Kerry, and myself, went to watch the house from Braddon Avenue. Afetr fifty minutes, it started to rain and we decided to call it a night. We went and knocked on the door, but nobody was in, so we went to their next door neighbours. Amidst their laughter, they told us that they knew nothing about it. We assumed that they were laughing at us, as we were UFO investigators.
On Sunday April 19th, at 10:00 am, Barrie and myself knocked on the door again. A face appeared at the bedroom window, and shortly afterwards the door opened. We introduced ourselves, and stated that we had reason to believe that they had been launching orange glowing objects into the night sky. His face was a picture of guilt, as a million thoughts flashed through his mind. He didnÆt know whether he was in trouble or how we had tracked them down. He invited us in, and told us his name was Gary, and he told us the names of two other lads involved. One is Derek and the other is James. He demonstrated how it was achieved, and constructed a contraption for us, made from a firelighter, copper wire and a clear plastic bin liner bag. Basically a minature hot air balloon. The firelighter fills the bag with hot air and then the bag rises into the air. The firelighter cannot be blown out by the wind, and the balloon can go for over a mile, at great height.
Several people saw them disappear into low cloud on one occasion. A friend of GaryÆs showed him how it was done. It was performed on at least three occasions to the best of GaryÆs knowledge, and he added that the other lads could have done it on other occasions. When asked about several at one time, going up, he stated that this was correct and that one from the bunch had fallen out of the ky. The whole idea was just for the fun of seeing them go up said Gary.
He asked for his friends and also his own name and their location to be kept from the media. We respected his wishes, and told him that it was only so we could close the case.
We asked Gary, if he would give us a demonstration one night, and this was fixed for Monday April 20th. The evening came around, and Barrie Kerry phoned me to say, that he couldnÆt make it. He had intended on being there to capture it on video tape. The students and myself went into fields at Stapleford, and tried to launch six balloons, the wind was too strong, and they found it very difficult to launch them, after several attempts, they got three off the ground, two crashed into trees, but the third was successful. It went over the trees and glided away into the distance. The whole experiment was captured on my 35mm Camera. CASE CLOSED.
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