RAF Chase

UFO Roundup, Volume 3, Number 18, May 3, 1998
Editor: Joseph Trainor
British Newspapers Say RAF, Dutch Air Force Chased Giant UFO

The London newspapers Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail reported this week that jet interceptors of the Royal Air Force and the Netherlands Air Force had pursued a giant triangular UFO over the North Sea. According to the Daily Mail, the phased-array radar network at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire picked up an "unusual craft (that was) tracked flying in a zigzag pattern at 17,000 miles per hour (27,200 kilometers per hour) over the North Sea." An RAF fighter squadron was sent to intercept the object. The Netherlands Air Force "also tracked the UFO but the two (Dutch) F-16 fighters scrambled to intercept the object were unable to keep up" with it. The UFO dodged the Dutch fighters, increasing its speed to 24,000 miles per hour (38,400 kilometers per hour), and shot away to the northeast, heading for the Atlantic Ocean. "RAF officials were said to be baffled by the object ...

'It was definitely under control, judging by the various manoeuvres executed,' said a spokesman. 'It appeared to be triangular and was around the size of a battleship (about 900 feet long) (273 meters--J.T.).'" According to the Daily Telegraph, "Tapes to be shown to British and American experts are said to show objects that change shape and in mid-air and a battleship-sized aircraft traveling at 33 times the speed of sound." The presentation of the radar tapes will be made in June at the Space Symposium to be held at the Air Warfare Center at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. The newspaper articles appeared on Monday, April 27, 1998. The RAF Press Office denied that a joint air operation against a giant UFO had taken place, adding, "Yes, there is a conference at the Air Warfare Center at RAF Cranwell in June, but this is to discuss military strategies in outer space - not UFOs."

The Daily Telegraph said Wednesday, April 29, that it stands by its story and its "RAF source." According to Graham W. Birdsall, editor of the UK's UFO Magazine, the "RAF source" is Philip Burden, a former Ministry of Defence employee who served as editor of the in-house RAF publication RAF News ten years ago. (See the Daily Telegraph for April 27, 1998, "RAF Spots Speeding UFOs with New Radar," and the Daily Mail for April 27, 1998, "24,000 MPH UFO Buzzes Britain." Many thanks to Errol Bruce-Knapp, Graham W. Birdsall and Dave Clarke of BUFORA for making the newspaper articles available.)

Later, also from UFO Roundup
Dutch UFOlogists Dispute Story of North Sea Chase

Andy Denne of the Netherlands UFO group A.U.R.A. reported, "We have checked our source in the Dutch air force, and we can be rather sure by now that the F-16s sent to intercept never even took off." "We also double-checked with the Dutch military defense radar station at Nieuw-Millingen. They also assured us nothing was visible on radar." A.U.R.A. members and other Dutch ufologists telephoned the Air Traffic Control center at Schipol International Airport in Amsterdam. Radar operators there "saw nothing on their radars during the past couple of months." "So our conclusion is that there was no North Sea UFO, at least as described by the British press," Denne reported. "Especially since the Dutch air force is not as tight-lipped as their British and American colleagues."