"On Friday 27 April 2007 I was involved in an occurrence that truly scared me, to the point I thought I may even have died, and yet the whole incident remains a mystery.
Driving on the A470 towards Machynlleth, Mid Wales, I had been listening to a CD and then for a few minutes to the radio, before switching it off. It was approximately 9.20pm and it was very dark, with the darkness deepened as many of the country roads in those parts unlit.
I noticed up ahead a group of bright lights, to the side and above the road. There was an orange light on either side of the road, which at first I took to be road lamps (they were at the right height to be). To the outer side of the orange lights were bright white lights and to the centre there were bright white lights above and below the level of the other lights.
At first I was confused as to what it was, then I realised I could see what looked like the image of a wingspan of an aeroplane. The shape extended right across the road and a short length either side.
I now estimate the width to be approximately 50 feet in total. The bright white lights were at the tip of each wing and it highlighted a small vertical construction a few feet in from each tip, between the white and the orange light. This seemed to give it the appearance of an old aircraft, yet the whole wingspan itself seemed made of a smooth shiny material.
There was a bright white light at the centre, just below the wingspan, and also a glowing dome of white above the wingspan, similar in a way to a cockpit, in which I could see the top half of two figures.
My immediate thought was that it was an aircraft, the whole image coming slowly towards me but was clearly getting lower. The white lights on the wings began rocking up and down, appearing as if the aircraft was having difficulty in remaining straight and about to ditch onto the road before me. I didn't really know what to do.
I believed that if it was to land on the road then it would surely be right in front of me or on top of me, but either way I would not be able to avoid a certain crash and I feared for my life.
Those brief moments as it came closer seemed like an eternity, almost happening in slow motion. I checked my rear view mirror but there was no vehicle behind me. There was no place for me to steer the car off the road so I wondered whether my best option was to brake or just to keep on going and hope to avoid a crash.
I gasped a huge sigh of relief as the aircraft passed over me, mightily relieved that a crash was avoided after all. Strangely, as the aircraft passed over the car I can not remember any particular noise, not do I remember seeing any form of tail to the aircraft.
I glanced back and forth between my rear view mirror and wing mirror anxious to see the shape pass fully over, but I could see nothing. I quickly stopped the car and got out; looking back down the dark road I could neither see nor hear anything.
Trying to make sense of it all, I wondered if the aircraft had ditched into a field beyond where I could see in the darkness. So, I jumped back into the car and grabbed my mobile to dial 999 and report the incident to the Police. Realising I did not know my exact location, and therefore not able to direct anyone to the site, I quickly drove a few hundred yards down the road until I came to a sign. I was on the edge of a village called Cwm Llinau.
I dialled 999, asked for the Police (recorded as 9.24pm), and reported what I had witnessed.
The female Police Officer was unable to locate my position as Cwm Llinau was not on her map. I rolled the car slowly forward trying to find something giving the location. Within a couple of hundred feet there was a sign for a small caravan park and I gave the Police Officer the name and area telephone code and number.
The Police Officer told me she would have a police car out to the area but also check with the RAF if there were any aircraft in the area. She kept checking my location and asking details of the incident.
Eventually she came back to me and said that, although there had been a Hercules (an RAF military aircraft) in the area earlier on that evening, there was nothing scheduled there now. I offered to stay in the location to see the Police Officers, but she said it was not necessary.
I sat in my car for a short time to gather my composure, I thought there was going to be a certain crash, one which I may not have survived, and I could only sit and shake with fright, relief and disbelief.
As I was driving home I received a call from the Police. This time it was a male Officer and he checked all the details through with me again and asked me to confirm my location.
By that time I was on the border of Machynlleth, which I confirmed with three teenagers who were passing by. He confirmed that no aircraft reported to be in the area and no other calls had been received reporting a crash. The Police Officer told me that one of his colleagues lived in that particular valley and they were contacting him.
On arriving home in Aberystwyth I was still shaking, which was only to eventually relent after about an hour.
That night I contacted the Ministry of Defence (MoD) at RAF Cosford, Shropshire. They told me that there were no aircraft in the area at 9.20pm and they had not received any incident report.
They stated that there had been a Hercules aircraft in the area, but it was much earlier in the evening, but nothing else. They also commented that there would likely be no aircraft flying as low as I had described as it would be extremely dangerous, particularly with the recent strong winds.
I then contacted Air Traffic Control at Cardiff Airport, who confirmed no aeroplanes had travelled via the Machynlleth area from their airport.
Seeking to find some sort of sense from it all, I contacted the airport in Welshpool. They too confirmed that there were no aircraft in the area, indeed, their landing lights had been switched off earlier in the evening as they were not expecting any arrivals.
On the Saturday morning I contacted Caernarfon Airfield in Gwynedd. Again, I was informed that they had no knowledge of any aircraft being in that area at that time. Infact, they stated that they have no flights at all after dark.
Later on Saturday I went to the Police Station to see if anything else had been reported. They seemed only concerned by the fact that no crash had occurred and so there were no injuries or fatalities. They told me that RAF had a Hercules aircraft in the area at the time I reported the incident, completely contradicting what I was told the night before, and they said that it was a Hercules that I witnessed.
It seemed pointless to argue the point, so I left. The wingspan of a Hercules is 132 feet 7 inches, the aircraft I had seen was less than half that size, at approximately 50 feet in total width. The cockpit on a Hercules lies beneath the wingspan, yet on the aircraft I had seen the cockpit (or what I believe was a cockpit) was above the wingspan.
Although I can not say what the aircraft was, I can not claim with any certainty it was of alien nature. However, it remains 'unidentified' and was a 'flying object', so I have to refer to it as a UFO. With it being a clear sighting at very close range, with occupants being visible, the term for such an event is a 'Close Encounter of the Third Kind'.
What is perhaps worrying is that, despite a clear incident occurring, I have received no contact from the RAF. I can only assume that their philosophy is that if it doesn't show on radar then it doesn't exist, a somewhat worrying viewpoint in these modern times.
So, if anyone out there saw anything around Machynlleth or in the near vicinity on Friday 27 April please let me know. This is a mystery that I would dearly love to solve. In the meantime, the memory of the whole experience lives on, but I count my blessings to still be alive!"
Article by Colin Grethe
More about Weird Wales...
your comments
tom, carmarthen west wales
I was in a lodge near Llanidloes, The trewythen lodges to be exact for several days of this week and on two nights,last night and the night before i saw 3 very bright white spheres in the sky to big and bright to be stars and the fact that they moved gave it away. Two lights were vertical to each other about 100 ft apart and at a low altitude and the 3rd light was below it at an equal distance from both lights to form a triangle shape im not certain if it was 1 UFO or 3 seperate UFO'S. the lights would fade out and around 20 seconds later they would re-appear with the same brightness as a magnesium strip burning. as they were unidentified and flying then they are techniqually UFO'S but the concept of aliens i dont know yet but i have to wonder after having seen what i saw
Fri Aug 7 15:00:33 2009
Anthony Surrey
I believe all those that dismiss sightings and experiences involving strange lights and ufo's are actually scared to accept that there is possibilities of life outside our solar system. Maybe you should all grow up and accept the fact that maybe, we are not alone and that it is not god looking down on us, but something else.
Tue Jul 14 13:05:09 2009
John Hanson
I'm a retired Police Officer from the West Midlands who has catalogued the majority of UFO events from 1940 to the present date contained in five Volumes, if anyone wants to add their storeiesease get in touch especially.
Thu May 7 10:11:36 2009
Kelly Perkins from Llandre
I have also seen what i belived to be a UFO infact it was one and it seemed to be a mother ship , a massive black UFO with yellow and red lights and recently i and my family have seen a smaller UFO nearly opposite our house it was a triangular shape and was a bright metal but from a not very far distance looked like a metal ball in the sky , it hoverd as i watched telly until i noticed it . truly AMAZING.
Sun Apr 12 19:59:59 2009
Darren Evans
I live in Mallwyd. Its' a quiet place were i live until late at night when u get aeroplanes coming over usually about 10 to 10.30 pm and belive me them hercule fly low they shake the house .anyway i belive u as i live in a little village it gets a bit dark at night .and the night sky is loverly i was wathcing something last night while i was having a cigarette ,as ive seen plenty of planes going over at night this was at 4 in the moring did not look like a plane it was well up in the sky but it just looked werd.Loads of flashing light green red orange it probably was a plane, anyway i totally belive u Colin
Fri Mar 6 11:13:08 2009
Penny, Stonegate
I was a child of 10 in 1968 when with my mother and sister in 1968 we used to sit at our huge window in the evenings and watch the strangest objects travelling vertically up and down above and across the skyline of south London. This culminated one night when we watched a huge burning ball changing colour, angle and direction as it zig-zagged across the sky. The next day the papers were full of 'fireball hits britain'. Apparently it was a meteorite that travelled across the UK and buried itself in a bog, never to be found. But now I can't find any articles relating to it, or any internet searches.! Does anyone know how I could track down contemporary reporting?
Sun Jan 11 17:04:43 2009
Justin McNeil from South Wales
Justin McNeil South WalesNew years eve 2008-2009 not sure of exact time but it was late at night possibly 12-3am. A bright orange dot was noticed by me and my friends just above the horizon. I first thought it was a firework but as it was so slow and lasted so long this was ruled out. It moved up slowly until it reached pretty much straight above us. Then flickered a few times and disappeared. It was visible for around 2-3 minutes. We don’t think it was a plane due to it colour but more to the point, it was really foggy and cloudy. If it were a plane, it would have had ! to have been really low for us to see it so clearly but there was no noise to hear. A friend of mine had seen two others that night, I only saw the one. I have no idea what it was and id love to find out. The idea of it being and alien spacecraft is a ridiculous assumption but it has baffled me. I don’t believe it to be a Chinese sky lantern as it was travelling way to fast, plus I do not believe a candle flame would be bright enough to see so clearly so far away in such dense cloud and fog
Sat Jan 3 13:44:12 2009
Carrie Bates, Aberystwyth
I was a student at Aberystwyth between 1979-1983. I cant remember the exact month but it would've been between autumn '82 and summer of 1983. I lived with my boyfriend at the time on South Marine Terrace, and we had a perfect sea view from our bay window. He was a birdwatcher so had all his telescopes, and cameras at the ready for any birds flying by. WE had 2 friends around....we were talking..it was a lovey sunny day.....suddenly I saw an intense bright light out to sea, it was hovering , then moved up, down, left right, disapeared, then reappeared, at incredible speeds....all of us saw it.....my boyfriends grabbed his camera and took a photo which I have to this day. Becuase of the speed it was travelling, it looks like it is a scratch on the photo (ie on the negative, it is a streak of light across a clear blue sky)...what I need is an expert photographer or someone to prove it is not a scratch on the negative.....any ideas anyone? I shall have to hunt for the negative.....could I blow the photo up to see if it would reveal anything further?
Wed Aug 13 07:05:01 2008
Rose Trachim, Chingford, London
I believe you Colin after all why would you want to make something up like this? I am 53 years old now but something happened in 1968.... ..When I was 14 in 1968 I was looking at the dark evening sky with my mother in south london. A bright white object appeared in the sky travelling from I think, east to west. It was about the size of venus or Jupiter. It made no sound at all. It moved rapidly across the horizon entering a cloud directly above. We waited for it to appear out the other side of the cloud but instead it came out the side changing direction in a split second to go back the direction it was travelling. It made a 90 degree angle just changing direction without turning at all. I often wonder to this day what this object was.Don't forget this was 1968. Technology was not like it is today. Rose
Mon Mar 17 09:08:01 2008
Glenn Greenacre, Pontardawe
I work within a small psychology team working with learning disabled adults in the West Wales area. In some ways I am a trained clinical observer as objective observation are a component of my work. Some years ago in the 80's I think I may have witnessed at least two UFO's. I think both were also witnessed by other "professional" observers such as police, military etc. The first was a very large metallic triangle with lights on its tips following the A470 from Merthyr toward brecon at about 19:00 hrs and also something which resembled a fairground carosel with a multitude of coloured lights which appeared in full daylight of a summer's evening. I saw it appear as a single bright light over the mountain only for it to turn into the afore mentioned object. My friend and myself ran out into the street ( without shoes) to look at the object. we watched it for about 5 minutes as it moved acrss the valley out of sight. Both events were witnessed by the people that were with me at the time and i am sure their description of the events will be as clear today as mine. I did not report them at the time as i felt i would not be believed. However i completed some research some time ago and found that other people also reported the same events.Dont worry. You're not mad.stran!ge, unexplained things happen in life. Enjoy it!
Sun Dec 9 13:28:17 2007
Mike White-Smythe - Builth Wells
Colin - I find this all a bit strange - Maybe you need to find a job with some responsibility, to take your mind off such foolish fantasies!
Wed Jun 27 09:57:39 2007
Niamh Mulrine form Omagh
What utter nonsense. Please grow up all of you.
Mon Jun 18 12:16:27 2007
Paul Jay, Willenhall
I believe every word you wrote Colin, I had a very odd experience. A few weeks ago I was driving along the A44 betwen Llangurig and Aberystwyth, about half way along I was startled to see an old green aircraft only about 15 feet, if that, from the ground. It was making no noise which struck me as odd, it was to my right and looked as if it was about to cross the road and crash. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw nothing cross the road, there was no noise and no crash, the plane had just vanished. About a week later I was watching Foyles War on TV. They showed a sequence of a bouncing bomb being tested during WW2, to my surprise the aircraft being used was exactly the same as the one I saw on the way to Aberystwyth (but Foyles war had used archive film). I have driven that route several times since and have not seen any plane again. I am also puzzled as to why the aircraft was flying so low in such a hilly srea, why it made no noise and why there was no crash. I am convinced I saw a ghost plane from WW2.
Wed Jun 6 12:56:08 2007
Gar Adams from Madera, California, USA
When I was fifteen, I saw three UFOs in daylight about fifty yards away from me at an altitude just high enough to clear the treetops. They were a metallic gray color, flat on the top and the bottom like a truncated cone. They made no noise and after crossing the vineyard they were flying above, they left a red streak in the sky and disappeared. I hope that someday soon we will find out who or what the pilots of these craft really are.
Mon May 14 09:50:41 2007
Douglas A.S.Higginson Esq. Perth, Western Australia.
Thank you for this article Colin. I believe every word you have written. A very strange and frightening event for sure. I do hope you find out more about this for your own peace of mind. I may add, that I have never had any thing like that happen to me.
Sat May 5 14:51:08 2007
Phil Bishop.
I would like to say to Colin that you will have to go through life knowing what you have seen but never getting anyone to belive you. It's a shame, these things happen like this but it looks like that's the way it will always be until they or it want us to be involved.
Sat May 5 14:50:18 2007
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