Ufologist Margaret Fry submitted the photo on behalf of the local family who gave it to her to investigate.
She says she gave it to an UFO magazine for a photography expert to examine and enhance. He apparently concluded the object next to the helicopter was indeed an UFO as it was NOT a bird, balloon, parachute jumper etc.
Margaret said that the photo was taken on Lladudno Beach in the summer of 1998 by a couple and their young son who were watching a display by the helicopter from RAF Valley, Anglesey.
The film wasn't developed until two years later, in March 2000, when the couple finally finished the reel of film. The amazing thing is, they had forgotten about the Llandudno photos they had taken two years earlier and were using the camera in 2000 to photograph UFOs in the shape of white arrows they were seeing regularly over West Shore, Llandudno.
your comments
Ryan Clough
It looks like a helicopter in the distance.
Fri Sep 5 08:48:56 2008
Trust No 1
The photograph is of a child's balloon. As anyone can see, the photograph is taken at what is clearly some sort of Fun Fair. I am a seasoned student of the UFO phenomena but I like to approach the subject objectively, that way, if you see something, you've seen something.
Mon Mar 3 08:48:38 2008
Jane McCarthy
My husband and I both saw a helicopter chasing what appeared to be a formation of silver balls. My husband is the biggest sceptic but he drew what he saw which I have placed in my website. One of the silver balls flew out of the formation. The coincidence is that we were on my way out of Dublin to attend The Irish Ufo Conference in Shannon. I was actually speaking at that conference - to see our account of the incident and my husband's drawing please go to psychicinvestigators.net
Thu Feb 7 09:37:01 2008
J Nash from Rhuddlan
The flashing orange cloud over the Gt Orme is caused by the reflection of the "plume" from the offshore gas rig being reflected in low level clouds. If you see if from Rhuddlan it makes it look as if the whole of the north end of Rhyl is on fire.
Thu Dec 13 08:05:45 2007
A, Wales
Has anyone seen an orange cloud above the Gt Orme at night which appears to flash? Anyone know what it is?
Fri Nov 16 08:29:28 2007
Shasney
Strange. A weather balloon attached to a helicopter, that can be very dangerous for the helicopter, don't you think? Problem not solved for me!
Mon Jul 16 10:40:25 2007
Simon, Kinmel Bay
A few years ago before I had the digital camera my wife and I were having a picnic at Treader Bay. Coming in to land were at least a couple of propellered aeroplanes closely followed by what seemed like a silvery sphere more or less the same apparent size as depicted in your picture. These objects are obviously under intelligent control but I can speculate no more except that I assume they belong to something way beyond our present-day understanding. They might be something completely different from how they appear to us.
Mon Jul 2 08:46:06 2007
Brian from Knaresborough
Undisclosed from Llandudno
"U.F.O.s are a lot bigger than helicopters"
How do you know that? Are you basing it on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"? I'm sure I saw some little ones in a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon once.
Thu Jun 7 09:36:35 2007
Lenny Judd from San Diego CA.
It's too small to really tell if it is anything. It looks like a balloon, and how do we know if someone came there with a balloon and just let it go by accident? It's just too hard to tell. It is a U.F.O. because it's an unidentified flying object but I highly doubt it's a space craft of some sort.
Fri May 18 09:54:46 2007
Undisclosed from Llandudno
They don't sell balloons on the prom or the pier at the present day and I don't recall there ever being balloons sold there. U.F.O.s are a lot bigger than helicopters. Although it may be further away from the photographer than the helicopter, it'd have to be VERY far away.
Thu Apr 5 08:26:08 2007
Jyothi Yalpi
Well everybody must have known about the Roswell incident. No one can deny that fact that they found dead aliens whose weird face made it look like a humans.
Mon Jan 8 10:30:51 2007
Atul Roy
If coincidences can occur on Earth, there can be a coincidence that intelligent Aliens also exist.
Coincidental full form of the word "true": t (toughness) r (rightly) u (understands) e (encouragement).
Mon Dec 18 10:01:26 2006
Wesley Zane Twiggs, USA
It might be searching the world for intelligence.
Fri Dec 15 12:18:11 2006
David Boylan, Cheshire
I think some people need to understand what a UFO is. UFO means Unidentified Flying Object and does not immediately imply a visiting alien spaceship. A child's balloon, viewed from the right angle, in the right light, from a great enough distance would be unidentifiable to an observer and so would qualify as a UFO.
The child who had just lost it, on the other hand, knows it's just a balloon.
It is indisputable that UFOs exist but the question is whether they are are extra-terrestrial or just earthly objects that are for some reason difficult to identify at the time. Having said that, given the size of the known universe, it would be highly improbable and highly arrogant to think that life does not exist elsewhere.
Mon Oct 23 13:50:30 2006
Kim from Georgia
Wow, stumbled across this site and didn't get a chance to read all the comments but have to say - we're pretty active right now when it comes to these UFOs - especially the white glowing spheres - husband thought it was a satellite at first but quickly changed his mind as we discovered how quickly they can move, another interesting fact - they are in the shape of arrows - it's almost like a star formation such as Orion's belt or the Big Dipper - but every time I see them - I see the arrow constellation shape in the sky. The brilliant white globe of light can change colors, as well as what I think is camouflage itself to look like an airplane or helicopter when it needs to.
Mon Oct 9 11:53:16 2006
Amanda Berry, Cardiff
Looks like some sort of balloon. I've seen a few escaped balloons that I thought for a second were UFOs. One I saw on Valentines day was red metalic and heart shaped. I also saw a blow up Mr Blobby floating above the field in front of Cardiff City Hall which got caught in a tree and bobbing up and down in the wind looked like he was trying to get help LOL
Sun Mar 19 03:37:45 2006
Chris Hughes from Peterborough
Sea Kings have 5 bladed rotors, the Wessex has 4, so it's a Wessex - you can see 3 of the 4 blades and they are at right angles to each other. Also, the Sea king has wheels in sponsons, the Wessex wheels are uncovered...
As for "Balloon or UFO?", I'd really like to get a good resolution scan and examine it in better detail, the resolution of the image above is too poor to be precise.
However, when I was a lad in Lloyd St School in the early 1960's I recall seeing a small, very bright object in the sky above the Orme during the lunch break. It was perfectly still, as though hovering. Maybe there are beings other than those from NW England who visit Llandudno in the summer!
Sun Mar 12 20:15:14 2006
Nick from Llandudno
I live in Llandudno and I know that wasn't a UFO and I know that the rescue helicopters in the Conwy area have weather balloons attached to them.
Therefore that was a weather balloon. Problem solved!
Wed Jul 20 10:32:10 2005
We're no longer accepting comments on this page
