Police chase UFO over Cardiff (police helicoptor almost collide)

[lovuian]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2160814/Police-chase-UFO-over-Cardiff.html

A police helicopter crew gave chase to a UFO after it almost collided with their aircraft near a military base.

The pilot was forced to bank sharply to avoid being hit by the mystery aircraft as the helicopter was returning to the Ministry of Defence base of St Athan, near Cardiff.

The three crew, who described the UFO as 'flying saucer-shaped', then gave chase, getting as far as the North Devon coast before they ran low on fuel, it was reported.

The police aircraft was hovering at 500ft and waiting clearance to land on June 7, when those onboard spotted the other craft hurtling towards them from below.
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A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "We can confirm the Air Support Unit sighted an unusual aircraft. This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation

[ensho]

1. kick

nt

[Echo In Light]

2. Interesting

[gulfcoastliberal]

3. What, no ridicule for the pilots? No snide remarks like they ned to be drug tested?

Funny how the ridicule brigade is so quiet when it comes to UFO sightings by trained pilots and other professionals.

We send probes (and want to send people) to supposedly dead planets, like the Moon and Mars, and the ridiculers want us to believe that other advanced species would never bother to investigate our civilization? Yeah, ok.

[Echo In Light]

5. Professional Ridiculer's usually stick to attacking certain points of any conspiratorial issue

Open interaction of ideas and getting to the heart of the matter usually isn't the primary matter fueling their particular impetus, I've found ... it is instead sneering and jeering and name-calling any who dare question consensus reality. Cyber "bullies," if you will. The snide bullying is what gets em off.

[skepticscott]

8. Slight difference

The moon and Mars and other planets are close enough to send slow-moving spacecraft to within a reasonable time period. To send a ship from a planet in another solar system is an entirely different matter. Sure, maybe there are civilizations out there that would like to check us out if they knew where we were and if they could get here in something less than a few hundred years, but those are two big "ifs". In any case, all you have here (again) is some airborne object, or what appeared to be one, that is presently unidentified. There is (as always) NO evidence whatsoever that it's extraterrestrial. When you have that, then maybe the "ridicule brigade" will pay some serious attention.

And why it it always assumed that being a "professional" like a pilot or a police officer automatically makes someone a better observer, less subject to misperception and self-delusion and less apt to stretch the truth a little to make a good story or to keep themselves from looking foolish?

[alarimer]

12. Oh Please.

This is utter bullshit. I guaranteed it was not an alien craft. There are no alien UFO's. There is ALWAYS a rational, scientific explanation for these sightings. Usually they are mistaken for something else- some other kind of airplane or helicopter or experimental plane. SOMETHING rational and logical. There is absolutely no fucking evidence of any kind of alien visitation. NONE whatsoever, no matter what "believer" wish to think. Trained pilots are just as susceptible to being wrong as anyone else. Eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable, for everything from crimes to stuff like this. People are often wrong about how fast things move, how far away stuff it, etc. I think they probably lacked an explanation for whatever they saw at the time but I guarantee there is a rational explanation that has nothing to do with aliens. You may not like it but this kind of woo has NEVER been proven EVER.

[anigbrowl]

20. Unidentified =/= Alien

Could have been military, could have been a whole lot of thins. There isn't enough detail int he article to draw any kind of conclusion.

Meantime, we don't send probes to the moon and mars to investigate their civilizations, but to study their geology and potential for life (if any) in order to gain greater understanding of our own planet. I have yet to see any evidence that either body has sheltered any kind of intelligent life. By the way, the moon isn't a planet, it's a satellite.

So, it's possible that it's an alien craft, but it would be a good idea to eliminate all less-sensational possibilities first.

[skepticscott]

4. Reminds me of the old joke

about the dog chasing the car...what the heck would they do with it if they caught it?

[librechik]

7. find out what it was

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Did it have a vanity plate that said "ELVIS" on the bumper?

[Yukari Yakumo]

14. No, but it did have a "Kucinich '08" on the bumper. {nt}

uguu

[ensho]

9. our shadow govt. has all kinds and sizes of drones

some they acknowledge using, as in Iraq and Afghan. and some they do not acknowledge.

[Carnea]

10. Being a Police helicoptor I can't wait to see the footage.... still waiting.....un guys nt

[progressoid]

16. Duh, there won't be any footage.

Doncha know that the UFO's always disrupt recording devices? Remember what happened to Richard Dreyfuss' truck in Close Encounters?

Jeeez :eyes:

[lovuian]

24. The Sun has article

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1315843.ece

The source added: “After the near-collision they decided to follow it to find out what the hell it was. They belted across the Bristol Channel in pursuit, but it was too quick. They got to the North Devon coast and had to turn back because they were running low on fuel.”

The chopper is crammed with hi-tech cameras and surveillance gear, but the UFO somehow avoided being caught on film.

Strangely, the crew could not see the craft with night-vision goggles – but all said it was “clearly visible” to the naked eye on the night of June 7.

South Wales Police said last night: “We can confirm the Air Support Unit sighted an unusual aircraft. This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation.”

The MoD, which usually investigates UFO sightings, said: “We’ve heard nothing about this. But it is certainly not advisable for police helicopters to go chasing what they think are UFOs.”
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The UFO didn't get filmed even though the Police chopper had hi tech cameras

and we won't be seeing that footage but have police eye witness accounts and hell who can believe them

Now the Sun is a tabloid I admit

[momster]

11. Call Torchwood

They operate out of Cardiff.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. That was my first thought, too. LOL Still, I am not ready to write off

this "encounter" without more information.

[daleo]

26. It's probably Owen, playing around with the equipment

He's too impulsive for his own good.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. So where are the photos worthy of a news crew?

[Joanne98]

17. YAY! A UFO story from someone other than me!

:wow:

[lovuian]

25. is Yahoo a good enough source

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080620/od_afp/britainufooffbeat

Welsh police helicopter spots 'unusual aircraft'

UFO enthusiasts got a boost Friday when Welsh police confirmed that one of their helicopter crews had spotted an "unusual aircraft" flying over Cardiff earlier this month.
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An investigation into the sighting had been launched, they said.

The police clarification came after tabloid newspaper The Sun reported a UFO had "attacked" a police helicopter, following it for several miles over the Bristol Channel.

"The pilot banked sharply to avoid being hit, then launched into a high-speed pursuit. But he was forced to give up the chase as the helicopter's fuel ran low -- and the UFO escaped," the tabloid reported.

The helicopter crew had described the object as "flying saucer-shaped and circled by flashing lights," it added.

That description was rather more dramatic than the official police version, which said: "South Wales Police can confirm its air support unit sighted an unusual aircraft.

"This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation," they added in a brief statement, avoiding the use of the term "UFO", or Unidentified Flying Object.

At the time of the incident, the helicopter with three men on board was waiting to land at the St Athan RAF base near Cardiff. The sighting reportedly took place at 00:40 am (23:40 GMT) on June 8.
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Those police will report the darndest things

[Trillo]

18. Curious.

Keep us informed on any further developments.

[Garbo 2004]

19. Police said no chase, no near collision, just a sighting.

"South Wales Police can confirm its air support unit sighted an unusual aircraft. This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation," police said in a brief statement, avoiding the use of the term 'UFO', or unidentified flying object.

At the time of the incident, the helicopter with three men on board was waiting to land at the St Athan RAF base near Cardiff. The sighting reportedly took place at 00:40 am (23:40 GMT) on June 8.

South Wales Police denied there was a pursuit and indicated that the helicopter crew was never in any danger. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080620/tuk-britain-police-ufo-offbeat-a7ad41d.html

[sarcasmo]

21. An actual UFO would cause the Religious to become nuttier than they already are.

[anigbrowl]

22. Just FYI, I don't consider the Telegraph a very reliable newspaper

If you find an interesting story there I'd look for confirmation from other sources before rushing to link to it. I'd characterize it as the UK equivalent of the Washington Times.

[lovuian]

23. Here is a link from Fox News but I don't consider them a News

Source either
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,369724,00.html
but some Americans consider them a major news source

So was it a UFO or not?

That's what a lot of Britons are wondering after the U.K.'s biggest-selling newspaper reported that a police helicopter in Wales had chased a flying saucer — and the police responded by giving their own, much less dramatic account.

"Stunned police gave chase to a UFO after it attacked their helicopter near a military base," the Sun tabloid breathlessly recounted in its Friday edition. "The mystery aircraft zoomed straight at the chopper as the three-man cop crew prepared to land."

The incident apparently happened in the early morning of June 8 near Cardiff as the chopper was waiting to land at the St. Athan RAF base.

"The pilot banked sharply to avoid being hit, then launched into a high-speed pursuit," the Sun said "But he was forced to give up the chase as the helicopter's fuel ran low — and the UFO escaped."
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