(1971/04/21) Sopley, UK 35 air / ground radar UFOs

More often than not the UFO community focuses on cases that are sadly lacking in objective data. While many radar cases don't have the raw radar print-outs attached in digital format it's nice to know that at some point (assuming they're not deleted / erased due to retention policies) they'll be available for public consumption.

One such case is the April 21, 1971 incident reported by Wing Commander Alan Turner, MBE, over southern England. This report is particularly fascinating because, as it was put in the 'Alderney Lights' documentary,

“

Narrator: Turner examined the blips on his screen and determined the only thing that could be moving at that speed was the most advanced fighter of the day -- the Lightning. But the sheer number of aircraft indicated was simply unbelievable. Turner: It was so unusual. People just looked at it and said, "What is going on?" We're talking 30, 35 aircraft. No Air Defense Commander in his right mind would get the entire Lightning force in one location. He'd have absolutely nothing left with which to defend the United Kingdom Air Defense region. You could cut the air with a knife. It became electric rapidly. People were -- more than surprised. [1] (emphasis added)

”

In response to this Turner rerouted a RAF Canberra jet returning from West Germany to intercept.

“

Turner: I kept asking the pilot, "Are you visual?" And then he said, the voice sounded quite jittery, "I don't know what that was, it was a quarter of a mile away, climbing like the clappers and we saw it on radar. We did not see it visually. There were seven technically different radars all seeing exactly the same thing. Two radars at Southern radar, two radars at Heathrow, two at the fighter control establishment, and the airborne one with the Canberra bomber. [2] (emphasis added)

”

All of the data and physical evidence from these observations (video tape of radar; air/ground, land-line, and tape recordings between controllers) were collected and sent to the MoD.

It has yet to be released.

Turner sums up the entire experience in a way that one can't help but think that there was something of a highly extraordinary nature in the air that's still being ignored by the scientific community,

“

Turner: I'm absolutely certain that it was some very strange phenomenon on radar. Which no one has yet come up with any sort of rational explanation for.[3]

”

Turner, who was awarded the MBE in 1984 and retired from the force in 1995, has been assured that there were no training operations, classified or otherwise, going on at the time and there were no weather balloons or probes in the area.^[4]

Contents 1 Scotland on Sunday - RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar mystery 2 Media 3 Maps 4 Notes 5 References 6 Further Reading 7 External Links

Scotland on Sunday - RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar mystery

Wing Commander Alan Turner MBE was sworn to secrecy after he tracked a series of unidentified objects soaring over southern England at incredible speeds.

But now the airman, who was honoured by the Queen for his years of distinguished service, has broken his silence and spoken publicly for the first time about his extraordinary experience.

Turner, 64, a former head of air traffic control at RAF Lossiemouth, insists it is "stupid and arrogant" to rule out the existence of extra-terrestrials and is open to the suggestion that he witnessed craft from another world.

But the Ministry of Defence stressed last night there were "realistic explanations" for such reports.

The incident, which has baffled and haunted Turner for decades, took place at RAF Sopley on the south-west coast of England in the summer of 1971.

At the time he was Duty Military Supervisor and had the responsibility of monitoring the skies on radar screens for potential Soviet incursions.

On the day in question, Turner and his 13 colleagues were alarmed by a sudden and unexpected development.

He said: "I can clearly remember people shouting: 'What the hell is that?' I got to a console and people were loudly telling me to look to the east of Salisbury Plain.

"Twenty miles east of the eastern extremity was a series of returns, or radar blips, which were appearing in that position. There were five of them initially. Then six and then seven all following the same track.

"They were tracking south-east, each exactly six to seven miles apart and moving at exactly the same speed. At about 40 miles from the point they appeared on radar, they disappeared, to be followed almost immediately by a replacement at the point of origin.

"The objects were about 3,000ft above ground level when they first appeared and climbed so rapidly that, by the time they disappeared from radar they were in excess of 60,000ft.

"To climb to such a height in only 40 miles was beyond the ability of almost any fighter aircraft at that time."

In a bid to solve the mystery Turner diverted an RAF Canberra jet, which was returning from West Germany, to intercept the intruders.

"When the pilot got within a mile or so of one particular blip, he reported, in a very agitated voice, that his radar had picked up something on his port side that was 'climbing like the clappers'. Neither the pilot nor his navigator made any visual contact with whatever it was."

Within days, Turner was summoned into the Squadron Leader's office and questioned by two men^[who?], who wore civilian clothes and were not identified, about the incident.

"I, along with all the others who were in the room on that day, were told in no uncertain terms not to relate what we had seen until cleared to do so."

Turner, who was awarded the MBE in 1984 and retired from the force in 1995, has been assured that there were no training operations, classified or otherwise, going on at the time and there were no weather balloons or probes in the area.

"I have no idea what they were, but I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility that they were UFOs. There is certainly a chance that we have been visited by extra-terrestrials," he said. "It is terribly arrogant and silly to think that we are alone in the universe."

He feels the time is right to end his silence and has accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at an international UFO conference in Pontefract, Yorkshire, next month.

"I have spoken to three ex-Air Force mates, who held senior positions, and they have seen similar things, but did not report them as they felt their personal integrity would be questioned. That is why I kept quiet for so long, but I know what I saw."^[4]