Does the UK have a blind spot on UFO sightings?

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Does the UK have a blind spot on UFO sightings? 7 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleFelicity SimperAlex Dunlop/BBCRetired pilot Chris Crowther recalls seeing something he could not explain while flying over NorfolkAfter more than four decades in the cockpit, retired pilot Chris Crowther has seen just about everything the skies can offer. Over a 42-year career, he logged an extraordinary 22,000 flying hours on routes around the globe.

But one incident has puzzled with him for nearly half a century. It happened in 1978, as Crowther, who lives near Wroxham, Norfolk, was piloting a light aircraft on approach to Norwich Airport. Ben Debuse/BBCA computer-generated image created by the depicts the object Crowther says he sawIn a split second, he says, something crossed his path – something he still cannot explain.

The Details

Decades later, the memory remains as vivid as ever, raising a question that continues to intrigue aviation professionals and the public alike: what exactly are we seeing in our skies? "We were coming across The Wash at 7,500ft (2,300m) when Eastern Radar called up and said, 'We've got unidentified traffic, opposite direction, fast moving... height unknown,'" Crowther recalls.

"We looked up and in that split second, something went past our starboard wing tip, so fast it was very hard to define, but I still have the image in my mind of what looked like a dozen dark objects, perhaps the size of a football... something like that, that went winging right past our wing tip... and then they were gone.

"Getty ImagesIn the United States, witnesses have testified about claimed UFO encounters and even discussed alleged secretive government programmesCrowther did not report this sighting, but his account is far from unique. In recent years, sightings of claimed unidentified flying objects (UFOs) – now more commonly referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) – have shifted from the fringes of public curiosity into mainstream discussion. Nowhere has this shift been more pronounced than in the United States, where the government has released a tranche of declassified documents and military pilots, intelligence officials, and whistleblowers have come forward under oath to share their experiences.

ReutersIn his latest film Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg returns to the subject of UFOsTheir testimony has described encounters with objects capable of manoeuvres far beyond known human technology, alongside claims of secretive crash retrieval programmes. While scepticism remains, the growing official acknowledgement has helped fuel global debate and renewed interest in the phenomenon. Film director Steven Spielberg has returned to the subject, which he first explored in 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with his new movie Disclosure Day.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.