SIGHTINGS AROUND THE ISLE OF WIGHT

From the information that I have received, it is known that since the mid nineteen seventies, there have been two or three sightings reported around the Island each year. But, since the media have been airing wider views on the phenomenon, more people are coming forward with information about sightings that they have had.

Following a live radio phone-in, which I co-presented with Alex Dyke, at Isle of Wight Radio on Thursday 26th September, I received four phone calls the following evening from people who did not wish to talk live on the radio. This brought me to the conclusion that there were quite a lot of sightings occuring, but not many being reported and investigated, due to the fact that a lot of people were not wanting to talk publically about their experiences. Then came a conversation between myself and a reporter from the Isle of Wight County Press, about a sighting reported to them by a member of the public, in which a pulsating light was seen passing over the Solent. An article was then published on the 18th October which included my contact number for anyone with further information. On that Friday alone, seven sightings were reported to me, of which three coincided with the Solent sighting. A further twelve sightings were reported within the next week (of which 6 have been identified). All of these sightings were observed during the month of October, but since then only a few sightings have been reported.

Stuart Shore

GUFOIS SITINGS ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT

14th January 1976
A large rectangular shape seen over a house in Ryde. The object, which made no noise, disappeared at great speed. No explanation could be given for this sighting.

24th March 1977
An illuminated 'baton' was sited by a housewife from Lake. At about 4 p.m. Mrs. Newton of Sandown Road, Lake, was standing outside the front of her house with her ten year old son, when both saw the object. "The nearest I can get to descibing the object is that it was rather like a baton, white and looked like a length of strip-lighting". The object, she said, was horizontal, then it turned to vertical, went back to horizontal and continued in this fashion. Both Mrs. Newton and her son's descriptions tallied but to date no explanation to this sighting can be made.

28th May 1977
A ring of lights was seen over an area between Calbourne and Newport. At about 11 p.m., a man had just returned to his home at Calbourne, when he saw a 'ring of bright lights' in the sky. He then told two of his friends and they came out to see the lights. The lights were seen to be travelling at a very fast rate towards Newport. These lights were also seen by a person in Niton at the same time.

13th September 1978
The sighting of a UFO was claimed by a couple in Ryde. At about 6.30 a.m. a ball of light was seen over the Puckpool area. After using binoculars the object was seen to look like a 'round disc'. The object moved left and right, did manoeuvres, then moved off in the direction of Bembridge.

Mid October 1978
Three sightings of lights and a saucer shaped object were seen in the Newport and Arreton areas. The 'flying saucer' was seen by a witness high over the Victoria Recreation Ground in Newport. The saucer moved in a southerly direction and disappeared from sight.

October 1980
One evening a witness was waiting for a bus in Ryde at about 11 p.m. when he noticed a bright light travelling from south to north. He assumed that it was an aeroplane, as it was travelling at the right speed for one, but there was no sound accompanying the light. Whilst watching, the light suddenly shot up with increasing acceleration in a steep upward curve and disappeared through a gap in the clouds.

3rd July 1981
At approximately 11 p.m. a Ryde woman believed that she saw a flying saucer hovering over the Solent. Mrs. Steel was looking out of her bedroom window when she saw a misty white light just behind the clouds. The light made about a dozen large sweeping circles in quick succession and then disappeared.

18th August 1988
A veterinary assistant saw a UFO from her house at Whitehouse Lane, Newport. The lady and two friends spotted a bright white disc in the western sky. "The object seemed to come towards us, then turned sharply to the right exposing two flashing red lights at its rear, then shot off in a northerly direction at a tremendous speed after about ten minutes."

July 1989
A Wootton woman looked out of her bedroom window and saw what she believed to be a UFO. At about 11.55 p.m. Mrs. Smith was looking out of the window when she saw a brilliant white object in the sky. "It was completely round and a mass of lights. It went right over the house. At first I thought it was a star, but it was definitely not, and it was not an aircraft," said Mrs. Smith. No-one else had reported the same sight and no explanation to the sighting can yet be found.

12th September 1993
Between 5.30 and 5.40 p.m. Mrs. Bryan of Freshwater went to let her cat out when she saw an object coming from the direction of Golden Hill towards her house. She saw, "this great flash in the air", but as it drew closer, just above the chimney pots, she could see it was "..saucer shaped. about as big as a large radar dish", with red and orange lights at the bottom, and triangular windows all the way around out of which came strong golden to orange lights. The saucer itself was a khaki colour and the top was a metallic green which she had never seen before. As the craft passed over head she heard, "....a soothing harmonic engine sound."

August 1994
One evening whilst walking on the track from Mill Road, Yarmouth, to Freshwater Bay with his son, a man spotted a very bright light in the sky at approximately 8.00 p.m. This was joined by four more at a height estimated at 1,000 feet or more above Brighstone Down. The sighting lasted only a few seconds before the lights vanished.

14th October 1995
At about 10.28 p.m. Mr Hinch and another witness had left a pub knowing that they would be able to make it to another pub in time for 'last orders', which would be 11 p.m. Both witnesses had only one drink as they do not believe in drinking and driving. They had gone as far as Linn Bottom tip, on their way to Havenstreet, when suddenly a huge light appeared on the bonnet of the car. Thinking that it was an oncoming motorbike, they swerved across the road to avoid collision. Mr Hinch said, "the light was huge ...about the size of a car". When they swerved the light vanished and they continued on their journey to the next pub. On arrival they discovered they'd missed 'last orders'. The journey, which should have taken twelve minutes, took half an hour. When they returned the next day to the spot where the sighting occured, they could find nothing in the surrounding area which could account for what they had seen.

March 1996
At 01.38 a.m. on a clear starry night a witness observed from her house in Ventnor three objects. They moved silently at a distance of about 300 yards from where she was standing. One object was a large silver saucer shape with bright orange lights underneath and a dome shape on top. The object was accompanied by two others slightly smaller in size. These were observed for about 25 minutes. The larger object proceeded towards the radar station at the top of St. Boniface Down while the two smaller ones went towards Bonchurch and ended up apparently hovering over the sea. Soon after this all three objects came together and went away.

September 1996
At 12.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning a man was cycling back from work to his house in West Cowes when he saw a bright but hazy light over East Cowes. The light was stationary and a dull buzzing sound could be heard. This was also seen by another witness.

12th October 1996
At approximately 9.30 p.m. a lady was driving her car along Canteen Lane near Whitely Bank when she and her children saw a metallic object moving across the road in front of them. The object was oval and had no light source and made no sound. The lady stopped the car to take a closer look but her children became distressed and pleaded with her to carry on with the journey, which she did.

12th October 1996
At approximately 5.30 a.m. a lady in Shanklin observed a glowing orange light in the direction of the Solent. At the same time a UFO investigator in Littlehampton, West Sussex, noticed the same object in the same area. Shortly after the object disappeared, aircraft were seen flying in the vicinity of where the lights were seen.
After phoning the local airports the next day, no information was given as to what these lights were. Southampton Airport told me, " I am sorry, I can offer no information as the Air Traffic Control Unit was not in operation during that time!"
After further investigation it became apparent that Southampton Airport is actually on 24 hour stand-by.

At 6.30 a.m. on the same Sunday three independent witnesses, one in Newport, one in Shanklin and one in Ryde, saw a bright pulsating light travelling from west to east across the Solent at a medium altitude. The light moved to a higher attitude to overtake planes without a change of speed during the change in direction. After disappearing past the horizon at a fast rate there were again aircraft seen circling in the vicinity of the sighting.
No explanation to these sightings has yet been found.

16th October 1996
At 4.00 a.m. a man observed a pulsating light from his house at Horsebridge Hill in Newport. The light was travelling westwards when it stopped moving but continued to flash. It then proceeded north-west and the light changed to form a collection of lights in a kite shape. At the same time another set of lights of the same arrangement was seen flying in the opposite direction along the same flight path. Soon after this both sets of lights disappeared from sight.