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Aurigny’s Captain Ray Bowyer, 50, said he saw the strange object during a flight from Southampton.

He spotted a bright-yellow light 10 miles west of Alderney while his plane was about 30 miles from the island and at 4,000ft.
‘It was a very sharp, thin yellow object with a green area. It was 2,000ft up and stationary,’ he said.

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I thought it was about 10 miles away, although I later realised it was approximately 40 miles from us. At first, I thought it was the size of a 737.’A 737 is slightly smaller than a jumbo jet.
‘But it must have been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could have been as much as a mile wide.’

As he continued his approach to Alderney, Capt. Bowyer saw a second identical object further to the west.‘It was exactly the same but looked smaller because it was further away. It was closer to Guernsey.’
The sightings come days after reports that scientists have discovered outside our solar system an Earth-like planet capable of supporting extraterrestrial life.

I can’t explain it. At first, I thought it might have been a reflection from a vinery in Guernsey, but that would have disappeared quickly. This was clearly visual for about nine minutes.’ The sightings happened at about 3pm. Capt. Bowyer, who has flown commercial planes for about 20 years, said he had described the objects to air traffic control and filled in an incident report.
‘As I got closer to it, it became clear to me that it was tangible. I was in two minds about going towards it to have a closer look but decided against it because of the size of it. I had to think of the safety of the passengers first.’

He added that the experience had been quite scary. ‘I’m certainly not saying that it was something of another world. All I’m saying is that I have never seen anything like it before in all my years of flying.’
Paul Kelly, 31, the air traffic controller who was on duty, said the Blue Islands pilot had made a similar report, but nothing had appeared on his radar.

'The pilot from Blue Islands was en route to Jersey at the same time and as he went past Sark he described an object behind him to his left,’ he said. ‘The description was very similar to Captain Bowyer’s and they described it as being in exactly the same place. But they were looking at it from opposite sides.’
The pilot told him the object had been 1,500ft beneath his plane.

The Blue Islands plane was at 3,500ft at the time so, again, both pilots placed it at the same altitude. ‘If the object was stationary, our equipment would not have picked it up because the radar would have screened it out.’

Published 26/4/2007

Transcript of Statement - Press Club Washington:

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen and thank you for coming today. My name is Ray Bowyer and I fly a civilian airliner as Captain. I have been invited here due to my sighting last April of multiple as yet unidentified objects over the Channel Islands region of the English Channel.
This encounter lasted for 15 minutes with the first object being visible from 55 miles distant.
On nearing the object a second identical shape appeared beyond the first. Both objects were of a flattened disk shape with a dark area to the right side. They were brilliant yellow with light emanating from them. I estimated them to be up to a mile across.
I found myself astounded but curious.
But at 12 miles distant these objects were becoming uncomfortably large, and I was glad to descend and land the aircraft.
Many of my passengers saw the objects as did the pilot of another aircraft 25 miles further south. There is also possible radar information still being investigated.

A team headed by Dr. David Clarke looking at this case will shortly publish a report but I understand that at this time no definitive solution has been discovered to explain the sighting.

I have taken note of the differences between the British and U.S. reporting system. It appears that attitudes on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean are very different when it comes to the required reporting and recording of this type of event.

Air Law stipulates quite clearly that if an operating crew of an aircraft see another aircraft in a place that it should not be, then at the earliest opportunity the whole scenario is to be reported to the relevant authority.
In my case the British Civil Aviation Authority knew within 20 minutes of the sighting what was seen, as described in the flight log faxed directly to the relevant CAA office. T
he military were informed by Jersey Air Traffic Control at the same time. This is not an option; it is an obligation that crews react in this manner.
In my experience, having reported the incident as required has had no negative effect. And there was no problem with me talking about it on British television. Indeed, my company Aurigny Air Services have offered every support to date.
The assistance of Jersey ATC in releasing recorded information to myself and the investigating team has been a great benefit. I did not feel that I was in any danger of being ridiculed, because all I did was report what actually happened, as was my duty.

I heard about the multiple witness sighting at Chicago O’Hare Airport – a year ago, on November 7, 2006. I was surprised to hear how this was handled. Despite many pilots and airport personnel witnessing the object hovering over the terminal, there was no investigation by the FAA. It appears that pressure may have been applied to crew members by their company not to discuss this incident.

These witnesses were afraid to talk about what they saw, due to concerns about job security. The FAA told the witnesses that what they saw was actually not what they saw – but that it was simply weather.
I would have been shocked if I was told that the CAA would obstruct an investigation, or if the CAA told me that what I had seen was something entirely different. But it seems that pilots in America are used to this kind of thing, as far as I can tell.

I would urge all aircrew to report whatever they see as soon as possible, and to stand up and be counted. It is only when crucial witnesses such as professional pilots make reports that the authorities will be kick-started into a broader investigation of these phenomena.

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