A series of images of a UFO, including one that is remarkably clear, taken by a flight crew at Manchester Airport in the UK have surfaced online that show a spherical object hovering above the tarmac just before it is scared off by a ground vehicle that was dispatched to investigate the phenomenon. Although the social media account that the images originally appeared on was deleted shortly after posting, the contents of the post were preserved by users on Reddit and X/Twitter, offering us a glimpse into a phenomenon all too often seen, but just as often kept secret, by commercial pilots.
The individual that posted the images on November 25 under an X/Twitter account named CaptainBigelow stated that the images were provided to them by a colleague that was part of the flight crew that spotted and filmed the object in June of this year. Appearing as a blue, possibly transparent sphere hovering a few inches off the ground in the clearest photo, CaptainBigelow describes an object as “the size of a small car” that had “descended vertically in 15kts [27.8 km/h or 17.3 mph] of wind.”
“It hovered perfectly stationary a few feet off the ground,” the post continued. Although the post does not mention it, the photographs, along with an accompanying video of the object, suggest that the sphere began moving northeast along the tarmac, parallel with the taxiway that the aircrew was assigned to take. The images, along with screenshots of relevant tweets, have been collected here.
“ATC [air traffic control] sent out an Ops vehicle,” CaptainBigelow continued, presumably referring to a yellow chase car that appears in one of the photos, in response to the crew’s first officer having reported the object’s presence over the radio. However, “as the vehicle approached the object it took off vertically,” illustrated in a brief video of the object taken after it had gained some altitude.
“The world needs to see that this isn’t just happening in the US,” the post stressed. “Several of my collegues [sic] have seen things they can’t explain recently. We spend 1000’s of hours in the air and know when something isn’t a balloon or a plane.”
CaptainBigelow’s short-lived X/Twitter account was deleted just hours after having posted the images; while this sparked speculation that the story was being covered up by the authorities, an individual claiming to be CaptainBigelow on a Reddit thread explained that they deleted the account themselves to retain anonymity, having already pointed out in the original tweet that “our company doesn’t like us partaking in social media and has been quite heavy handed on previous occasions. It’s best our identities remain anonymous.”
The original tweet was reposted by a user on Reddit, and can be read here.
In the follow-up post made on Reddit CaptainBigelow stated that “I have been an airline pilot for a [UK] operator for several decades and we know what is normal and what isnt,” and that “we know what we are looking at in the skies. This is not a balloon or a drone and has been a hot topic of conversation in our community for quite a while.”
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.
Thanks for this amazing article!
https://x.com/DFanboy11773/status/1861902760020463918
This link has the video.
My gut feeling is that this is man made due to the ramshackle appearance of the sphere.
There have been many, many videos over the years capturing spherical-like things in the sky, often misshapen, not at all perfectly geometrical. There are others that look organic, like jellyfish. Incredibly odd. Seems like the concept of sleek, disk-shaped crafts have gone out of fashion.
That was something I considered as well, but that thing is displaying some awfully weird flight characteristics no matter its origin. My guess it will be publicly dismissed and glossed over before any investigation is made available.
The distortion happens to be on the leading side of the object’s motion (the now-deleted account with the various files had a gif of the two shots from the flight line combined that showed that the object had started moving diagonally upward and to the left of the frame), so It’s possible that what we’re seeing is the gravity field visually distorting an otherwise round sphere.
Matt, I think this might be the gif you’re referring to, that combines two pictures…
https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1h3j7vx/both_of_the_photos_taken_in_manchester_side_by/?rdt=46177
I’d be interested to see the results of a FOI request for flight tower telephone / radio call transcripts and RADAR returns from June. It’s a shame we don’t know the actual day it happened.
One thing I noted, after looking at the EXIF metadata from the photographs and video, is that the video and at least one of the lower quality photographs, appears to have been taken using an Apple device (2022). The better quality photo was from a phone with a Motorola processor. I’m not sure that really means anything…but why switch phones? Unless the pilot didn’t want to admit they were taking pictures too?
The pilot would have been busy with taxiing the aircraft–imagine being on your phone while driving, except that the car is jet powered, weighs 90 tons and you have a few hundred passengers in the back seat–so it may have been a case of handing their phone to the first officer so they could get a record of it too.
Yes, looking closely at the video, you can tell from the final few frames, that whoever took the video was on the right hand side of the cockpit, which tends to be the co-pilot. For what it’s worth, the bit of the cockpit layout that can be seen, looks very similar to an Airbus A319.
https://i2.wp.com/pilotstories.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cockpit2-3-01.jpeg
While reading the comments today, I was remembering the old BRITISH TELEVISION SERIES called the PRISONER and ROVER…….
Rover (The Prisoner) – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_%28The_Prisoner%29
Rover is a plot device from the 1967 British television programme The Prisoner, and was a crucial tool used to keep ‘prisoners’ from escaping the Village. It was depicted as a floating white balloon that could coerce, and, if necessary, incapacitate or kill recalcitrant inhabitants of the Village. It also had the ability to subdivide. Several aspects of the Rover device were left unexplained and to the imagination of the viewer.
The name “Rover” was only used once in the entire series (in the episode “The Schizoid Man”). The novel The Prisoner: Number Two by David McDaniel, based upon the series, uses the name Guardian.
Rover was depicted as a large white inflatable balloon, not quite fully inflated, with a flexible skin. Rover would often produce a muffled roar sound when attacking. It would also sometimes emit a strange light display or luminescence from its interior. Once released, Rover could bounce and glide across the land and sea for a long range and at high speed, faster than a vehicle or boat.
I remember that from reruns.
November 1, 2024
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth
GOP Oversight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT2iWKZr0qA
I just jumped to the most popular part of that GOP Oversight video, about half way through, which I have to admit did make me laugh.
With various suggestions / allegations of UFOs being air-brushed out of photographs over the years, I hardly think NASA would be the best place to start in uncovering UAP data, much less a clearing-house for civilian / public information on the topic.
I would probably trust them about as far as I could throw an entire Bismuth-Magnesium craft.
I never really watched many episodes, as it was just a bit before my time but the re-runs I did watch, I do remember seeing the white ball and perceiving its roving, controlling menace. I’ve been to the village of Portmeirion in Wales, where it was filmed, several times over the years…but the connection to ‘The Prisoner’ probably meant more to my parents than me, at the time.
https://portmeirion.wales/