MP passed on claims of UFO sighting

A suspected UFO sighting over a Staffordshire beauty spot 24 years ago was discussed at Government level, it has been revealed.

Newly-declassified documents, just released, show that lights in the sky were spotted above Cannock Chase on May 16, 1988, by "perfectly sane" witnesses.

The alleged incident was raised with defence chiefs after it was reported to Bill Cash, Conservative MP for Stafford at the time.

The sighting, witnessed by a number of people, is revealed in Ministry of Defence papers released today.

In a letter sent to Mr Cash, a resident, whose name was concealed in the documents, wrote: "I saw this object for a good four minutes from start to finish. Sitting by my lounge window, I observed two bright lights at approximately 9.40pm approaching from the Acton Trussell/Penkridge direction.

"At first my thoughts were of a low-flying plane (very low) with lights on the wings.

"The lights were at first horizontal... but after about one minute they steadily moved in an arc from horizontal to vertical and then climbed up vertically."

The author included a sketch in the letter and went on to describe seeing two triangle-shaped objects making a faint sound and climbing vertically into the sky.

The witness added: "I know of no plane that can manoeuvre in this manner at such a low speed.

"The triangles were equal in size and the distance apart did not fluctuate at all."

Other accounts were sent to Mr Cash, including character references declaring those who saw the lights were "perfectly sane".

The reports prompted Mr Cash, who now represents Stone, to write to Roger Freeman, Under Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, although the MP did not sound convinced by the claims. He said in his letter he was "highly sceptical" of the reports. Mr Cash wrote: "I have been requested to write to you by constituents of mine regarding reports in my constituency of sightings of unidentified objects and lights in the vicinity of Stafford.

"I have to confess to being highly sceptical about UFOs but apparently a number of people who saw these things were very emphatic and, therefore, I feel it is right to raise this matter with you."

In response, Mr Freeman said the MoD received similar reports from Stafford residents but dismissed the possibility that aliens had been scouring the region.

The cause of the alarm was more likely to have been airline traffic from Birmingham Airport, he added.