FT247

As readers of my previous article will recall, a UFO was widely implicated by the world’s media as the cause of severe damage to a wind turbine at Fen Farm, Lincolnshire, at around 4am on 4 January 2009. Last month, we looked at sightings made by local witnesses while the debris was collected by operating company Ecotricity and sent away for analysis at Enercon, the German turbine manufacturing complex. There have been several new twists and turns since then as the story has spread around the world and become the talk of Internet chat rooms.

EYE WITNESSES
According to a source at Ecotricity, and despite my comments to the contrary last issue, there was a local eyewitness to lights above the farm during the actual destruction of the turbine blade. This was potentially significant, as all the other witnesses saw things during the afternoon and evening of the preceding day – long before the incident itself.

The claim originated via Channel Four News and involved a woman who was said to have seen lights at 4am, the same time as the destruction of the turbine blade. I was eventually able to trace her and her father, who was also a witness.

Paul Snelling and his daughter Kirsty live in Saltfleetby, and had observed a red glow with a pink thermal colour in the middle. This was seen from their house across fields and had an ‘infrared’ feel to it, as Paul told me. He likened it to a streetlamp, but then it changed hue to become more orange. After remaining stationary for over a minute, it moved slowly in the general direction of the wind farm and then simply disappeared.

Living close to the bombing range at Donna Nook, they were familiar with military activity and were sure that this was unusual. It sounds like a fire lantern, although some feat­ures also match a sundog-like effect reflecting off low cloud in what were then very icy skies. But its true cause remains arguable.

However, it soon emerged that this sighting did not occur at around 4.30am on 4 January, as the TV report inferred, but at 4.30pm (sunset) on Monday 5 January – a full 36 hours after the turbine had fallen and when the debris had already been collected for ana­lysis. So, this was not the crucial evidence it was taken for by some commentators. Indeed, the continued lack of any witnesses who saw anything at the time of the actual incident does not support the collision theory.

HOT SPOT
Nonetheless, other new witnesses did come to light. Perhaps the most interesting was Rebecca Hodgson, who was riding at stables outside Louth on the evening of 3 January. Suddenly, her steed stopped and became agit­ated, gazing skywards towards what proved to be a bright orange light that moved towards Fen Farm, growing dimmer and then fading. On the face of it, this is intriguing, especially given the ‘animal disturbance’ aspect familiar from other close encounters. However, this was at about the time when the local garden party with fireworks mentioned last issue was underway. Was the horse spooked by a rocket rather than a UFO?

Then we have the extraordinary claims of Eric Goring of Brinkhill, about nine miles (14km) south of the wind farm, who has come forth to claim a world record. He believes he has seen more alien spaceships than anyone in the period before and after the turbine collapsed – hundreds of them since September 2008!

One typical account of what he calls the ‘yellow ships’ was of a glow sending a beam towards the ground at 9.23 pm on 21 January. I suspect the level of helicopter activity in and around the coast has to be considered, but Eric is convinced that alien craft are involved. However, he doesn’t think one collided with the wind farm because his many observations confirm that they “fly too precisely to have hit it”.

ALIEN ANTI-COLLISION GEAR
The case has also encouraged entrepreneurs – none more so than at HITEK, an electronics firm from Scunthorpe, where John Terry sensed an opportunity to promote an anti-collision gizmo to wind farms all over the world – just in case UFOs are targeting such places.

HITEK is experienced in helping wind farms make their turbines invisible to radar, because some of the major objections to building these eco-friendly plants come from radar operators. Seemingly, the turbines can effect local reception enough to interfere with marine and aviation tracking. HITEK has a number of ways to mitigate these effects and allow radar systems and wind farms to co-exist. Of course, this has to be balanced with the need to prevent the turbines themselves becoming totally invisible to radar for fear that low-flying aircraft or ships at sea might not see them during bad weather. So HITEK has imported something called a Luneberg Lens from Belgium that helps in this regard, and might just assist in preventing UFO collisions. It even, coincidentally, looks like a small flying saucer.

The slight downside is that the equipment relies upon the unsuspecting flying object using onboard radar to navigate out of the way once a turbine has been detected. It’s far from clear that this comes as standard on the latest spacecraft from Zeta Reticulii. Never­theless, 10 out of 10 for effort to the HITEK marketing team!

THE ANSWER
Finally, on Monday 9 February, Enercon – the turbine manufacturer – released the results of their month-long “forensic analysis” of the Fen Farm debris. The results (to which I was given early access) are conclusive and vindicate the stance we have taken at FT rather than that of the tabloid press or more excitable researchers.

The bottom line – as stated – is that “It wasn’t E.T.,” and Enercon could categorically state: “UFOs [are] ruled out.”

In fact, they add, after “several weeks of forensic examination of the turbine compon­ents, Enercon has ruled out collision as a possible cause.” What they did find was that: “Bolts securing the blade to the hub of the turbine fractured due to material fatigue.” There were “classic signs” in the debris of this “fatigue failure”. The bolts themselves were not found to be defective, but supporting components are suspected as a factor in the problem and further tests are being carried out to find exactly why this failure occurred. However, all concerned, including the Health and Safety Executive and local council, were satisfied with the continuing investigation. They also believe that the remaining turbines onsite and similar ones elsewhere pose “no concerns with ongoing safety”.

So, that really should be that.

However, this is ufology, and the facts rarely keep a good legend down for very long. I dare say we will still see this yarn trotted out as a UFO case in years to come. But at least FT readers can now judge all the facts for themselves.