FT258

A classic UFO sighting by civilian pilots has been explained following a “cold case” investi­gation more than 50 years since it made headlines across the world. One evening in June 1954, Captain James Howard was flying a BOAC Stratocruiser from New York to London when he and his flight crew spotted a shape-changing, black “jellyfish-shaped” object hovering low on the horizon above the Labrador coast. As crew and passengers watched in amazement, they saw a number of other dark blob-like objects arranged on either side of the “mothership”. As a fighter aircraft reached the scene, these smaller UFOs appeared to enter the larger object, which shrank and disapp­eared. On landing in London, Capt. Howard was interviewed live on BBC TV and became convinced the UFOs were being “intelligently handled”. Even the infamous Colorado UFO project failed to crack the case and suggested it was a rare natural phenomenon – “so rare that it apparently has never been reported before or since”.

But Scottish UFO investigator Martin Shough has unearthed primary evidence, including the crews’ statements and weather data, to solve the mystery. Through a process of elimination, Shough concludes there can be little doubt the crew and passengers saw an unusual mirage. And far from being rare, he discovered this sighting was just one of “an unrecognised class of very similar mirage observations from aircraft”. His definitive study proves it is poss­ible to resolve even the most perplexing UFO reports with enough time and effort. It also shows there is valuable scientific data lurking within the noise that constitutes the UFO enigma.