The Dudley Dorito UFO sightings concerns multiple sightings of a Black Triangle (UFO) over the West Midlands conurbation of the United Kingdom which began in November 2007. The phrase was coined by the local press after hearing witness descriptions of the object.[1][2]
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The first sighting of the object occurred at 19.00 hours on Wednesday 28 November 2007 where a witness saw it hovering over Halesowen, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, and watched it move towards the direction of Stourbridge. Around the same time a second witness from the Lickey Hills area, was using binoculars to look over the Birmingham area. They stated they saw a similar object move across the Birmingham horizon at speed. The sightings were reported to UFORM, a local UFO study group. UFORM released a statement to the local press, quoting one of the witnesses who described the object looking like a "huge Dorito and had distinctive red lights on its underside, which moved position while the craft was flying." After hearing the description of the object and the location of the first sighting, the local press dubbed the object 'The Dudley Dorito'.[3]
After a local paper published the sighting appealing for others, people reported seeing an object of similar description between 16.00 and 19.30 hours over the Dudley, Wednesbury and Bushbury areas of the West Midlands on the same day as the first sighting. Witnesses described the object as a large triangle with three lights at each corner and was silent.[4]
Further reports of a triangle object being seen in the evening over Quinton in late November were made and the object was filmed by a founder of a local UFO group. It was suggested that the object was "enormous" in size and three red lights were clearly visible.[5]
On Tuesday 8 January 2008 at 21.00 hours, two young girls aged seven and nine who staying over at their grandmothers house in Dudley saw a triangle shaped object fly over Dudley Castle. The girls, upset at what they had seen, got out of bed and ran to their grandmother. When hearing what her granddaughters had told her, she made them draw pictures of what they had seen. Both girls drew a diamond in the shape isosceles triangle. One drew the object with three lights, the other with four. Further reports from members of the public described the object as an arrowhead shape with three orange lights[6] and nearby Birmingham International stated they had similar reports which they were taking seriously.[7]
Tabloid newspaper, The Sun published a photograph on 20 October 2008 of an alleged triangle shaped objected flying over the grounds of Dudley Castle, which was apparently taken sometime in April 2008. According to the paper, it was supplied by a 57 year old unnamed reader.[8] The image was supplied to Gary Heseltine of UFO Data Magazine for analysis, to date the results have not been published.
It has been seen again in Romsley, Halesowen on the morning of 6 January 2010 at 03:07am bright flashing lights we're observed outside the area consitant of those made by the UFO.
A local paper has reported that the object has been spotted again on the 13 December 2011 over west Birmingham.
At 16.10 hours on Monday 14 January 2008 a sonic boom thought to have been created by an RAF Eurofighter Typhoon was heard in Shropshire. Callers to local radio stations described seeing two large aircraft in the area and reports that a Eurofighter had suffered an undetermined malfunction resulting in a 30,000 ft plunge causing a sonic boom which shook the county. Nearby RAF Shawbury and the Ministry of Defence denied any involvement.[9]
Local press compared descriptions of the unidentified object and that of the Eurofighter and suggested the sightings were linked due to the similarities.[10]
According to the top-secret report UAP in the UK Air Defence Region, aka Project Condign, Black Triangle (UFO) sightings are likely to be caused by a supernormal atmospheric plasma phenomenon akin to Ball Lightning. Bouyant Plasma formations are hypothesized to create electromagnetic or other energy fields which refract light, creating the appearance of a black triangle or polygon between 3 or more points of light. [11]
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