The UFO files extract

‘mass hysteria’ was growing. The sceptics tended to be scientists, who
applied cold logic to the UFO question and demanded solid evidence, and
their opinion was ultimately the most influential.
The Topcliffe incident
With the debate ongoing, events were to take another unexpected turn
when a fresh series of sightings occurred during a major NATO exercise in
Europe, Operation Mainbrace.The most dramatic was reported by a group
of Shackleton aircrew who saw a circular silver object above the airfield at
RAF Topcliffe, NorthYorkshire, on the afternoon of 19 September 1952. A
report made to Topcliffe’s commanding officer by one of the men, Flight
Lieutenant John Kilburn of 269 Squadron, can be found among the Fighter
Command papers preserved at the National Archives. In this Kilburn said
he was standing on the airfield with four other Shackleton aircrew watching
a Meteor fighter descending:
‘The Meteor was at approximately 5,000 feet and approaching from the
east. Flt Lt Paris suddenly noticed a white object in the sky at a height
between ten and twenty thousand feet some five miles astern of the
Meteor. The object was silver in colour and circular in shape, it
appeared to be travelling at a much slower speed than the Meteor but
was on a similar course. It maintained the slow forward speed for a few
seconds before commencing to descend, swinging in a pendular motion
during descent similar to a falling sycamore leaf. This was at first
thought to be a parachute or engine cowling. The Meteor, meanwhile,
turned towards Dishforth and the object, while continuing its descent,
appeared to follow suit. After a further few seconds, the object stopped
its pendulous motion and its descent, and began to rotate on its own
axis. Suddenly it accelerated at an incredible speed towards the west
turning onto a south easterly heading before disappearing. All this
occurred in a matter of fifteen to twenty seconds. The acceleration was
in excess of that of a shooting star. I have never seen such a phenom-
enon before. The movements of the object were not identifiable with
anything I have seen in the air and the rate of acceleration was unbeliev-
able.’ (aIR 16/1199)
As in America, the year 1952 was to be a busy one for UFOs and the Top-
cliffe incident was just the first in a series of reports made by military per-
sonnel that reached the Air Ministry.There were also a growing number of
incidents involving the tracking of fast-moving unidentified objects on
RAF radars. For example, on 21 October 1952 a flying instructor and his
Royal Navy student were in a Meteor jet on exercise from the RAF’s cen-
tral flying school at Little Rissington, Gloucestershire, when they saw three
saucer-shaped UFOs. Flight Lieutenant Michael Swiney, who later served
4 8 T H E F LY I N G S A U C E R A G E