A UFO spotted by Matt Law in Hythe, which Richard Westwood says is identical to what he saw over Olton
By Mike Lockley
Man shaken by line of pulsating orange lights in the sky - and is adamant Chinese lanterns were not to blame
The 45-year-old was walking his German shepherd Ted at the time.
He looked up at the inky blackness.
And there, 1,000 feet above, a strange craft throbbed, its lights blazing brighter than the star-spangled canopy.
Richard instantly knew the strange object above Castle Lane in Olton, Solihull, was no plane.
“There was no engine noise and the lights were not moving away from me,” said the painter and decorator.
“This was no plane – or helicopter.”
Richard, who spotted the UFO at 10.30 last Thursday, is adamant he didn’t witness a cluster of Chinese lanterns, either. “Heat rises. The thing that I saw was perfectly still.”
Richard insists that this was a close encounter.
“I observed a set of three red to orange coloured glowing lights, hovering in a line above the trees and canal below,” he said.
“The set of lights eventually moved off together very slowly. They just silently glided away, straight and level in a northerly direction towards Richmond Road following the canal.
“The two outer lights were large and faced backwards – plane lights don’t face backwards. They glowed bright red to orange.
“The centre light was smaller and flickered red to orange. The craft was airliner-size, judging by the distance of the lights along it.”
Richard’s experience is identical to a UFO report lodged by motorist Matt Law in Hythe, Kent, last June.
Descriptions of the mysterious machine are identical.
Matt, aged 29, said: “There is nothing I know which can remain stationary in the sky and make no noise.”
Richard also describes himself as a sceptic, but can find no earthly explanation for the Olton X File.
He added: “I’m not sure what it was, but in 45 years as an Olton resident living near and walking my dog along the canal every night I have never seen a plane follow the line of the canal at any altitude.”
Dave Hodrien, chairman of Birmingham UFO Group, said Chinese lanterns could not be discounted.
The 37-year-old added: “This has all the characteristic hallmarks of Chinese lanterns. People get tricked because they follow air patterns. They flicker and, when carried by the wind, they move in the same direction and in the same pattern.
“You have got to remain a realist. A lot of sightings are mundane things which, under the right conditions, can seem unusual.”
* Did you see the strange light display over Olton? email mike.lockley@trinitymirror.com