| It was a story straight out of a plot from the X-Files TV series: An unidentified flying object hovering in the clear night sky; RAF jets screaming through the sky as if in pursuit of something...And finally, a deafening explosion on a Yorkshire moor. |
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Part 1: Introduction
Did - as some have claimed - a UFO crash into or explode above the Howden Moors, on the border between South Yorkshire and Derbyshire Peak District, shortly after 10pm on the night of Monday, March 24, 1997? |
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Part 2: The Aircrash Which Never Was...
This was how news of what was to become one of the most controversial incidents in British UFOlogy was first broken by the local newspaper the Sheffield Star. |
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Part 3: Eye Witness Testimony
What follows is chronologically the events of that evening from dusk until midnight, using direct quotations from witnesses transcribed from shorthand notes taken during face to face and telephone interviews. |
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Part 4: Tracked by Radar?
Claims have been made that a UFO was tracked on radar at 9.55 pm that night by the Royal Signals based at RAF Linton-upon-Ouse in North Yorkshire. |
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Part 5: Space Debris
One theory considered by the BGS as an explanation for the unexplained sonic events recorded in the Sheffield region was a Bolide meteor or man-made space junk burning up on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. |
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Part 6: Military Denials
South Yorkshire Police and the Mountain Rescue Service contacted RAF sources as part of their routine checks as the search and rescue operation moved into full swing around midnight on March 24. |
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Part 7: Theories and Context
This report aims to stick to the known facts with the minimum of speculation in an attempt to reach the truth behind an event which to this day is categorised as “unexplained” by South Yorkshire Police |
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