A map shows all the UFO sightings made across the UK as we mark Alien Day – a global event celebrating Ridley Scott’s cult sci-fi horror Alien that was released 45 years ago
Brits can see how close they live to UFO sightings with a new map as fans celebrate Alien Day this year.
For those with an interest in searching for extra-terrestrial life, April 26 will need no introduction as each year Alien Day is held to mark Ridley Scott’s hugely successful film Alien which was released 45 years ago. Alien Day was first held by fans of the film series in 2015 in New York and it has since become a global event. The first film in the cult sci-fi horror franchise starring Sigourney Weaver as the iconic Ripley, came out in 1979.
Now fans celebrate every year on April 26 – or 4/26 on the American calendar, a nod to LV-426, the name of the moon where the aliens were first discovered in the original movie. Some will enjoy Alien Day by simply watching the films, reading Alien books or graphic novels, or playing Alien video games.
But others might want to mark the day with a more immersive experience – by watching the skies for UFOs and possible alien visitors. The research group UFO Identified has documented 1,789 sightings of unexplained objects in the skies above the UK since 2020. That includes 395 sightings last year alone. Information was taken from social media, newspaper reports, and Freedom of Information requests, as well as from reports made directly to UFO spotter groups around the UK.
The group’s research shows that people living in the South East have the best chance of seeing a UFO, with 233 documented sightings since 2020, followed by the North West (218) and the South West (193). You can see the UFO encounters documented where you live in the last four years using our interactive map.
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Sightings documented last year include:
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Around 40 orbs were seen moving in a “cross formation” over Greater Manchester, led by one very bright orb.
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Multiple orbs were also seen over Mildenhall in Suffolk, also led by one “abnormally bright” object. But these UFOs appeared to disrupt car radios.
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A “flying saucer illuminated by varying red glowing spheres” was seen over Worksop in Nottinghamshire
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A dark and silent “squashed triangle” was seen gliding over Point Clear in Essex
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Up to 15 bright lights pursued by two fighter jets and an Apache helicopter
According to UFO Identified’s research, the most likely time to see a UFO last year was on a Monday evening between 9pm and 10pm. The most common sighting was a “star-like” UFO, followed by an orb – with several different witnesses reporting clusters of orbs in the skies across different locations.
The vast majority of sightings were of far-off objects in the sky, but there were 27 “Close Encounters of the First Kind”. These are reports of UFOs seen up close, at a distance of no more than 500ft away. There were also two “Close Encounters of the Second Kind” which is when a UFO sighting appears to cause a physical effect, such as a car malfunction, a ground impression, or a reaction in animals. But there were no “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” – which is when a witness sees an extra-terrestrial life-form up close, perhaps similar to Ripley’s on-screen nemesis in the Alien movie franchise.
Last year, a dad said he was convinced of alien life after seeing an unidentified flying object for the second time. Mike Stoddart said he and his wife witnessed an “orange glow” pass through the sky as they sat at their Bacup home in Lancashire earlier this month. It came almost exactly one year after a previous incident in which a similar sight was seen in the same location in Rossendale.
According to Mike, both incidents lasted for a few minutes with the orange glow, which he described as similar to a vapour trail, before disappearing just after he took photographs. After the latest siting, he believes it to be alien life. He said: “I never disbelieved there wasn’t aliens about because of the technologies available. I didn’t believe it 100 until I saw it last time and now after this I’m convinced. People will say this and that but I think they don’t want to believe it.”
The first incident occurred on June 22, 2022, at around 10pm and involved what was described as an “orange line in the sky”. At the time Mike said it appeared to have a dome at the top when he zoomed in and he made enquiries with the Ministry of Defence and nearby airports but was told of no aircrafts which should have been in the vicinity.
Then the second time around, Mike says the siting occurred at 9.40pm on June 9, last year, and involved an identical orange glow. He said: “My wife spotted it before me. It was like an orange glow. It looked like it was coming from Todmorden Moors. I took a few photographs of it. I’ve zoomed in on it and noticed it was the same as last time.”
Meanwhile one of the UK’s busiest airports has become a UFO hotspot following several near misses with passenger jets. A UFO expert has called for the Government to investigate after a string of sights at London Stansted Airport. In one a mystery black craft came within 20 metres of a Ryanair plane travelling at 230mph shortly after it took off.
It was one of 27 reported UFO sightings in Essex in the past six years alone. A drone-monitoring system is in place to try and detect such craft, but it did not register, the Daily Star reported. “The pilot saw an object which they describe as black’ which passed within 20 metres of the aircraft. The plane was travelling at 230mph and the object was travelling from north to south,” a report into the incident read.
Other UFO reports include sightings of a “green fluorescent light like a comet coming from the sky” and a “big faded ball of light going in and out of the clouds”. In another incident close to Stansted – which serves 27 million passengers annually – multiple pilots reported their collision avoidance systems were detecting an object 500ft beneath their aircraft as they came in to land.
An Essex Police report, obtained under the Freedom Of Information Act, said: “Three aircraft reported an object was in their vicinity. Informant from tower reporting that two planes have reported an object at about 500ft below them as they are coming into land on Runway 22, the closest being 20km away. Approach (two-three miles out) when their TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system) alerted them to something at around 500ft. None of the pilots could see anything when they looked.”
