1967: ‘Flying Cross’ UFO hovers near Moigne Downs

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THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date:  October 24 – 26, 1967

Sighting Time:  11:25 a.m.

Day/Night:

Location:  Moigne Downs, United Kingdom

Urban or Rural: –

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc) Metallic or whitish object was seen in the day.

Duration: 22 minutes

No. of Object(s):  1 to 3

Size of Object(s): 25 feet in diameter and 12 feet high. Each of the fuselages was thought to be about 75 feet long, seven feet high and eight feet wide.

Distance to Object(s):

Shape of Object(s):

Color of Object(s):

Number of Witnesses: 1

Source:  NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), ‘Strange Effects from UFOs’, by Donald Keyhoe and Gordon Lore

Summary/Description:  Angus Brooks, a former flight administrative officer for British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), was walking his dogs at Moigne Downs, Dorset, England. He saw what appeared to be a contrail high in the sky. Then the contrail disappeared and in its place, a UFO descended “at lightning speed” to 200 or 300 feet altitude. One of the dogs, back from foraging for game, stood “distraught” beside the witness.

Full Report

The “Flying Cross” Case 

Angus Brooks, a former flight administrative officer for British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), was walking his Dalmatian and Alsatian dogs at Moigne Downs, Dorset, England, on October 26, 1967. At 11:25 a.m., he decided to lie down in an indentation on a hill to shelter himself from the strong wind.

“Almost immediately” he saw what appeared to be a contrail high in the sky. Then the contrail disappeared and in its place, a UFO descended “at lightning speed” to 200 or 300 feet altitude.

“The shape of the ‘craft’ prior to leveling out to ‘hover’ position was of a central circular chamber with a leading fuselage in the front and three separate fuselages together at the rear,” the former World War II photographic interpreter stated. “On slowing to ‘hover’ position the two outer fuselages at the rear moved to position at [the] side of [the] ‘craft’ to form four fuselages at equidistant position around [the] center chamber. … On attaining ‘hover’ the ‘craft’ rotated 90 degrees clockwise and then remained motionless, unaffected by very strong wind.”

For 22 minutes the strange object remained motionless in the sky. The Alsatian, back from foraging for game, stood “distraught” beside the witness.

“The dog was standing hereband her ears were pricked straight up like she does when her ears heard sounds that she was worried about,” Brooks said.

The witness, who served with a Royal Air Force Middle East Command unit, said the UFO was made “of a translucent material.” Dark shadows were dotted along the bottoms of the fuselages and center chamber. Nose cones and “groove fins” were seen along the bases of the fuselages. The center chamber was an estimated 25 feet in diameter and 12 feet high. Each of the fuselages was thought to be about 75 feet long, seven feet high and eight feet wide.

The UFO appeared to be hovering somewhere between the Winfrith Atomic Station and the Portland Underwater Defence Station “and about a mile inland from the USAF Communications Unit at Ringstead Bay.”

At 11:47 a.m., the craft flew to the east-northeast and disappeared.

Brooks said that, on future visits to the area, his Alsatian dog appeared nervous. The animal died of “acute cystitis” (a disorder of the urinary bladder) about six weeks later.

The Official Attitude

The witness reported the incident to the Ministry of Defence in London and received an official reply from L. W. Akhurst, who investigated the sighting.

“We do not doubt that the experience which you have described was a very vivid one, nor have we overlooked your long association with aviation,” Akhurst wrote. “However, we are unable to agree with your conclusion that you saw a controlled flying vehicle of unique design and performance.”

The Ministry official went on to expound a theory that Brooks, who experienced “some years ago” a corneal transplant as a result of an eye injury, actually saw “a vitreous floater—a piece of loose matter (a dead cell) floating in the fluid of the eyeball.” These floaters, Akhurst said, sometimes appear as rods or discs and can be more pronounced by a corneal transplant.

“However,” Akhurst added, “it is unlikely that the floater would have remained stationary for as long as 22 minutes.”

The London official further stated that the recent UFO publicity and the floater could have triggered a dream state while Brooks was resting.

Brooks responded that his eye doctor informed him that the eye muscle “moves upwards and downwards and, as the craft entered the vision circle at 30 degrees, moved across descending to center of vision, hovered for 22 minutes, then exited vision circle at 320 degrees, this hardly conforms” with Akhurst’s theory. The corneal transplant, Brooks said, greatly improved his vision.

“In your conclusion,” Brooks added, “your disadvantage is, of course, that I was there at the time and any Investigation Commission can only work on the credibility of second hand report details combined with technical, medical and scientific assistance, so, with reciprocal respect, your conclusions have not given me cause to alter my opinion of the Moigne Downs UFO.”

Julian J. A. Hennessey, Chairman of NICAP’s European Subcommittee #1, investigated the incident.