Sighting Report — N. Luffenham, England, 21 October 1957

This document consists of a military sighting report and a follow-up intelligence cable regarding an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon observed on October 21, 1957. At 21:18, Flying Officer D.W. Sweeney of the Royal Air Force was piloting a Meteor aircraft at an altitude of 28,000 feet near North Luffenham, England. During the flight, he encountered an object described as having six lights. Sweeney reported that the object was moving slowly and that he took violent evasive action to approach it from the starboard side. As his aircraft drew near, the lights on the object extinguished, and the object vanished. The pilot estimated his position at the time to be directly over Gaydon, an area used for training atom-bomber crews in Valiant aircraft. The sighting was corroborated by ground radar at RAF Station Langtoft, which confirmed the presence of an object at approximately 28,000 feet over the Gaydon area. A preliminary check of military and civil aircraft movements indicated that the Meteor was the only aircraft in the area at the time. The Air Ministry initiated an investigation into the incident, and the United States Air Force Air Attache in London sought to secure a copy of the final investigation report. Ultimately, the official conclusion recorded on the report form was that there was insufficient data for a definitive evaluation, noting that no additional investigative reports were received to clarify the nature of the object.