File 158 · 23 April 2007
Alderney, Channel Islands
Alderney, United Kingdom
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. Channel Islands daylight. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
What was claimed
Two airline captains on separate Aurigny flights reported a large, stationary, yellow-orange object near Alderney in daylight.
What is on the record
This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.
Capt. Ray Bowyer, flying a Trislander from Southampton to Alderney, saw a cigar or beam-like yellow object, apparently miles long at the distance he estimated, and asked passengers if they saw it — several did. A second Aurigny captain, approaching Guernsey, reported a similar object independently. Jersey Zone took the radio calls. Weather was clear.
Bowyer filed with the CAA. Sundogs and distant cloud-shadow have been offered; he rejected them. Two professional crews, two aircraft, one afternoon in the Channel.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
The station was flying. Starlink was not. A string of orbs in this year is usually not a train.
1998 —
International Space Station
A bright, steady moving star. A few minutes to cross. No strobe. Occupied since 2000. NASA publishes the pass times. Not unidentified.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.
Same craft · August 2026
Glowing cigar-shaped object, Crispano
Crispano · Italy
Unidentified
A small-town report near Naples described a large glowing cigar hanging low over the rooftops.
Same craft · 11 December 1996
Yukon giant
Fox Lake to Carmacks, Yukon · Canada
Unidentified
Dozens of people along the Klondike Highway reported a silent, kilometers-long craft with rows of lights, low over the snow.
Same craft · 17 November 1986
Japan Air Lines 1628
Over Alaska · United States
Unidentified
A JAL cargo 747 over Alaska reported a gigantic craft. FAA radar confirmed an unknown near the aircraft. The captain drew it for investigators.
Same craft · 21 October 1978
Frederick Valentich, Bass Strait
Bass Strait, Victoria · Australia
Unidentified
A 20-year-old flying a Cessna 182 to King Island radioed that a long metallic object was orbiting him. Then a scraping sound. The aircraft was never found.
Same craft · 18 October 1973
Coyne helicopter encounter
Mansfield, Ohio · United States
Unidentified
An Army Reserve helicopter crew reported a gray craft with a green beam that seemed to lift their aircraft against the controls.
Same craft · July 24, 1948
Chiles-Whitted Encounter
Montgomery, Alabama · United States
Unidentified
Eastern Airlines pilots Clarence Chiles and John Whitted observed a bright, cigar-shaped object with windows and a fiery exhaust pass their DC-3 airliner at high speed. The object was also reportedly seen by a passenger. Investigated by Project Sign (predecessor to Blue Book).