2007 · Over the sea west of Alderney, between the Casquets and Guernsey, Channel Islands (inside French air defence airspace)

Two yellow 'cigars' off Alderney, seen by two airline captains (23 April 2007)

On the record

Strength B · 7/10 · 4 independent

Evidence 2/4 · Witnesses 3/3 · Backing 2/3

Two named airline captains on separate aircraft, reported live on recorded ATC tapes, plus named passengers; CAA reports and an MoD log entry now at The National Archives; an independent multi-author study could not explain it. No confirmed radar return, and the TNA file itself has not been viewed.

Plausibility High

Score 11 · 9 factors for, 1 against

Scored on the official record: live ATC tapes, CAA reports and an MoD log entry for two named captains on different aircraft who independently placed the same object at the same height, with named passengers. Proposed natural causes are noted, not demonstrated; the only deduction is for the witness's later growth in size and radar claims.

See the factors ↓

Unexplained

23 April 2007: an Aurigny Trislander nears Alderney as two bright yellow cigar-shaped objects hang far off over the Channel. · Illustration for uaptrail.com

When23 April 2007, 14:06-14:18Z

WhereOver the sea west of Alderney, between the Casquets and Guernsey, Channel Islands (inside French air defence airspace)

Backing4 independent

Evidencesensor data, official records, documents

On 23 April 2007 Aurigny captain Ray Bowyer, flying a Trislander from Southampton to Alderney, watched two identical, sharply defined yellow cigar shapes with dark grey bands hang over the sea west of the island for about 12 minutes, studied them through binoculars and reported them live to Jersey air traffic control. Passengers saw them too, two of them named. From near Sark, Blue Islands captain Patrick Patterson reported a matching object on tape, and both captains independently put it at 1,500 to 2,000 ft. Jersey radar showed only faint, ambiguous returns and French air defence radar showed nothing. The MoD logged the report, and the file went to The National Archives in 2011. A 2008 study in the Journal of Scientific Exploration weighed 16 explanations and could not identify the objects: sunlight off Guernsey glasshouses through haze and earthquake lights were proposed, not demonstrated.

Evidence, in date order (4)

Apr 2007Civil Aviation Authorityofficial
Air Safety Reports filed by Bowyer, Patterson and Kelly CAA occurrence reports
23 Apr 2007Jersey ATC (Paul Kelly)sensor data
voice tapes of the live reports and ELVIRA primary/SSR radar recordings; faint primary contacts logged as possible anaprop Jersey ATC tapes and ELVIRA recording
2008Baure, Clarke, Fuller and Shoughdocument
independent study; could not identify the objects J. Sci. Exploration 22(3):291-308
11 Aug 2011Ministry of Defencedocument
UFO Reports 2007 log entry; file released by The National Archives probably DEFE 24/2081/1

How plausible · High

●●
Access Both captains were in the air looking at it; the records were made by Jersey ATC, the CAA and the MoD.
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Independent convergence A second named captain on another aircraft, on tape, and named passengers saw it: named second witnesses to the same event.
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Checkable details check out The ATC tapes, CAA reports, MoD log and TNA release exist.
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Cost of speaking A serving airline captain filed an official report and went public under his own name.
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No gain sought Nothing evident sold; later talks and a book chapter only.
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Consistent over time The core description is the same on the tape, the CAA report and later; size estimates changed (see growth).

Against

−
Story grew Later 'mile wide' and 'five or six battleships' estimates and a claim of two objects on decluttered radar go beyond the tape and the controller's report.

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-11-02.

Claims

Two identical, sharply defined 'sparkling yellow' cigar shapes, each with a dark 'graphite grey' band, hung over the sea west of Alderney for about 12 minutes; he watched them through 10x binoculars from his Trislander at FL40 and reported them live to Jersey ATC as 'extremely bright yellow, orange... very flat platform'.Ray Bowyer Drones over Jersey Airport ground flights two nights running (30-31 October 2026)firsthandOn the recordCapt. Ray Bowyer, Aurigny flight 544 (Jersey ATC tape 14:09:32Z; CAA Air Safety Report with drawing, 23 Apr 2007)

'I've got something about 8 o'clock resembling the description': a yellow or beige oblong at about 1,500 ft, west or north-west of Alderney and about 20 nmi away, at least four or five Trislanders long, watched for about a minute from near Sark.firsthandOn the recordCapt. Patrick Patterson, Blue Islands flight BCI832, a BAe Jetstream 32 (Jersey ATC tape 14:14:43Z; written report 24 Apr 2007)

From the cabin they saw the objects during the descent: Kate Russell two 'sunlight coloured' cigars, John Russell one 'brilliant orange' elongated oval.David ClarkefirsthandSourced, unconfirmedKate and John Russell, passengers from Alderney (interviewed by the JSE study team; John Russell also to the Evening Standard)

Jersey ATC saw 'a very faint primary contact' near the Trislander at 14:09 to 14:10 and later a 'ragged' echo near the Casquets, logged in the controller's CAA report as 'anaprop possibly associated with one of the objects'.Drones over Jersey Airport ground flights two nights running (30-31 October 2026)firsthandOn the recordPaul Kelly, Jersey ATC Channel Islands Zone controller (CAA controller report)

MoD UFO log: '23-Apr-07 14:09 In the air nr Alderney, Channel Islands, Two Pilots, different planes. First object was bright orange/yellow. There was a gap in light or darker area. Second object was identical.'Drones over Jersey Airport ground flights two nights running (30-31 October 2026)firsthandOn the recordUK Ministry of Defence, UFO Reports 2007 (released 6 Jul 2007)

French air defence (CCOA, with the Centaure radar at Maupertus) reconstructed 14:09 to 14:18 and found no unidentified phenomenon or aircraft; UK air defence radar did not cover the area at that altitude.GEIPANsecondhandSourced, unconfirmedFrench air defence, via the JSE 2008 study

The objects were two solid craft, and decluttered radar traces showed two objects.Ray Bowyer Leslie KeansecondhandLeadRay Bowyer, in Leslie Kean, UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record (2010), pp. 73-81

Of 16 hypotheses none reached 'very plausible'. Sunlight off Guernsey glasshouses scattered by a haze layer and earthquake lights (the Folkestone M5.2 quake followed on 28 April) rated only 'somewhat plausible': neither explains the brilliance, the 12-minute stability, two identical sharp images and matching grey bands. A mirage of sun glitter off Brittany rated 'barely plausible'; windscreen reflections, lenticular cloud, a military exercise and lighter-than-air craft rated low. The authors could not rule out an entirely new phenomenon.David Clarke Martin ShoughanalysisSourced, unconfirmedBaure, Clarke, Fuller and Shough, Journal of Scientific Exploration 22(3), 2008

The objects were sundogs.speculationSourced, unconfirmedMichael Maunder, astronomer (Alderney Journal, 26 May 2007)

In The picture

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