Crowther over The Wash: a radar call, then a dozen dark objects past the wingtip (1978)
Chris Crowther, a retired airline pilot with 42 years and about 22,000 hours of flying, told the BBC that in 1978 he was flying a light aircraft at 7,500 ft over The Wash, on approach to Norwich, when Eastern Radar called 'an unidentified target on radar, on a reciprocal course, high speed, altitude unknown.' Moments later about a dozen dark objects, each perhaps the size of a football, passed the right wingtip and vanished. He did not report it at the time. He is named and firsthand; the radar call reaches us only through him, and no log or report has yet been found. No natural cause has been proposed.
How plausible · High
A named airline pilot with 22,000 hours tells it firsthand and with restraint, with a radar call-out just before the sighting; the radar log, the date and the person beside him are not yet found.
- ●●Access He was at the controls and says the objects passed his right wingtip; he heard the Eastern Radar call himself on the radio.
- ●●No gain sought Retired pilot; he never reported it, has no book or fee on record, and the BBC came to him.
- ●●Restraint He claims no craft and no origin: it was 'so fast it was hard to tell what it was', the objects 'perhaps' football-sized, and he says he still cannot explain it.
- ●●Character record Airline pilot for 42 years with about 22,000 hours.
- ●○Cost of speaking He put his name and face to the account in a BBC feature; retired, so little career cost.
- ●○Checkable details check out Named witness, a named radar service, a place and a year; the date, aircraft and fellow occupant are not yet given, and no report was filed.
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 2026-11-12.
On the record
- Read in BBC Persian (Felicity Semper, published 11 Nov 2026), which reads as a translation of a BBC English feature; quotes here are rendered back from the Persian.
- Crowther is named and firsthand to the sighting and to the radio call; the radar target is the unnamed controller's, as Crowther remembers the call; the person with him ('we') is unnamed.
- The BBC illustration is a computer image made from his description, not a photograph.
Claims
Where
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