You wouldn't normally expect to see much if you were standing on top of a slag heap in Notts [Nottinghamshire, England].

A bit of surrounding countryside. The remnants of the county's coal industry. But certainly not a UFO.

Yet, for three ex-miners from Shirebrook, there seemed to be no other explanation for the bright triangular shape which appeared in the skies above them.

To prove they were not seeing things, they filmed the strange craft for twenty minutes.

And they aren't alone.

According to a new documentary filmed by a Nottingham based production company, Notts is a hive of extra-terrestrial activity.

During a six-month investigation, Nottingham-based Four Sheet Films looked into dozens of sightings across the East Midlands.

Among things reported to be lurking in the skies of Notts and Derbyshire were:

Bright white lights

Triangular shaped objects

Pulsating lights

Cigar shaped craft

Dome shaped craft

A large glowing millstone.

Director Owen, 31, of Forest Fields, who has never seen a UFO himself, said that the film from the Shirebrook slagheap was particularly amazing.

"These three men were standing on a slagheap and saw this triangular shape in the sky, so they started filming it," he said.

"They give this running commentary on it and couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Then two helicopters come along to try and intercept it and it just disappears.

"When we checked with the Civil Aviation Authority and the MoD they said there were no helicopters in the area at the time."

The production team, who made the ten minute documentary as part of Carlton Television's First Cuts Scheme, investigated incidents in Leicester, Mansfield, Chesterfield, Nottingham and Derby.

They say activity is particularly centred on the Derbyshire Dales, with the epicentre believed to be within a ten mile radius of Matlock.

"People in Matlock have been reporting sightings for about 16 years," said Owen.

"Since last September activity has increased and there have been dozens and dozens of sightings.

Some people are just seeing planets like Venus under odd conditions. But some of them are genuinely bizarre.

"Triangular shaped craft which just materialise in the air and have a surface like liquid mercury are quite common sightings."

The film also features an interview with Nick Pope, a former UFO desk officer at the Ministry of Defence.

"The MoD takes UFOs quite seriously — they get around 200-300 reported sightings every year," said Owen.

"About 90% of them can be explained by normal means. Of the other 10%, some cannot be explained due to lack of information. The only explanation is extra-terrestrial activity."

The film will be premiered at the Broadway cinema in Hockley this autumn before being shown later in the year on TV.

Tony James, founder member of the East Midlands UFO Association, said it wasn't uncommon to see UFOs in Nottingham itself.

"I've seen two UFOs in Nottingham myself. The first one I saw was in 1993 in Lenton," he said.

"It was just off Triumph Road. The other one was close to the Goose Fair Pub in Highbury Vale. That was in 1996.

"We had a report of a sighting just the other Friday in Hucknall.

"This ex-miner had got up at around 3am and saw something throught the window. He described it as being like a chandelier.

"He's about 79 and said he'd never had anytime for people who said they'd seen those kind of things, but now he knows how they feel."

Omar Fowler, President of the Unusual Phenomena Association, said research by an Amer-ican scientist suggests there maybe up to 15 different types of aliens who have visited the earth.

They are said to range from lizard-like beings to ones that appear more like humans.

• Story originally published by:
Nottingham Evening Post / England | Caroline Foulkesby - Aug .01

All Copyrights © are acknowledged.
Material reproduced here is for
educational and research purposes only.