As reported in the May 1, 1998 edition of CNI News, British newspapers on April 27, 1998 widely reported that a large triangular UFO had been tracked at enormous speed on RAF radar, then also tracked by the Dutch Air Force over the North Sea. The UK press also hinted that an upcoming military symposium at RAF College Cranwell would reveal more details of the UFO incident.
Since those reports were aired, British UFO researcher Nick Pope -- who previously worked the official "UFO Desk" (Air Secretariat 2a) at the Ministry of Defence -- and UFO researchers in the Netherlands have posted firm denials concerning the alleged incident.
In a statement circulated by British "Hot Gossip" columnist Georgina Bruni, Nick Pope wrote on May 6:
"Daily Mail and Daily Express stories that RAF Fylingdales had tracked a UFO travelling over the North Sea at speeds of 24,000 mph, [and]... that this sighting and other UFO events were to be discussed at a symposium to be held at RAF College Cranwell... seem to have been cobbled together by taking pieces of general information from old UFO stories and spuriously linking them with the Cranwell event.
"I have been reliably informed of the identity of the source for this story, and told that this is not the first time that the individual concerned has put out a spurious defence related story.
"There is to be a two day operational and technical symposium at RAF College Cranwell on 4th and 5th June, designed to raise awareness of military space systems with both the military and the commercial community. There was never any intention that the issue of UFOs would be discussed," Pope concluded.
In similar fashion, Andy Denne of the Dutch UFO research group A.U.R.A. wrote:
"We have checked our source within the Dutch Air Force, and we can be rather sure by now no F-16 [jets] were sent to intercept nor ever took off.
"We also double-checked with the Dutch military defence-radar in Nieuw- Millingen. They also assured us nothing was visual on radar.
"From the civil Air Traffic Control at Amsterdam airport we learned nothing odd or irregular was seen on their radars the last couple of months. Since one of my family-members is training-director at the Eurocontrol educational centre [and] was the one to pop the question, we're rather sure the ATC would've told him. And they would've seen it too; that's one thing we can be sure off.
"So our conclusion is that there was no 'North Sea UFO,' at least not as described in the British press. Especially since the Dutch Air Force is not as tight-lipped as their American or British colleagues, it seems to me that they were telling the truth," Denne said.
Original file name: CNI - Dutch/RAF.no UFO
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