Above: Original photo taken in October or November 2017: (Image: Cascade News)
Bright Structured UFO Over Brandon, Co. Durham, UK Oct or Nov 2017
"This photo was sent to MUFON and they did not reply. The photo was analysed in three different countries but Jason Gleaves is the only photo analyst quoted in this article. Dr Bruce Maccabee was another who studied it and he too classed it as 'unidentified'. So, if that's good enough for Dr. Maccabee it's good enough for me." Philip Mantle
On December 24th, 2017 The Daily Mirror newspaper reported as follows:
Christine Iskander, 57, was shocked when she spotted bright white light twinkling in the night sky over Brandon, in County Durham.
She quickly grabbed her iPhone and managed to take a picture before it shot off at high speed.
"It was blinding, looking at it directly. It looked like a very brilliant white star to the naked eye.
"I thought it may be a helicopter at first but there was no sound,” said Christine, a civil servant.
"Seconds after taking the photo the object shot straight up and then disappeared before I could get another photo.?
"The picture shows something quite different to what my eyes saw."
She sent the snap to investigator Philip Mantle, 54, of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, who said: "Although on the surface this photo doesn't look like much, when it has been enlarged it almost looks like the Millennium Falcon spaceship from Star Wars.
Above: Cropped enlargement from original photo: (Image: Cascade News)
"Add to this the witnesses description you have to label this as a genuine UFO."
Photo analyst Jason Gleaves, an ex-RAF and BAE Airbus division employee in the UK, is baffled after studying the photo.
He said: "The witnesses said she was out alone walking her dog, the weather conditions had been fairly clear, and the sky had no other stars in view and no moon visible.
"The object appeared similar to a very brilliant white star to the naked eye and appeared travelling towards her. At first she thought it might have been a helicopter but couldn’t hear any distinguishing familiar sounds.
"Seconds after taking the original photograph the object shot straight up and then disappeared before she could get a second photograph. The image was taken using an apple iPhone 5 and the image transferred when a new phone was purchased.
"Upon analysing the original source image it appears to have defined structure. No known conventional aircraft can accelerate vertically from a standing hovering position without sound."
[This is direct from the witness' statement: Time was between 9.30 pm - 11pm. There was no moon. It was between October - November; time 2013hrs-2014hrs approx. Fairly clear sky with no other stars in view.]
©Photos Cascade News
©Text John Jeffay/Daily Mirror
©Philip Mantle also kindly assisted BEAMS with additional information for this report.
