Berwyn Mountain Incident
Encyclopedia
The Berwyn Mountain Incident was an alleged "UFO crash" in Britain. It took place on 23 January 1974 on the Berwyn Mountains
in Llandrillo
, Merionethshire
, North Wales
. Both the Berwyn Mountain incident and the similar Rendlesham Forest incident
have been called a "British Roswell
". It was jokingly labelled "The Roswelsh Incident" by The Sun newspaper.
rescue team from Valley
on Anglesey
. Nothing was found, and all searches were called off at just after 2 p.m. the following day.
The Institute of Geological Sciences (now British Geological Survey
) reported that a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was felt at 8:38 p.m. that night over a wide area of North Wales and as far as Liverpool (also in Formby 13 miles north of Liverpool). It was not immediately identified for what it was, hence the police investigation. However, the magnitude of the shock was such that had it been due to impact, the resulting crater would have been large enough to be easily visible. The unusual lights may have been simply the meteor, but may also have included the phenomenon known as earthquake light.
".
The claim that the area was cordoned off by the military was shown by researcher Andy Roberts to relate to a later event in 1982 when an RAF Harrier jet
crashed in the area.
Berwyn range
The Berwyn range is an isolated and sparsely populated area of moorland located in the north-east of Wales, roughly bounded by Llangollen in the north-east, Corwen in the north-west, Bala in the south-west, and Oswestry in the south-east.The Berwyn range also played its part in causing King Henry...
in Llandrillo
Llandrillo, Denbighshire
Llandrillo is a small village and community in Denbighshire in Wales, between Bala, and Corwen on the B4401 road. It was historically in the county of Meirionnydd, and has a population of 587....
, Merionethshire
Merionethshire
Merionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974...
, North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
. Both the Berwyn Mountain incident and the similar Rendlesham Forest incident
Rendlesham Forest Incident
The Rendlesham Forest Incident is the name given to a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights and the alleged landing of a craft or multiple craft of unknown origin in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, in late December 1980, just outside RAF Woodbridge, used at the time by the U.S....
have been called a "British Roswell
Roswell UFO incident
The Roswell UFO Incident was the recovery of an object that crashed in the general vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico, in June or July 1947, allegedly an extra-terrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and of...
". It was jokingly labelled "The Roswelsh Incident" by The Sun newspaper.
The incident
A number of unusual lights in the sky were observed, followed by a dramatic shaking of the earth. It was considered possible that an aircraft had crashed, or a meteorite had impacted. Within an hour, police searched the Berwyn Mountains and were joined by a RAFRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
rescue team from Valley
RAF Valley
RAF Valley is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training...
on Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
. Nothing was found, and all searches were called off at just after 2 p.m. the following day.
Scientific explanation
Scientific evidence indicates the event was generated by an earthquake combined with sightings of a bright meteor widely observed over Wales and Northern England at the time.The Institute of Geological Sciences (now British Geological Survey
British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS headquarters are in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, but other centres...
) reported that a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was felt at 8:38 p.m. that night over a wide area of North Wales and as far as Liverpool (also in Formby 13 miles north of Liverpool). It was not immediately identified for what it was, hence the police investigation. However, the magnitude of the shock was such that had it been due to impact, the resulting crater would have been large enough to be easily visible. The unusual lights may have been simply the meteor, but may also have included the phenomenon known as earthquake light.
UFO speculation
It was later alleged by "the UFO community" that a UFO crashed, that non-human bodies were found and that the British Government covered up the event. There were subsequent claims that the area was cordoned off by the military while wreckage was recovered. Also, there were reports that the villages in the vicinity were visited by "Men in BlackMen in Black
Men in Black , in American popular culture and in UFO conspiracy theories, are men dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents who harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. It is sometimes implied that they may be aliens themselves...
".
The claim that the area was cordoned off by the military was shown by researcher Andy Roberts to relate to a later event in 1982 when an RAF Harrier jet
Harrier Jump Jet
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...
crashed in the area.
See also
- Rendlesham Forest IncidentRendlesham Forest IncidentThe Rendlesham Forest Incident is the name given to a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights and the alleged landing of a craft or multiple craft of unknown origin in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, in late December 1980, just outside RAF Woodbridge, used at the time by the U.S....
. - List of UFO sightings
- UFO sightings in the United KingdomUFO sightings in the United KingdomThis is a list of notable alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects or UFOs in the United Kingdom. Many more sightings became known since 2008, when the National Archives have gradually released MoD UFO sighting reports...
- UFO
Official Government Sources
- MOD response to this incident
- Listing National Archive records AIR 2/18873 and AIR 2/18874 relating ot this event
Articles
- Maddison, R., 2006. The 'astronomer from Keele' writes Astronomy & Geophysics, vol 47 no 6, p 8
External links
- 1974 Wales-UFO crash - About.com account
- The Berwyn Mountain UFO Crash - A British Roswell? by Andy J. Roberts
- CSETI article on the Brwyn Mountain Incident
- Whyfiles; The Berwyn Mountains Incident