860

Approximately 3.30 PM.

Michael Hopkins:

'My son and I were attending the annual airshow at RAF St. Athan, when in the afternoon a dogfight display were being conducted alongside the runway. A Spitfire, Hurricane and an ME109 were taking part, and during the simulated bombing run I raised my binoculars to my eyes to follow the flight of the Hurricane. As I was panning along the flight path, I was distracted by a black spherical object in the distance. I focused on the object which was hovering at a location that appeared to be over the Bristol Channel [about 10 miles south-east].

I watched the object which maintained a stationary position for a good few minutes until my arms started to ache and I had to drop the binoculars from my eyes. Note: when observing the object through the binoculars, I rotated the binoculars in case it was dirt or similar on the lens, but the object did not remain in the centre of the lens indicating it definitely was a stationary object. After about 20 seconds or so, I returned the binoculars to my eyes, but was unable to locate the object again.

The weather conditions were fairly bright with some blue sky and mid to high level clouds. There was no wind, but an indication of a slight breeze coming off the channel. I would contend that this object was virtually identical to the pair of spheres that were observed over Lisvane, Cardiff in March 1988.

Source: Michael Hopkins 2018.