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AUGUST 1997 – OXWICH, GOWER

One night in mid-summer holidays, at about 11.30 PM, Peter Carey was driving alone down to Oxwich, returning to the place where he was staying with his wife. After getting to the bottom of the hill after leaving the main south Gower road, and levelling out to cross the marsh, heading south, he noticed some white lights over Oxwich Bay to his left. He recognised these as being flares, which descended as they burned.

Just then he saw a red light at 30 degrees elevation at 2 o’clock on his right, approaching on a parallel course, but in the opposite direction to himself (i.e. it was heading north). It was comparable to a car’s red tail light in colour.

It suddenly stopped, then moved on again in a straight and level course as it passed him to his right a few hundred metres away, which would have placed it over Penrice. Then it stopped again. Meanwhile Peter had stopped the car and lowered the window to find out if it made any noise. It did not.

Then it moved upwards suddenly and again stopped. Finally it shot off at an angle upwards to the north. Peter phoned Swansea Coastguard and said he had seen some lights.

The person asked him what colour?

Peter replied that he had first seen some white flares over the sea, and they confirmed that a rescue exercise had been in operation. Peter then reported that he had also seen a red light over the landward side, and was told they weren’t interested!

Source: SUFON Files: Witness interviewed by Emlyn Williams 17 January 2016.