Investigator Max Burns speaks to local witnesses to find out what was happening over the Peaks that night.

The Peak District, Northern England

Emma Maidenhead witnessed a ufo over Dronfield on the evening of 24th March 1997 and rang me at 22.00

to report what she had seen. Emma lives in Dronfield and is part of my local skywatch team. Emma described how she had just seen a ufo fly over the top of her house, the ufo was 200 to 300ft across, triangular in shape and at a height of around 200ft.

It had pink/cerise type lights around what she described as the front and an almost blinding circular electric blue light underneath. Emma stated that "I could hear a sound similar to the noise an electrical substation makes but much louder, like wet power lines, a sort of humming."

She had the ufo in sight for approximately 15 seconds and was under the impression that it was losing height. One minute before the ufo appeared two jet fighters appeared, then twenty seconds after the ufo and twenty seconds later yet two more, the fighters were flying at high speed at the same height and in the same direction. She also stated that as the ufo crossed over the house it lit up the whole street, bright as day. She also felt quite ill for about half an hour after the incident. Emma also witnessed helicopters and light aircraft in the area, in her words "It was like an air show. I have never seen so much air traffic in the sky at the same time." The sighting occurred at 21.45.

Emma Maidenhead witnessed a triangle just like this one on the 24th March 1997.

Taken by a member of the public, this picture has had extensive analysis by experts and their conclusions were that it is a real picture and has not been tampered with. Desperate to get a closer look Emma came to my house and together we drove in the direction she saw the ufo heading. We cruised around the Pennines stopping and asking all and sundry who were out watching Hale Bopp if they had seen anything unusual. At about 23.45 we were stopped by a local policeman who clearly thought our behavior was slightly suspicious and he wanted to perform a routine vehicle check. The policeman who I now know to be PC Mick Eccleshare asked me what we were doing and I told him the truth, that we were out looking for a possible crashed UFO. Not expecting such a bizarre answer, PC Eccleshare was obviously taken aback, in fact in 20 years in the force he said he had never heard that reply and felt that during his career he had heard them all. I asked him if he had seen or heard of any helicopter activity in the area to which at first he said no, he had not heard anything, then once the vehicle check was completed and I was about to get back in the car he said, "I don't know if this is any good to you but there have been reports of a plane crash over the reservoirs and at least 200 people have called in to report it to various police stations in the area."

Grateful for the extra information Emma and I headed up to a vantage point above the Strines and Dale Dike reservoirs. From here we could clearly see a group of RAF Sea King helicopters working a search pattern using infrared cameras around the local area. The time was now 02.00 and we decided to call it a night.

UFO Tracked on Radar

The following day I was contacted by Mr. Rob Daniel's, whose family are currently still under the employ of the Royal Air Force. The son of a long time friend of Rob's parents and friend of Rob from before they started school together had received a telephone call from (alias) Dave who works as a radar operator in the Royal Signals at RAF Linton On Ouse. He told me that Dave had called him that morning and had told excitedly of how he had tracked a UFO on the radar screen at 21.55 for a ten minute period the night before (24th March). The UFO had apparently then shot off the screen.

I asked Rob to re-contact his friend in the hope that I could access copies of the radar tapes and/or the radar log or any other information regarding the tracking of the UFO on the 24th March. Unfortunately by then military staff must have been briefed about the delicacy of the situation as when pushed for more information, the radar operator stated to his friend of 16 years. "I am not allowed to discuss it if I do I will be in breach of my national security oath." Rob Daniel's was adamant that he had never seen his friend behave like this before and believed that his friend was genuinely scared about the consequences of talking to members of the public about the UFO being tracked on radar.

Update:

It has been claimed that the radar was not operating at RAF Linton On Ouse on the 24th March 1997.

However this information must be dis-information as the circumstances regarding how I obtained the news that the UFO was tracked on radar preclude the possibility of the radar operator fabricating this information.

This is due to the fact that there had been no media reporting of this incident apart from local radio in the Sheffield area and the radio signal from the local radio would not have reached as far a field as York. Also there had been no reporting on the local radio pertaining to any UFO reports at that time.

As RAF Linton On Ouse is at least seventy miles from the incident and the information came to me at 09.30 on the 25th March 1997, the chance of the radar operator guessing the precise area and the exact time of the thirteen ufo sightings, which also coincided with the military activity in the skies over the town of Dronfield, the city of Sheffield and the surrounding rural areas. I believe is a statistical improbability, as far as I am concerned the radar operator from the Royal Signals at Linton is not telling the truth as he could not have made up such a precise story on a wild guess.

(His identity is known to me but for obvious reasons is to be kept secret)

I then discovered that the military jets had been seen in the locality by two more witnesses Tony Megson and Paul Bradley. They had reported seeing two military jets flying at low altitude in the Shire Green area of Sheffield heading towards Dronfield at 21.45 on the 24th March. At the same time both sides of a local youth football team and their supporters, over 40 people in all, witnessed the jets flying over Dronfield. The jets could have covered the distance from Shire Green to Dronfield in less than sixty seconds. By using witness statements to determine the flight path of the jets it seems undeniable that they were following the trail of the UFO.

That same night the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh recorded two sonic booms or air explosions over the Sheffield area. The first was recorded at 21.52 over the Peak District area and the second was reported at 22.06. A full 14 minutes after the first. This I feel is vital to note considering that the authorities stated that the sonic boom was caused by a Bolide meteor. They do not mention the fact that there were two!

The speed and trajectory of the alleged Bolide meteor and the laws of physics discount their explanation that a Bolide meteor exploded in the atmosphere causing a sonic boom. Will the authorities now claim that the meteor as well as exploding twice, managed to hang around in the atmosphere for a full 14 minutes after exploding for the first time? Will they now claim that there were in fact two Bolide meteors? Who knows, being that the military at first have denied that they had any planes in the air never mind in the area. Was it just coincidence then that these two booms occur at the time the radar operator states that he tracked a UFO on radar - between, 21.55 to 22.05? Could the booms have been one of the Tornado jets exploding then crashing into one of the reservoirs? Was there a hot pursuit going on? Something very serious indeed must have occurred for the RAF to deny even having any planes over the area. RAF Conisby have now changed their original statement about not having planes in the air that night to: "We had some aircraft in the air but they were on maneuvers over the North Sea." Well, from the North Sea to the Pennines in a Tornado F3 Interceptor the journey would take only approximately 5 minutes, depending on their position over the sea at the time. I believe the jets were scrambled to intercept the Flying Triangle.

Update:

The RAF through the M.O.D through questions asked in the House of Commons by Helen Jackson MP have now changed their version of events again. They now claim that there was a covert low flying training mission over the Peaks on the 24th March 1997.

Update:

The M.O.D have once again changed their story regarding the 24th March, they now say that, as I reported, Tornado jets did leave RAF Conisby in Lincolnshire at 20.45 on the night of the 24th, the M.O.D have said that however they were not Tornado Interceptors, a squadron of which are based at Conisby but Strike Tornado’s which are based in Norfolk. The difference between these two types of plane is, the Tornado’s based at Conisby have an elongated nose section which contains excellent radar for low level interception. They also claim that there were N.A.T.O Tornado’s present as well but they do not specify which type. The M.O.D. have also added that Jaguar jets were present as well.

I believe that they have included the Jaguar jets into their statement because of there delta wing shape and slower flying speed.

So as to debunk the five individual witnesses to the flying triangle by inferring that they actually saw the above mentioned and not a huge triangle craft as reported. I must say that unless a Jaguar is capable of flying at 40 mph at height of 200/ 300 ft and appears to be the size of a football pitch this attempt at debunking the triangle witnesses simply does not hold water. I must say that the fact that the M.O.D have changed their version of events on at least four occasions proves, as far as I am concerned, that there is without doubt a conspiracy to conceal evidence of something far more serious than a training mission over the Peaks and a pilot breaching the sound barrier a couple of times, logic must prevail that a cover-up of this proportions would not be warranted for something as mundane as what they claim.

At 10.47 the following morning the Seismology department reported that the sonic boom did not seem to have been caused by an impact of any kind but that evidence was still inconclusive. They said "It would depend on speed of impact and type of terrain where the supposed impact had occurred."

The sonic boom data

Air quakes or sonic booms travel at a speed of 330 meter's per second but during impact with the ground the seismic disturbance will travel much quicker, at 5.5 kilometer's per second. If the impact were into one of the many reservoirs in the area then the data would not reflect the 5.5 kilometer's per second. It is feasible that an impact into water would show a slower moving wave, possibly as the Tornado exploded on impact with the water it would only be at 330 meter's per second. The two close proximity sonic booms were registered at three monitoring stations. One at Haverah Park, one at Holmfirth and the other at the Leeds University monitoring station. Currently, over 300 sonic booms are recorded over the UK every year by the British Geo. Survey. Not all booms are picked up, as their registering depends on their strength and magnitude.

Concorde will provide a sonic boom but that is generally heard over the English Channel, not over Sheffield. RAF jets do also and apparently so does the infamous Bolide meteor.

(sorry not available in this document, needs scanning in)

As you will see from the seismographs of different sonic occurrence over the UK, which have been supplied by the British Geological Survey, the first sonic occurrence happened over the English Channel on the 6th November 1997 at 18.49 utc and is the possible sonic trace from Concorde. The second sonic occurrence happened off the coast of Co. Durham and Cleveland on the 7th November 1997 at 10.34 utc. and with further inquiries by the B.G.S to the air complaints people at Rudloe Manor second home to Matthew Williams (Truthseeker) they confirmed that the sonic boom was possibly due to a squadron of RAF jets going supersonic over the North Sea. The sonic boom on this event actually set off the earthquake alarms at the nuclear power station.

The third sonic occurrence is from the second sonic boom that occurred on the 24th March 1997 over the Peaks at 22.06, after consulting with the relevant authorities at the B.G.S. and the statement that the readings seemed not to show an impact of any kind, but if a Tornado jet had exploded or impacted with one of the many reservoirs in the area then the data would quite possibly represent this. With regard to the Bolide meteor, having made extensive inquiries with regard to Bolide meteor's, I have been unable to find any other instance where a Bolide meteor has exploded and caused a sonic boom, so it would appear that we have a first in the world occurrence with regard to the Bolide meteor phenomena!!!

More evidence to prove the apparent close proximity of credible UFO sightings and the Bolide meteor phenomena. (Another cover story)

On Wednesday, February 11, 1998, at 6:30 p.m., a UFO described as "a ball of light of a yellow-greenish color with a long bright blue tail" crossed the sky in a descending trajectory over Lombardia province. The UFO was seen by hundreds of people in the cities of Bergamo, Brescia, Asola, Parma and Mantova before disappearing over Lazio. Italian scientists dismissed the object as "an unusually bright bolide."

Exactly one week later, on Wednesday, February 18, 1998, he phenomenon repeated itself," and again the luminous yellow-green UFO with the blue tail flew over Lombardia "in an oblique descending trajectory" and "was seen by hundreds of people."

Now everyone in north-central Italy is talking about 'il Bolide del mercoledi (the meteor of Wednesday) and looking for a repeat appearance. (See the Italian newspapers Il Messagero, Gazzeta di Parma and Gazzeta diMantova for February 19, 1998. Grazie a Renzo Cabassi, Carlo Cruciani, Roberto Labanti e Edoardo Russoper questo rapporto.)

Source: UFO round-up

Statement from the USA Geological Survey ( bolide meteor characteristics) USGS - US Geological Survey, Woods Hole Field Center What is a bolide?

There is no consensus on its definition, but we use it to mean an extraterrestrial body in the 1-10-km size range, which impacts the earth at velocities of literally faster than a speeding bullet (20-70 km/sec = Mach 75), explodes upon impact, and creates a large crater. " is a generic term, used to imply that we do not know the precise nature of the impacting body . . . whether it is a rocky or metallic asteroid, or an icy comet, for example. No mention of the bolide exploding in the atmosphere or causing sonic booms this must now completely debunk the authorities bolide meteor theory the facts of the night of the 24th March 1997 are not even consistent with a professional description of a bolide meteor.

The evidence so far I feel, proves beyond any doubt that the authorities are involved in a conspiracy to conceal evidence. I know the military were there during the incident, inside the timeline and on the flight path. I feel the Bolide meteor theory is not at all feasible. In which case the Bolide meteor story is nothing more than a conspiracy to hide the facts about what happened one cold cloudless night over the Peak District on the 24th March 1997. These points will be covered in the conclusion.

Update. It has now been confirmed that there was no space debris in the atmosphere that night which removes from the equation the Bolide meteor theory, proving that it was nothing more than a cover story. This is what I have been saying right from the beginning of my investigation. Sadly this is not the case of certain other so called researchers into this incident.

However I have still included the Bolide data so readers can be aware that this cover story was in place right from the beginning, RAF Fylingdales would have tracked any Bolide in the atmosphere on any night so the question is left why did the military leave the Bolide story to mature?

Police Inquiries

Three days later I discovered that the police had been making inquiries about me. They had traced my car back from when Emma and I were stopped by PC Mick Eccleshare on March 24th in Castleton. The check had revealed the fact that the car belonged to a local leisure company. They were contacted by the police on March 27th. The police asked the leisure company's area manager if, in his opinion, I was a serious UFO researcher. They also wanted to know my address, telephone number and what I had seen that night.

The area manager called me after the police had spoken with him, to inform me that the police were asking questions, the area manager had told the police that he just knew my name and did not know my telephone number or my surname. I called the police station and asked why they were so curious to know information about myself. The officer said that it was for the official report of the incident, when I asked him "What incident?" he said "The crash err, I mean alleged crash." I then stated to the officer that wasn't it a little unusual for someone to be making out an official report about something that the authorities said had not occurred and that considering that no crime had been committed on the night of the 24th March by Emma and myself, didn't he think that it was an awful waste of police resources to be tracking down a potential witness to gather information for a non event? It just seemed like a contradiction to me. After more phone calls to the officer PC Mick Eccleshare later on in the year, it became apparent that the official report to the incident is quite extensive and he has also admitted that the report is now held at South Yorkshire police headquarters.

From the map below you can see how close the proximity of four of the Triangle sightings were

And as all the witnesses have never met or seen each others statements described the same object it isundeniable that there was indeed a huge flying triangle over the Sheffield area on the 24th March 1997.

My name is in the official report as is that of trusted UFO researcher Martin Jeffrey who helped in the early stages of this investigation by exchanging information with me, for which I am very grateful. I also appreciate his candid approach to this incident and the fact that he decided I was on the level when this case brought us in communication with each other.

As you can see below from two more of the UFO sightings on the 24th March 1997, that the jets and the UFO were all in very close proximity of each other and it seems undeniable that as three of the witnesses stated that the jets were flying at the same height and in the same direction, at high speed within less than 30 seconds of the UFO sighting that the Jets were on an interception course with the triangle.

Footnote.

Mr. Morton and his mother

Mr. Morton describes seeing a low flying plane traveling in a west south west direction and apparently having come from the direction of Deepcar. Both he and his mother commented on the low level of the aircraft and its low speed. He was able to see the fixed wing navigation lights and the silhouette of a small fixed wing aircraft from his home. He pointed out the height while it was due west of his home, where he last had sight of the planes navigation lights. A short while later he saw an orange glow followed by several plumes of smoke. Using a map I had with me he indicated the ridge formed by Outer Edge and Featherbed Moss which he believes to be the highest ground visible to the west and to be the ridge the plane passed over, he then pointed to Margery Hill and suggested that it was roughly at this location that he last had sight of the plane. He felt that it was on the west side of the Derwent Valley and that this would be the most likely place to start looking for any debris.

Note: Featherbed Top from Bolderstone. A straight line drawn on a map between these two points will pass through Howden reservoir.

Bryan Haslam

As the days went by I came across more and more witnesses to the strange events of the night of March 24th. The earliest recording of a sighting came from Brian Haslam who witnessed the UFO whilst on a train between Sheffield and Keighley, near Barnsley. Haslam states in the local police report that he saw a triangular shaped object hovering around the Barnsley area at around 19.40. The object had lights all around it and Haslam is adamant that it wasn't a plane. In the police log he stated to the police "There's no point in you looking for a crashed plane, it definitely wasn't a plane. ""Thinks they were wasting there time".

Update:

Due to questions raised in the Houses of Parliament on the 24th March 1998 by the labour MP for Hillsborough

Sheffield, Helen Jackson. Several questions were tabled, one question in particular was.

Were there any UFO reports to the police on either the 24th or the 25th March 1997?

The reply was given.

There were no ufo reports to the police on either the 24th or 25th March 1997.

As you can see, although there are several reports in the police log reporting ufo's this one in particular is very important as lights in the sky reported to the police may be mis-identifications and although unexplained and to the observer is a ufo it may or may not be something else, for example aircraft lights, however I am not aware of any aircraft that fly at extremely low altitudes with flying speeds of less than sixty mph or that use glowing orange lights.

The Bryan Haslam report to the police is precise and the sightings occurred in daylight in which he describes exactly what the other witnesses to the triangle saw two hours later about ten miles from his location. and as we do not have anything here in the UK which is the size of a football pitch, triangle in shape and lit up all around with the ability to hover, this is a firm ufo sighting, not just lights in the sky, with its inclusion in the police log of the incident, it is ludicrous to discount this sighting just because it occurred two hours before the main aspect of this incident as some have tried to do.

By definition, its inclusion in the police log of the incident is clearly a valid ufo sighting reported to the police on the 25th March pertaining to the night of the 24th March 1997. This confirms that Helen Jackson MP has indeed been lied to during the tabling of questions in the House of Parliament. The question then must be asked why is a Member of Parliament being lied to?

Why have the MOD taken the stance that nothing occurred that night?

Taken by a member of the public, this picture has had extensive analysis by experts and their conclusions were that it was a real picture and had not been tampered with.

New Witnesses (Husband & Wife )

I have just been contacted by other witnesses to the flying triangle in the Parsons Cross area of Sheffield which is in direct line between Dronfield and High Bradfield, in the time frame in the flight path. Although I have not seen the full hand written statement from the witnesses it is apparent that these witnesses have also seen the triangle at very close proximity and described it as being the size of a 747 jet, apparently three jets flew over at high speed and low altitude, a few moments later the triangle appeared. It was, according to the husband and wife just after the triangle had disappeared from view that three more jets came over. All the jets and the triangle were at the same height and traveling in the same direction, at present I am waiting for the full hand written statement. "As soon as I receive the statement I will update you all".

Mr Jonathan Dagenhart encountered a man on the small viaduct on Snake Pass at Ladybower reservoir, one hour after the explosions occurred, the man was stinking of aviation fuel. Mr Dagenhart is a member of the RAF and works on jet engines.

He has since been made to retract his testimony and has accused me of twisting what he has said. However I have his interview on tape and it is quite clear that he is certain about what fuel the man was smelling of and the taped interview clearly shows that I have not twisted anything.

Mrs. Dronfield

Another witness was Mrs. Dronfield, an elderly lady who reported her sighting to the police. According to the police reports Mrs. Dronfield saw a cigar shaped object flying at a very low altitude towards Strines from High Bradfield at around 22.00. Her statement says the object was lit up more than a normal plane would have been. When I spoke to Mrs. Dronfield in person, more details began to unfold. She had in fact gone to her bedroom window with a pair of binoculars intending to look at Hale Bopp.

However before she had had a chance, she noticed the UFO. It was glowing orange as it came across towards the Strines area and Mrs. Dronfield kept it in view for about twenty seconds. After speaking to Mrs. Dronfield I concluded that what she thought was a cigar shaped object could well have been the triangular object sighted by Emma Maidenhead but seen from a side view. Mrs Dronfield saw the object from side on at a low altitude, whereas Emma Maidenhead saw the object above her and so was able to see its overall shape. Both witnesses are entirely genuine and are certain of what they saw. Mrs Dronfield is an 80 year old lady who in her entire life has never had or felt the need to call the police about anything. She is intelligent and fully in control of her mental faculties.

Mr. Brassington

As, the RAF are denying that they had any planes in the air that night, I found it quite amusing that between the hours of 21.30 to 22.00 on the 24th March in Dronfield, a gentlemen named Mr. Brassington a former RAF officer reported to the police that "Two RAF jets came over low and fast then a twin engine plane circled twice over Dronfield." I am always pleased to see the RAF, or should I say former RAF, debunking the statement made by the RAF that they had no planes in the air that night. Mr. Brassington also corroborated part of the statement made by Emma Maidenhead that there were light aircraft in the area with the UFO as well as the jets.

Mr. Rhodes

Another witness was Mr. Rhodes who said that at around 21.50 on the night of the 24th March he saw a glowing orange object going over the Ridgeway. He thought it was a UFO and had been looking for a UFO hot line to report it to. He also said that it was very unusual and very low. This was on the flight path between Dronfield and Strines.

Sharon Aldridge and Joanne

Here follows the full verbatim transcript of the hand written statement by Sharon Aldridge:

I went out to photograph the comet Hale Bopp at Folly Boot Hill, with my friend Joanne. We had our backs towards the Strines reservoir, photographing when we heard a very loud strange sound. Joanne described it to the police the next day as the sound made by a giant kids windmill, very loud, we both looked behind us but saw nothing. Must have been after 22.00 by then. As we started walking back a helicopter circled us. We got back in the car and drove down to the Strines inn. There were three fire engines blocking the way. I asked what was happening and was told that a light aircraft had been sighted and gone down. We went to Joanne's for a cup of tea to warm up, it was a very cold night. We thought then that we should report the noise we had heard to the firemen. We went down and spoke to a different fireman and I said that I had heard that a light aircraft had gone down, and that we had heard a strange sound. The fireman said at first that it had been a jet that had gone down, and when I said that I thought it was a light aircraft he said yes that's what it was. He asked where the sound had come from and we told him, over by the Strines reservoir. He said that it had gone in the Strines reservoir but we hadn't heard a splash. A car arrived with what I presumed were plain clothed policeman. The next day the police questioned Joanne about the nights events. I was at work.

Local police called.

At 22.34 local police received a report from the gamekeeper of an area of land that borders Strines. The gamekeeper and his wife had been watching TV, the adverts came on, they had been waiting for 'News at Ten' when they heard a loud explosion close to their house and watched as an orange glow descended over the area.

The Gamekeepers wife. (Verbatim transcript)

I heard a big boom which alerted myself and my husband to go outside. The area was glowing orange when the police arrived. My husband helped the police look from all the vantage points, in the hope of locating, at that time what they believed to be a downed light aircraft. I'm still mystified by all I heard that night I don't know what to believe or think.

My husband was not allowed to enter the moor which was very strange considering that there was a possibility of injured survivors of a plane crash on the moor and locating them and rendering medical help as quickly as possible should have been at the forefront of everybody's mind. My husband and I were very surprised at the authorities calling the search off so quickly. Later on the next day (25th March) we were visited by a senior police officer with pips on his shoulder who wanted to know what we had heard and seen that night. He also visited all the other locals in the area. I would like to say my husbands employer is a former Whitehall man with connections to the S.A.S. I'm afraid that if I say the wrong thing it could be detrimental to my husbands employment on the estate. My husband did say for a few weeks after their seemed to be Whitehall and Ministry types all over the moor. They were not the normal crag rats (fell walkers) they were wearing business suits with boots or Wellington's and Barber type waterproofs, not your normal fell walkers for the time of the year.

They did not search the Strines moor till 08.00 and then they sent only four men to search the 40 square mile area and they only searched the area for three hours even though this is where the explosion occurred. My husband was quite annoyed that the police would not allow him access to the moor, my husbands only concern was the welfare of any injured parties that could have been in need of assistance. This area is the only private land in the entire Peak District. The police had no legal right to stop my husband entering the moor.

The New Age Traveller

On the top of the Peaks overlooking the Strines forest living in a converted horse box there is a new age traveler who I spoke with for about half an hour during the summer. During, our conversation, bearing in mind that I had not told the new age traveler that the Tornado jets had taken off from RAF Conisby, he informed me that he had a friend in the RAF in Lincoln and that they had lost a Tornado jet with the pilot and they had found no wreckage or debris. He also said that the military were denying everything with regard to all inquiries made by the media or anyone else who was making inquiries about the events over the Peaks on the 24th March 1997.

Dan Grayson

This witness had the Triangle in sight for a fifteen minute period in Stannington. The craft was hovering silently for about 10 minutes then it moved off slowly in silence, it was at least 200ft and it was being accompanied by a helicopter which kept a steady distance from the triangle. He felt the triangle, was being watched by the occupants of the helicopter. The helicopter did not have any markings on it of any kind. Dan told me that as far as he was concerned what he had seen was something "not of this Earth."

The sighting occurred at 23.30 to 23.45, a full one and a half hours after the explosion was heard and this I feel is very important based on what the new age traveler revealed

Leicester Arkwright

This statement has not been corroborated. At this time further inquiries are still being made. This witness claims to have seen the Sea King rescue helicopters pulling body bags out of the Howden reservoir just before 12.00 on the 25th March. He has since been told that he must not discuss what he saw with anyone. however with further study of the evidence It would appear that there may well be what I believe to be a dozen witnesses to the co-pilot thumbing a lift after what i believe was the explosion of one of the tornado jets, which I will cover in the next section. But I feel that if the statement is as he believes to be correct then what he has seen is either the ejector seat and the body of the pilot being removed or the body of the pilot and his parachute being removed which would appear at a distance to be two bodies. His statement ties in well with the claims made by the new age traveler. So does the fact that the search was called off approximately 60 minutes after the reported recovery of the bodies. Add to it the fact that in Sharon Aldridge's conversation with the second fireman in her statement he had said that a jet had gone and it is reasonable to assume that there is more to the incident than the authorities are letting on. Something strange was going on the night of March 24th. Support was summoned from all around the country.

The Sea King helicopters mobilized to search the area in an attempt to locate the 'plane' for example had not come from the nearby RAF base but came all the way from RAF Kinross in Scotland. Strangely enough this is the same RAF base that launched helicopters to investigate mass UFO sightings in Fife in 1992. Despite the official reason for police and military involvement, being that a light aircraft had crashed, none of the local airports reported missing planes.

Mr. Jonathan Dagenhart

After writing a letter to this man regarding his comments in the police log he telephoned me

Here follows the verbatim transcript of my telephone conversation.

Taped interview between Max Burns and Jonathan Dagenhart on 2/5/98 Time 11.10 am

I had to call the witness back on another phone so as to set up the recording equipment

the conversation went like this. He consented to being recorded.

Burns Hello there

Dagenhart Hello

Burns So what happened that night? You'd been the Wales...

Dagenhart Well, we'd been to Wales, Um on the way home, Um driving down Snake Pass and all of a sudden just coming up to the viaduct this man stepped out in front of us, flagged us down so we stopped, pulled over I was in the front of the minibus with the driver and another passenger so I wound my window down and he started speaking to us he said I've got to get to Sheffield, Sheffield and that's basically all he said.

Burns Did he look in shock?

Dagenhart Yer, he didn't seem to really know which way Sheffield was or what he was doing or anything and the thing is I said at the time when I rang the police he smelled of diesel fuel, well since then I've joined the airforce and I'm now working for the airforce and it wasn't diesel fuel it was aviation fuel that he'd got on him.

Burns Ah absolutely superb

Dagenhart and I will put my money on that

Burns You work for the airforce

Dagenhart I work for the royal air force

Burns Where do you work? as a civilian for the airforce

Dagenhart No I actually work for the airforce I am paid by the air force

Burns Really can I ask you what job you do?

Dagenhart I'm a jet engine specialist

Burns A jet engine specialist

Dagenhart Yes

Burns And where do you work?

Dagenhart At the moment I'm down in Wolverhampton but in July I'm moving up to Lock (unintelligible) in Scotland

Burns Ar Do you know, I must send you a full copy of this report of what's happened Do you remember they were looking for a crashed plane .

Dagenhart Yep

Burns Yer they've lost a military jet.

Dagenhart Oh right

Burns And I believe he was the co-pilot of the tornado jet that's crashed. Did it look like a flying suit he was wearing?

Dagenhart Um I don't know he'd got clothes on but I mean it was dark and he'd got dark clothes on that's all.

Burns And he didn't know where he was?

Dagenhart No

Burns Yer and there were no vehicles in the area

Dagenhart There was nothing. A police car past us about 2 minutes after we passed him Ur cos. wed got a full minibus there was no room at all to get him on so we drove off. We told him the right way to go and a few seconds later a police car passed us. See when I spoke to the police later that evening (unintelligible) been on that road there had been nobody there and in a matter of seconds

Burns I think I saw you cos I was there in the area. I think I saw your minibus. I saw a military landrover as well.

Dagenhart Yes there probably was a couple of landrovers around but we'd got a white minibus with a trailer on the back.

Burns Yer did you go through Castleton at all out that way or did you just go over Ladybower and into Sheffield that way.

Dagenhart Over Ladybower and into Sheffield that way.

Burns That night I've got 13 witnesses to an enormous UFO flying about everywhere

Dagenhart right

Burns A military interception and they're trying to cover it up but you know I'll send you a copy of this if you like

Dagenhart yer brilliant

Burns Do you remember anything else was his English good

Dagenhart No it wasn't it was very poor very poor.

Burns Yer I think he might have been a NATO pilot or co-pilot

Dagenhart Yes he was of sort of African sort of origin very very dark skinned

Burns And it was definitely aviation fuel

Dagenhart yes

Burns and you can substantiate that because you now work for the Royal Air Force on jet e you know the other people well?

Dagenhart I know some of them well but I don't know them all there's about 8 that I don't know at all I know about four off the trip

Burns Is there any chance you could speak to someone else that saw him and get them to call me

Dagenhart Yer I can do

Burns Could you

Dagenhart I'll give it a go yer

Burns I'll post you a copy of this report after the weekend

Dagenhart right brilliant

Burns Yer is there anything else you can tell me about that night where abouts on Ladybower was he?

Dagenhart um

Burns before you go over it or...

Dagenhart Yer you know as you're coming from snake pass end

Burns Yes

Dagenhart You come up on to the Ladybower the smaller of the two viaducts going straight on to Sheffield

Burns And he really didn't know where he was going

Dagenhart He didn't know where he was going it looked like he just walked off a hill

Burns Really did he have any mud or anything on him Could you tell was his clothing dirty

Dagenhart I couldn't tell

Burns But as you work for the Royal Air Force on jet engines your absolutely 100% certain that it was aviation fuel not diesel

Dagenhart yes

Burns Is there any chance you could write this down for me

Dagenhart yes

Burns Could you in handwriting not typed

Dagenhart yer no problem

Burns do you know what thanks very much for calling what's your first name

Dagenhart Jonathan

Burns Jonathan thanks very much for calling me you've been absolutely superb cos. I was giving up hope of getting in contact with you I was going to come and knock on your door and put a note through your door you know to Rotherham next time I was up there cos. I used to live in Rotherham

Dagenhart Oh right

Burns I used to live in Kimberworth

Dagenhart Oh right cool

Burns You know off Meadowbank Road

Dagenhart Yep I´ve got friends who live up there

Burns How old are you Jonathan

Dagenhart I'm 25 and a half

Burns 25 and a half Do you mind me asking about your education?

Dagenhart No go for it

Burns What education have you got?

Dagenhart I went to a little secondary school in the town where I lived in Swinton the local secondary school didn't do any A levels didn't go to college didn't do anything left school with all GCSE passes there all Ds and Es very low passes got a job working in Milton Keynes, worked there for 4 and a half years came back home did other little jobs, trained as an outdoor educating

instructor then joined the Royal Air Force that's basically it

Burns Well you're obviously intelligent because the air force dont take idiots

Dagenhart No I was traveling abroad as well in about 18 months I mean in about three years I spent about 18 months abroad

Burns Listen can I give you another number to ring me on instead of the one I gave you in the letter

Yer if you pass it on to one of your friends if they could call me today it would be appreciated its and I might contact you again if that's OK

Dagenhart Yes well this is my parents number and I'm hardly ever here

Burns Well I'll leave a message for you

Dagenhart yes

Burns Now in my report do you ant me to change your name keep you anonymous

Dagenhart To be honest I don't care

Burns Thanks very much Jonathan

Dagenhart You're welcome

Burns You've been absolutely brilliant try to get someone else to ring with a statement

Dagenhart yer I shall

Burns About the bloke

Dagenhart Yer I will

Burns Thanks mate

Dagenhart OK

Burns Brilliant

Dagenhart No problem

Burns Bye

Dagenhart Bye

It is, without doubt that the military are involved in a large cover up regarding the attempted interception of the triangle, including conspiracy, the placement of cover stories and debunking of witnesses, however with this damming evidence from a member of Royal Air Force who encountered the pilot or the co-pilot on Snake Pass about an hour after the explosions occurred, stinking of aviation fuel within three miles of Howden Moors, and as his job with the Air Force is as a jet engine specialist, this witness is 100% certain that he smelled aviation fuel on the man he encountered while on a mini bus on the 24th March 1997.

This, I feel places the M.O.D in a difficult situation, as I have checked with all local filling stations and they assure me that there is not much call for aviation fuel in the Peak District and if there was, most people would put the fuel in a plane and not take to wearing fuel as a fashion item while out walking.

Update: Mr. Jonathan Dagenhart

Telephoned me on the 12th of May at approximately 11.30 and sounding very flustered with a shaky voice informed me that I had twisted what he said and he no longer wanted to have his name put to his original statement. He has also spoken with Mr. Phil Taylor at the News of the World informing him that he was going to lose his job over the statement that he had made to me.

May I add that Mr. Dagenhart is under the employ of the RAF where he works on jet engines and when I questioned him about who had spoken with him about this he just said a source. I further questioned him as to whether it was his employer the RAF who had silenced him and he replied that he could not say on that he ended the conversation and was very upset.

As far as I am concerned this proves the case, why would the RAF be hauling an engineer over the hot coals like this to the point of him telling a national news reporter that he was going to lose his job and trying to imply that I have twisted what he has said, bearing in mind that he made the comment about me twisting what he had said before it has been in print anywhere and he verified the content of the taped transcript of our conversation to Mr Mike Jarvis reporter for the News of The World and made his statements freely and without prompting. When asked, at the time did he want to remain anonymous he replied "I’m not bothered". All of which is on tape and can be cross verified by Mike Jarvis at the News of The World.

I hope you all agree that for someone to turn around from being "not bothered" to "I’m going to lose my job", adds more weight to my case. Why would the military be pressurizing a member of their workforce to retract a statement about something they claim has not occurred.

I reiterate to you all I have the Dagenhart tape and he made all comments freely and without prompting and this pivotal piece of evidence has been copied and sent to the four corners of the planet.

The RAF are trying to make someone retract a statement about something that they claim never happened anyway WHY ?

Your comments are welcome on this matter.

If you wish to purchase a copy of this research you can do so but due to the size of the Sheffield Incident report and costs involved I am asking a small charge of £6.50 inclusive of postage and packing. Those of you involved in direct research will be aware of just how costly it is to investigate incidents. My research into the incident has so far cost in the region of £4,000 pounds and although I am not into the subject for the money, this small fee will go a long way to help me to continue my investigation into the Sheffield Incident.

Cheques should be made out to Max Burns and sent to: 115 Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 7JT.

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I hope you take up this opportunity to read the true facts about this incident, your comments will always be welcome.

Maxwell Brierley Burns, United Kingdom

Reprinted with permission of the author.

© Copyright 1998