Is It A Bird, Is It A Plane?" Trivia Quiz

Answer: R.A.F. personnel

The lights were seen by on duty service personnel at R.A.F. bases close to Rendelsham Forest, which is in Suffolk. Although the authorities insisted that there was nothing strange happening and that there was no threat to national security, no explanation was forthcoming. Because the witnesses were servicemen the reports were more believable than many, and the belief that the lights were from alien spacecraft has persisted ever since.

Answer: Jimmy Carter

The report made by Jimmy Carter said he had seen a strange white light in the evening sky. He watched it change colour from white to red to blue then back to white before it disappeared. He said he believed it was a UFO. However, by the time he became President in 1977 he had changed his mind, and stated he believed he had seen some sort of military aircraft, not extra terrestrial activity.

Answer: Space debris

Military aircraft were scrambled when radar detected around 20 unidentified objects in the skies over Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1986. When the aircraft arrived the objects mysteriously disappeared. Geoffrey Perry, a British space researcher, suggested that the objects were debris from the Russian Salyut-7 space station which re-entered the earth's atmosphere over Brazil at around that time.

Answer: Melbourne

Students and teachers from two schools in Westall, Melbourne, reported seeing a UFO land in a field close to their buildings before taking off again and flying over local houses. Sceptics put it down to a military aircraft on exercises, but witnesses continue to believe that what they saw was an alien spacecraft.

Answer: He was an astronomer

Clyde Tombaugh was an astronomer who was used to looking at the night skies. This made him able to say with some certainty what was and was not unusual, and he was unable to explain the rectangular lights and green fireballs that he had seen. As the astronomer credited with the discovery of Pluto his claims were hard to refute, which makes them amongst the most credible reports of UFOs that have been made.

Answer: It crashed into the North Sea

The plane was not found for three months despite extensive searches. It was eventually found laying undamaged on the sea bed. Captain Schaffner's body was not on the plane and was never found. Official reports denied any alien activity. Instead they said the plane was probably flying too low which caused it to crash into the sea.

They also said that Captain Schaffner was probably killed in the crash. Sceptics however have always said it is unlikely the plane could have crashed into the sea without sustaining at least some damage.

They prefer the explanation that the pilot and plane were abducted by aliens, with the plane being returned three months later.

Answer: Aurora

The people of Aurora reported that an airship crashed into a windmill causing the death of the pilot, who they described as "an individuality that was not human being". The remains of the airship were dumped into a well locatated close to the crash site, while the pilot was given a proper burial.

Some years later, in 1957, the then owner of the land claimed that drinking water from the well had given him arthritis. Interestingly no effort has ever been made to exhume the grave of the pilot and examine any remains, or to try and retrieve any remains of the airship from the well.

Answer: Bermuda Triangle

It isn't easy to separate fact from legend when it comes to the Bermuda Triangle. Even the size and exact location of it vary according to who is writing about it. Situated in the Atlantic, the three points of it are Puerto Rico, Miami and Bermuda, although some authors have expanded it as far as the Azores. Over the years there have been many reports of strange lights in the sky, strange lights under the sea, and a lot of ships and planes have disappeared in the area.

The most famous disappearance is probably Flight 19, five Navy planes that disappeared on a routine training mission.

After radio messages were received saying that they seemed to be lost and everything looked strange a full-scale search and rescue mission was launched. This lasted for several weeks but no trace of the planes or their crew was ever found.

Answer: Peru

In Chulucanus, a city in the north of Peru, strange red orange lights, described by witnesses as space ships, floated above the city for two and a half hours. They apparently formed geometric shapes before fusing together in one single ball of light and disappearing.

This happened during the celebration of a religious festival. A few days later one single large light appeared close to the city and appeared to land in nearby woods. Both of these incidents were filmed and were investigated by the Peruvian Air Force.

They acknowledged that the incidents were real, but did not offer any explanation.

Answer: York

North Yorkshire Police received dozens of phone calls and e-mails to report a UFO flying low over the city of York. Witnesses all said they had seen a bright blue/white light which was low and very fast moving. One reported a hole in the ground which he believed had been made by space debris.

This was investigated but no debris was found, although the Council confirmed they could not say how the approx. one foot deep hole in a grass verge was made.