Case file · Sighting
'Britain's first flying saucer', RAF Tangmere
On 1 June 1950 a Gloster Meteor pilot from RAF Tangmere reported a shining, revolving, disc-like object at 20,000 feet in the afternoon.
1950 CE · 50.85, -0.71 · status: account
The account
The press called it 'Britain's first flying saucer'. Reports like this led the Ministry of Defence to set up the Flying Saucer Working Party later that year.
The sceptical view
No radar or second witness is recorded; balloons and sun glint on aircraft are common causes of such reports.