Case file · Sighting
West Malling Vampire sighting
On 3 November 1953 two RAF crew in a de Havilland Vampire, Terry Johnson and Geoffrey Smythe, reported a UFO over RAF West Malling, Kent.
1953 CE · 51.28, 0.40 · status: account
The account
The case was raised in the House of Commons on 24 November 1953, where the Secretary of State for Air said the object was 'merely a weather balloon'.
The sceptical view
The official answer was a balloon; the crew did not accept it.