Sky HISTORY is on a mission to uncover the truth behind some of the most compelling extra-terrestrial encounters in a brand-new UK premiere series, Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies.
Presented by BBC 6 Music DJ Craig Charles, alongside renowned space journalist, astrophysicist and award-winning author Sarah Cruddas, Sky HISTORY is evaluating evidence to uncover whether unexplained aerial phenomena are prowling the skies above us and, more importantly, why?
In each episode, former Coronation Street and Red Dwarf star Craig will investigate some of the most iconic and perplexing extra-terrestrial incidents of recent years, many of them from the UK, calling on Sarah’s scientific expertise along the way.
Running parallel to the US Defense Department’s investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, released by the United States Congress in June 2021, the series reflects on a series of unexplained incidents. These range from the infamous ‘Tic Tac’ craft sightings and footage taken by US Navy Pilots in 2004, and the detection of interstellar visitor
‘Oumuamua’ in October 2017, to historic sightings and encounters, such as the Rendlesham Forest incident in Suffolk in 1980 and the alleged alien abduction of Yorkshire police constable, Alan Godfrey.
The series investigates UFO hotspots in Ireland and Scotland, a small town in South Wales that seemingly witnessed the military engage in armed conflict with a UFO, as well as a spate of unexplained sightings in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Puerto Rico and Chile.
Episode 1: Wales
In 2016, multiple witnesses in and around the village of Pentyrch, South Wales, describe seeing a vast triangular UFO appearing in the night sky, ejecting smaller red and green craft before engaging in a battle with the British Air Force, culminating in its apparent shooting down. Residents describe shaking buildings, violent explosions, inexplicably damaged trees and mysterious teams of unknown people involved in a clandestine clean-up. The official military line was that this was merely a training exercise, but those who saw the event first-hand refuse to accept this explanation. Craig and Sarah go deep in this gripping UFO case as they attempt to discover if there’s been a top- level cover up. The pair examine video evidence of the alleged UFO crash site and consider natural phenomena before speaking to UFO investigator Gari Jones from the Swansea UFO Network. He shares a frustrating tale of repeatedly trying to get a full and clear explanation from the military for these events but being thwarted at every turn. Sarah and Craig talk to UFO investigator Emlyn Williams of the Swansea UFO Network, who has carried out a full electromagnetic survey of the crash site, as news of another triangular UFO caught on US Navy camera, known as ‘the Pyramid’, shot from the deck of USS Russell in 2019, is officially confirmed as genuine by the US Navy.
Episode 2: Ireland
Every year, thousands of UFOs are encountered by civilian and military pilots around the world. Many go unreported. Craig and Sarah scrutinise the phenomenon and take a closer look at an astonishing case that took place in November 2018 off the west coast of Ireland, in which multiple pilots saw bizarre lights through their cockpit windows. Ted Roe, Director of Research at NARCAP (National Aviation Reporting Centre) shares extraordinary insights into the sighting, while an ex-NATO air traffic controller, under the cover of anonymity, acts as a whistle-blower, spilling more secrets of the sky and the shocking lengths that governments are prepared to go to hide the truth. Chris McMurray of the Northern Irish UFO Society (NIUFOS) provides more evidence of a UFO hot spot, including analysis of recent sighting in Northern Ireland. Nick Pope shares two more gripping cases of UFOs seen by pilots up in the sky; an orb sighted by commercial pilots over Mexico in 2020, and a bizarre UFO caught on camera in 2014 by a naval helicopter pilot in Chile. Research astronomer Dr Eamonn Ansbro delivers the results of years of study which suggest the earth is under alien surveillance.
Episode 3: The Pentagon
In this extraordinary episode Craig and Sarah take on the US Navy UAP videos: the ‘Tic-Tac’ footage, filmed from the USS Nimitz in 2004 off San-Diego, and the ‘Go-Fast’ and ‘Gimbal’ videos filmed between 2014 and 2015 off the East Coast in the Atlantic from the USS Theodore Roosevelt. US Navy Petty Officer Jason Turner (since retired) – who served on the USS Princeton, which was alongside the USS Nimitz at the time of the ‘Tic-Tac’ incident – shares his first- hand experience of seeing the crew react to the footage as it arrived back on board and believes there’s more footage the public hasn’t seen. Whistle-blower Luis Elizondo, former Director of AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) - a shadowy organisation in the US government - provides insight into what else the government may be hiding, and the personal risks he has taken in his fight for the truth. Craig and Sarah also consider the impact of the UAP report to Congress in June 2021 and reveal the latest US Navy UAP sighting to be verified by the Pentagon; a flying pyramid filmed from the deck of destroyer USS Russell in July 2019. Investigative filmmaker Jeremy Corbell offers his own insight into this footage and the phenomenon as well as discussing the new ‘submerging sphere’ footage filmed by the crew of the USS Omaha in 2019.
Episode 4: Rendlesham
Over the past 50 years a fascinating pattern has emerged, linking UFOs with military personnel and installations. One of the most significant of these events took place on British soil, deep in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, in 1980. The now infamous ‘Rendlesham incident’ involved numerous witnesses from the American Air Force who were stationed in nearby RAF Woodbridge. Craig and Sarah pore over every scrap of available evidence relating to the Rendlesham incident, including the audio recording made by based commander Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt when he and a patrol of men went to investigate lights in the forest that fateful night. Craig and Sarah talk to science writer and journalist Ian Ridpath, who was one of the first to report on the sighting, as well as to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt himself, who, for forty years, has stuck to his story and who delivers powerful first-hand testimony on what happened in the forest and the elaborate cover-up he claims followed. Nick Pope, who personally investigated UFOs for the Ministry of Defence, provides remarkable details of the case, revealing how vital evidence was seized by the US Air Force, as well as discussing another UFO sighting within the grounds of the shadowy ‘Area 51’ in the Nevada desert, captured on camera at the Nellis Air Force base in 1994.
Episode 5: Scotland
Central Scotland has its very own Area 51, known as the ‘Falkirk Triangle’, encompassing the now infamous village of Bonnybridge, which claims the highest concentration of the region’s UFO activity. The team examine cases including the 1991 sighting captured on camera flying over Polmont Reservoir, and the flying saucer over Craigluscar Reservoir in 1994. They also investigate the alleged abduction of Robert Taylor in 1979, the only UFO incident to have been officially investigated by the British Police. Robert, a forestry worker, was in Dechmont woods, West Lothian, when he claimed he came face-to-face with a dome-shaped craft. It allegedly emitted electrical charges which reportedly dragged Robert along the ground before he lost consciousness. Malcolm Robinson, UFO expert and close confidant of Robert Taylor, reveals details of the police investigation and shows Craig and Sarah the torn trousers Robert was wearing. Nick Pope gives fascinating insight into the scale of the Scottish UFO phenomenon and shares his experience of investigating similar cases.
Episode 6: Phoenix Lights
In 1997, over the city of Phoenix, Arizona, one of the most spectacular mass UFO sighting of all time took place. Thousands of people witnessed a series of bright orange orbs moving in formation silently overhead. Despite hours of video and photographic evidence this case remains unexplained. Craig and Sarah take on the extraordinary ‘Phoenix Lights’ case, first speaking to eyewitness nurse David Parker who provides a vivid description of his close-up encounter with a huge boomerang-shaped UFO that passed directly overhead. Craig and Sarah investigate the response by the authorities in the days following the UFO event, in particular a press conference called by the former governor of Arizona, Fife Symington, whose bizarre stunt humiliated witnesses like David Parker into silence for years, only for Symington himself to do a 90-degree U-turn later in his career and confess that he too witnessed the unexplained apparition. Former Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Frances Barwood tells her own story of a desperate fight to get answers for the people of Phoenix, enduring institutionalised ridicule and suppression along the way.
Episode 7: Chicago
In this episode, Craig and Sarah take on the extraordinary Chicago O’Hare case of November 2006 – a mass sighting of a flying saucer hovering over a United Airlines airport gate. The incident was witnessed by multiple aviation professionals, pilots and passengers. The immediate aftermath of the event was captured in real time by audio recordings of communication between the airport’s Air Traffic Control tower and airline staff, but the sighting was dismissed by the US government’s Federal Aviation Administration as a weather phenomenon. Craig and Sarah speak to UFO investigator Robert Powell, Executive Board member of The Scientific Coalition for UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) Studies, who reveals the UFO punched a circular hole in the clouds as it departed upwards after hovering over the terminal. Craig and Sarah learn astonishing details about how aviation authorities handled the incident from Ted Roe, Director of Research at NARCAP (National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena).
Episode 8: PC Alan Godfrey / 'Abductions'
This episode delves into the most mystifying and alarming of alleged extra-terrestrial experiences: alien abduction. The most remarkable case to have ever taken place on British soil was the infamous abduction of Yorkshire policeman Alan Godfrey in November 1980. The team stop at nothing to get to the bottom of Godfrey’s compelling claims he was confronted head on by a diamond shaped craft hovering in the road as he was coming off his night shift more than 40 years ago. Even more extraordinary is that Alan lost 25 minutes – what could have been responsible for this ‘missing time’? In a bid to find the truth about what happened to Alan, Craig and Sarah learn about alien abduction cases from around the world and scrutinise the similarities. UFO researcher and podcaster Nik Hunter discloses the devastating impact that the experience had on Alan Godfrey’s police career. Leading UFO investigator Jenny Randles provides evidence that Alan’s encounter cannot be explained by a natural or scientific occurrence and that the case was taken far more seriously by the UK authorities that they would care to admit.
Episode 9: Stephenville
In January 2008, a shadow was cast over the town of Stephenville, Texas, when a UFO passed overhead at supersonic speed. The event was witnessed by scores of stunned locals who remain desperate for answers on what exactly they saw that winter’s evening. Craig and Sarah speak to eyewitness private pilot Steve Allen who was with friends when he saw a vast UFO passing overhead at a speed estimated to be 2000mph. He describes the craft as having an array of bright, high-intensity lights at its rear – and pursued by two US Air Force F16 fighter jets. The team discover that the US military, who initially denied any knowledge of this event, changed their story in the weeks following the incident, adding fuel to the theory that there could be a high-level cover-up. They talk to experienced UFO researcher Rob Swiatek from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), who shares radar data analysis from the time of the incident.
Episode 10: SETI
In October 2017, astronomers at the Pan-STARRS observatory saw something strange in our solar system - an object they named ‘Oumuamua’, the very first observed visitor from interstellar space. Its highly unusual properties and inexplicable acceleration have left scientists divided, with some believing this ‘UFO’ was alien in origin. Craig and Sarah talk to Senior Astronomer Dr Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute, who shares his theories of what Oumuamua could possibly be and postulates that the very fact it entered our solar system at all is the best argument of all for it being alien. The team examine the ‘Drake Equation’, used to estimate the odds of finding extra-terrestrial intelligent life. The results suggest that it’s highly likely there are thousands of advanced civilisations in our Milky Way. We hear from Harvard’s Professor Avi Loeb, who has been the leading voice in the argument that Oumuamua is artificial in origin, suggesting that it could be a ‘message in a bottle telling us we’re not alone’. Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, a SETI astrobiologist, talks to Craig and Sarah about what extra-terrestrial life might look like and where we can find it. She is convinced that life both basic and intelligent very likely exists, and some advanced civilisation could be capable of traversing the vastness of space to reach Earth. Finally, CEO of SETI Bill Diamond confirms Oumuamua is like nothing the world has ever seen before and that there is yet no credible conventional scientific explanation.
