ANN MASSEY looks to the skies of the Emerald Isle for the 7 strangest Ireland UFO accounts of the past 70 years. Ireland wants to believe!
From 1440 BC when Pharaoh Thutmose III reported fiery discs in the sky, to airline pilots off the coast of Kerry reporting UFO sightings to air traffic control at the end of 2018, civilisation has been seeing the unexplained in the heavens, Ireland included. Statistically, County Cork has the most reported UFO sightings from individual witnesses over time, and the one concentrated area with most reported UFO sightings is the ancient site of Newgrange.
Ireland officially started monitoring UFO reports and activity in the mid-twentieth century, so let’s Mull(der) the best ones over!
Spinning Wheel in the Sky over Caherciveen, County Kerry
In 1947, one of the first accounts documented came from Cahersiveen in County Kerry, where witnesses described a large bright spinning wheel in the sky going faster than a car. You have to understand that for the people of Caherciveen, a car was the fastest thing they had ever seen.
Flying Saucer over Castle Leslie Estate, County Monaghan
In 1954, petrified witnesses reported flying saucers terrorising the skies over County Monaghan. It turned out to be very terrestrial with the extra added as dramatic effect, as David Leslie, owner of Castle Leslie was making a low budget sci-fi film! It included a cameo by famous UK astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore.
It’s a Long Way to Tipperary for an Alien
In 1969, locals in Carrick on Suir in County Tipperary reported seeing hovering lights in the Sky over the small village of Mullinahone. These witnesses insisted they saw the UFO fall from the sky into a field close to the local creamery. Local Defence Force representatives attended the area with Geiger counters but reported no signs of radiation.
Bright Lights and Military Intervention, Boyle, County Roscommon
Boyle in County Roscommon had its own Roswell style situation in 1996. After bright lights were witnessed hurtling across the skies and into the trees, it was alleged that Irish Defence Forces mobilised and secured the area. Apparently local gardai were told to mind their own business when attending the scene.
Red Disc in the Sky over the Irish Sea
Reminiscent of Pharaoh Thutmose III, in 2003, pilots on approach to Dublin were reporting a strange moving red disc in the sky over Fingal and the Irish Sea, with neither aircrew or Air Traffic Control at Dublin airport able to identify the source.
From Russia with Love over Irish Skies
The biggest incident took place on 31st March 1993 with reported UFO sightings the length and breadth of Ireland. Local Garda stations were inundated with calls from the terrified public.
The file states the findings were that the launch vehicle for a Soviet satellite had re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over Ireland and caused the bright, high velocity anomalies in the Irish sky.
I know we are a small island, but it still takes eight hours to drive from Mizen Head (furthest south) to Malin Head (furthest north) so I’m not quite sure how that accounts for cross country locations seeing this alleged Russian satellite debris at the same time!
Pilot Terror off the coast of County Kerry
On Friday 9th November 2018, not one but THREE commercial airlines including Virgin and British Airways, reported a UFO sighting off the coast of County Kerry to Shannon Air Traffic Control.
They estimated the speed of the UFO at Mach 2 which is twice the speed of sound, making the object supersonic. To compare, the Dreamliner 787 travels at a cruising speed of Mach 0.85.
The Irish Aviation Authority filed a report and in a very X Files way the full findings are confidential, however later quotes to media suggested meteorites. Take a listen to the pilots as they discussed their fast moving companion in the Sky with Air Traffic Control and the relief of one pilot to discover he wasn’t alone in the sighting.
As we say in Ireland, Tá an fhÃrinne ann! (the truth is out there!)
Read UFOs over Irish Skies: A Interview with Dr Eamonn Ansbro
Have you seen a UFO over Ireland? Tell us in the comments section below!
I was camping in Killarney National Park with a friend in July/August 2011 or 2012. We camped just south of Ross Castle on the shore of Lough Leane.
As the night went on we ended up sitting on a rocky outcrop next to our camping site which looks out over Lough Leane towards the Muckross Peninsula and Torc Mountain direction. As we were talking we both noticed lights which appeared on Torc Mountain. We found it strange that there was a vehicle driving on the top of the mountain so late at night, but didn’t think much of it. It was only a few minutes later when our eyes had fully adapted to the dark that we realised that these lights were actually a few hundred feet above the peak of the mountain. There were two orange lights on either side of this vehicle which was silently hovering above the mountain. We even joked that it was a UFO.
Several minutes later, a second object appeared out of nowhere right next to the one we were originally watching. Now the lights on either side of these objects were illuminating each other so that we could make out the general shape of them. They looked like tanks. Very large in size, rigid in shape but smooth in their hovering movements and completely silent. We both grew up in a town which has an airport so we were fully aware of what airplanes and helicopters sound like and how they move. Up until this incident we would’ve seen thousands of commercial, private and military planes and helicopters flying above our town. This was nothing like either of us had ever seen.
We could now see these two crafts hovering next to one another in an undulating manner. We sat in silence as we watched until I decided to let someone know what we were seeing. I swiftly took my phone out and rang my last dialled number – another friend of ours. It rang for perhaps ten seconds or so. The very second our friend answered the phone…and I mean the one-millionth of a second that he pressed the button to answer my call…the brightest, most powerul pale white light shone down on us from one of these crafts. Just like a flash. It was like a powerful spotlight was turned on only a few metres away pointing directly at us. We were speechless and couldn’t move. The light shone on us for what seemed like an age before it retracted like a beam back across the lake and up into one of the crafts. We sat in silent amazement watching these objects for perhaps another hour or so before the craft on the right just vanished. The last remaining craft remained hovering in the same location for another while before it also completely vanished.
Stories about UFOs always astounded me but I always remained skeptical until that night. I like to think I’m fairly logical in my thinking but after an incident such as this, it just questions everyhing you have ever known. We still talk about that night whenever we meet. To this day we have no idea what we witnessed.
We can’t have been the only people to have seen this.