Ray Bowyer statement:

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen and thank you for coming today. My name is Ray Bowyer and I fly a civilian airliner as Captain. I have been invited here due to my sighting last April of multiple as yet unidentified objects over the Channel Islands region of the English Channel. This encounter lasted for 15 minutes with the first object being visible from 55 miles distant.

On nearing the object a second identical shape appeared beyond the first. Both objects were of a flattened disk shape with a dark area to the right side. They were brilliant yellow with light emanating from them. I estimated them to be up to a mile across.

I found myself astounded but curious. But at 12 miles distant these objects were becoming uncomfortably large, and I was glad to descend and land the aircraft.

Many of my passengers saw the objects as did the pilot of another aircraft 25 miles further south. There is also possible radar information still being investigated.

A team headed by Dr. David Clarke looking at this case will shortly publish a report but I understand that at this time no definitive solution has been discovered to explain the sighting.

I have taken note of the differences between the British and U.S. reporting system. It appears that attitudes on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean are very different when it comes to the required reporting and recording of this type of event.

Air Law stipulates quite clearly that if an operating crew of an aircraft see another aircraft a place that it should not he, then at the earliest opportunity the whole scenario is to be reported to the relevant authority.

In my case the British Civil Aviation Authority knew within 20 minutes of the sighting what was seen, as described in the flight log faxed directly to the relevant CM office. The military were informed by Jersey Air Traffic Control at the same time. This is not an option; it is an obligation that crews react in this manner.

In my experience, having reported the incident as required has had no negative effect. And there was no problem with me talking about it on British television. Indeed, my company Aurigny Air Services have offered every support to date. The assistance of Jersey ATC in releasing recorded information to myself and the investigating team has been a great benefit. I did not feel that I was in any danger of being ridiculed, because all I did was report what actually happened, as was my duty.

I heard about the multiple witness sighting at Chicago O Hare Airport a year ago, on November 7, 2006. I was surprised to hear how this was handled. Despite many pilots and airport personnel witnessing the object hovering over the terminal, there was no investigation by the FAA. It appears that pressure may have been applied to crew members by their company not to discuss this incident.

These witnesses were afraid to talk about what they saw, due to concerns about job security. The FAA told the witnesses that what they saw was actually not what they saw but that it was simply weather,

I would have been shocked if I was told that the CAA would obstruct an investigation, or if the CAA told me that what I had seen was something entirely different. But it seems that pilots in America are used to this kind of thing, as far as I can tell.

I would urge all aircrew to report whatever they see as soon as possible, and to stand up and be counted. It is only when crucial witnesses such as professional pilots make reports that the authorities will be kick-started into a broader investigation of these phenomena.