70th anniversary of ‘the most puzzling and unusual’ radar case from the files of Project Blue Book.
The early hours of 13/14 August 2026 marked the 70th anniversary of the RAF’s closest ever encounter with UFOs over East Anglia.
In 1956 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an unidentified flying object – initially believed to be a Soviet spy plane – that was circling the nuclear-armed American airbase at Lakenheath in Suffolk.
The amazing story has similarities with events late in 2025 when a fleet of mystery drones was spotted over Lakenheath and nearby RAF Mildenhall soon after tactical nuclear weapons returned to the US-tenanted base.
To read the full story visit my Substack blog here
David Clarke is Associate Professor in the Department of Media Arts and Communication at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He teaches media law and his research specialism is contemporary legend. Previously he worked as a journalist for The Sheffield Star and Yorkshire Post and spent four years working as a Press Officer in local government. His PhD in Folklore and was completed at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield, in 1999. From 2008-13 he acted as consultant and curator of the MoD UFO files project with The National Archives. His books include The Angel of Mons (2004) and How UFOs Conquered the World: the history of a modern myth (2015). In 2018 he co-founded the Centre for Contemporary Legend at Sheffield Hallam University. This blog covers his twin research interests in journalism and folklore. The views expressed in the contents are entirely his own.
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