On 23 January 1974 on the

Berwyn Mountains The Berwyn range (Welsh: ''Y Berwyn'' or ''Mynydd y Berwyn'') is an isolated and sparsely populated area of moorland in the northeast of Wales, roughly bounded by Llangollen in the northeast, Corwen in the northwest, Bala in the southwest, and ...

in Llandrillo,

Merionethshire , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, lights and noises were observed that were alleged to be related to a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

sighting on

Cadair Berwyn Cadair Berwyn or Cader Berwyn is a mountain summit in north-east Wales with a height of above sea level. It is the highest point in the Berwyn range, the highest in North East Wales and the highest significant summit in Wales o ...

and Cadair Bronwen.

Scientific evidence Scientific evidence is evidence that serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis, although scientists also use evidence in other ways, such as when applying theories to practical problems. "Discussions about empirical ev ...

indicated that the event was generated by an earthquakeMusson, R.M.W., 2006. The enigmatic Bala earthquake of 1974
Astronomy & Geophysics, vol 47 no 5, pp 11–15
/ref> combined with sightings of a bright meteor widely observed over Wales and northern England at the time.McBeath, A., 2006. Meteor, not shower, over Bala

/ref>

History

On the evening of 23 January 1974, residents of the Berwyn Mountains area in northern Wales reported a loud noise and a bright light in the sky. When

UFOlogists This is a list of notable people who are ufologists (UFO researchers). Argentina * Juan Posadas, (1912–1981), Trotskyist theorist who blended together Trotskyism and Ufology. Posadas' version of Trotskyism is regarded as its own strai ...

claimed that a UFO crashed and the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

covered up the military's recovery of a crashed spaceship, some

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft * ''Ta ...

newspapers jokingly labelled it "The Roswelsh Incident". Scientific evidence indicates the event was generated by an earthquake combined with sightings of a bright meteor widely observed over Wales and Northern England at the time. Declassified

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

documents also suggest the incident was caused by the combined effects of an earthquake and a meteor. The Institute of Geological Sciences (now

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS h ...

) reported that a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was felt at 8:38 p.m. that night over a wide area of northern Wales and as far as Formby in England - 13 miles north of Liverpool. It was not immediately identified as an earthquake, hence the police investigation. However, the magnitude of the shock was such that had it been due to an aircraft crash, the resulting crater would have been large enough to be easily visible. The unusual lights reported may have been simply the meteor, but may also have included the phenomenon known as

earthquake light An earthquake light is a luminous aerial phenomenon that reportedly appears in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions. There is no broad consensus as to the causes of the phenomenon (or phenomena) inv ...

In popular culture

The incident was the subject of a segment on BBC1's ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' on 2 March 2021. A 2017 episode of ''

Ancient Aliens ''Ancient Aliens'' is an American television series that explores the pseudohistorical and pseudoarchaeological ancient astronauts hypothesis, past human- extraterrestrial contact, UFOs, government conspiracies and related pseudoscientific top ...

'' speculated that a UFO crashed at Berwyn and its wreckage was likely taken to Rudloe Manor.Ancient Aliens Associates Berwyn Mountain UFO incident
with Rudloe Manor

References

External links

MOD response to this incidentListing National Archive records AIR 2/18873 and AIR 2/18874 relating to this eventRichard D. Hall documentary including local exploration and interviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berwyn Mountain Ufo Incident 1974 in Wales Conspiracy theories in the United Kingdom UFO sightings in Wales January 1974 events in the United Kingdom

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links