UFO BUZZED OUR AIRLINER SAY BA PILOTS

A British airways jet was buzzed by a fast moving UFO it was claimed yesterday.

An inquiry was launched into the pilots' report that the brightly lit triangular object hurtled towards them before veering off down the side of the airliner.

They instinctively ducked before calling air traffic control. They were told that there were no other planes in the area and at first did not officially report the incident for fear of being ridiculed.

The Boeing 737 heading for Manchester's Ringway airport from Milan with 60 people on board was at 13,000ft over the Pennines when the pilots had their close encounter on January 6th.

Now, on the evidence of captain Roger Wills and 1st officer Mark Stuart, reports have been sent to the Civil Aviation Authority's Joint Air Miss Working Group. The pilots would not comment but a collegue said: "They are high grade, sensible guys. Everyone's talking about what they saw and it is right that it is reported, so the experts can try to establish what it was."

CAA spokesman Chris Mason said any suggestion that the object was a UFO was "purely speculative" but the investigation could last 6 months.

He said: "A very small proportion of near-miss situations involving untraced aircraft remain unsolved.

"They often turn out to be air balloons or small private aircraft. A glider, for example would not show up on radar."

But ex-CAA man Arnold West, now director of the British UFO Research Association, said: "We know of several spottings of triangular flying objects over the past few years - the design varies but the wedge shape is common."