UFO files: RAF tornado crew spotted UFO over North Sea
The crew were returning from a ''low level'' mission in the UK to RAF Laarbruch in Germany when they were flying through Dutch airspace over the North Sea.
Without warning the UFO - as big as a C130 Hercules plane - appeared and they had ''never seen anything like it''.
In written answers about the incident the pilot said: ''I did not lock the UFO on radar. My navigator and I were so surprised we did not think to do so.
''Indeed, for the majority of the sighting, the UFO was out to one side of my aircraft which would have required me to manoeuvre the aircraft to place within the radar field of view.
''Of more interest, despite repeated radio calls to Dutch Military Radar, the controller insisted that he could not see the UFO.
''After landing, our Dutch exchange officer, on my squadron, called Dutch Military to discuss the event.
''The controller insisted that no other radar contact was made at the time in the vicinity.''
The spooked pilot said the UFO looked nothing like any plane he knew was in any service.
Though he described the plane as being as big as a Hercules it had a smaller wingspan and the engine exhaust had ''a light blue afterburner-type flame which was steady but changing in intensity''.
Two other RAF fighter jets flying out from Laarbruch nearly collided head-on with the UFO and saw it at the same time, the pilot said.
''These aircraft would have been close to being head-on to the UFO, while from our Tornado, the UFO came down our right-hand side at a great speed (ie, coming from the direction of the UK).
''We were doing 0.8 Mach and it readily overtook us.''
He went on: ''This was definitely not a Russian satellite - I am 100% certain of that.
''This was a large 'aircraft' and I could see the detail of the lights and the engine area.
''I have never seen anything like it.''
