The Singapore UFO

This was the story that was splashed across the news on that fateful night of 22nd September 2001.

'UFO' sighted over Jurong West

 Residents in Jurong West saw a strange object in the sky on Saturday night [Sep 22], describing it an unidentified flying object that hovered for as long as 15 minutes over some blocks of flats.

The UFO sparked excitement and speculation among the residents, some of whom called the Channel NewsAsia hotline.

Resident Benjamin Lee captured the object on a video camera, but by the time the camera began rolling, it had moved some distance away. "They were shouting and said some flying saucer over the place so I just came out and saw the thing," he said.  

"They said, 'Take your view cam.' So I started taking down the picture. Then the saucer was just hovering over the top of the block, a very bright light. "At first I thought it was a chopper. Everybody was saying it's a helicopter but after looking at the lights — the lights were running around the whole thing — it looks much more like a saucer."

Mr Lee said. "I was in the kitchen when I saw the saucer. It was as wide as the flat window," added Joanne Lee. "I didn't believe it, so I used a toy telescope to look at it. It was very clear, like a plate, rounded, with blinker lights," another eyewitness, Mr Tan, said. "I saw it at 9.45 pm. I used a telescope. There were many lights on the bottom of the saucer.

There were three windows. Fifteen minutes later, it flew off in another direction," Madam Yong added.

A spokesperson from mobile phone company StarHub thought it could be their lightship, which flew over the Bukit Timah expressway that night.

StarHub said the two 1,000-watt lights on the lightship are so bright it could have been mistaken for a UFO.

Residents in Bukit Timah apparently saw a similar object but concluded that it was the back of the lightship.

End of Report.



 

API Answers:- 

Naturally that a UFO could be spotted, much less broadcasted live on national radio brought the event to the attentions of the world media. 

Many websites carried the story. Here are 2 of them. 

http://www.rense.com/general14/filers100201.htm

http://ufoinfo.com/filer/2001/ff_0140.shtml

So, was it true? Was a ufo really visiting Singapore?

 

Guess what? I, Charles Goh was also witness that night to this phenomena, and have captured it on camera.

 

The verdict? It was the Starhub airship.

 

It seemed that during certain periods, usually Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Starhub shifted its airship from Marina area to the Western part of Singapore. You could see it if you lived in Clementi, Bukit Batok, Hillview and Bukit Timah.

 

Of course years on, the residents interviewed then if they were to be interviewed again now would probably tell you it’s the Starhub airship.

 

 

But during that night many year ago, nobody knew what it was. But I did. And so maybe for those who were still puzzled over it, here are the facts. 

I first saw this ‘ship’ on September 19 at about 9 pm. I was kinda surprised then to see it in Hillview, though I have seen it often enough on the ECP. As I was always equipped with a camera. I took a shot, and here it is:

  

Let’s compare the picture with what the residents saw then:

 

The lights were running around the whole thing

The Starhub airship have both lights on top and below the balloon, and when seen from a distance, the light refraction from air particles would have caused this ‘running’ effect

I was in the kitchen when I saw the saucer. It was as wide as the flat window

Look at the white portion of the airship to know what she actually mean

It was very clear, like a plate, rounded, with blinker lights

As mentioned above.

There were three windows

That would be the digits 008 when viewed from the distance

Residents in Bukit Timah apparently saw a similar object but concluded that it was the back of the lightship.

The Bukit Timah residents, like me in Hillview was much closer to the flight path of the airship, so we could see what it actually was.

 

 

 

So now you know.