There's been a lot of UFO stories lately. The british army has been reporting all over the place. A story in this mornings paper is about one guy who dialled the emergency number, describing a strange light. The police patiently asked where the light was and came came to the conclusion it was the moon.

Funny thing is, we all see strange strange objects in the sky sometimes. Thousands of anti-aircraft rounds were fired at Venus in World War 2 for instance. The girlfriend of our band manager once told me of an object taking off and rocketing into the sky one night, and she's a very rational person indeed. Have I seen a UFO? Need you ask?...

I was sat beside my bedroom window one winter morning. The sky was clear, the air quality good. My attention was drawn to a flashing light in the sky. It was travelling at some height over the house in a direction against the normal flow of airway traffic that you usually see over Swindon. The flashing light was quite strong, brighter than you'd expect, and it dawned on me that an airliner couldn't possibly have a beacon that powerful in daylight. As the object went over the house, you could clearly see a polyhedral shape turning over end to end. Thats why it flashes! The objects flat sides were reflecting sunlight as it revolved. I wondered if ripples in the windows glass was distorting the shape, but it certainly didn't look like it.

What did I see? I haven't an idea at all. It certainly didn't look like an aeroplane. In all honesty I doubt it was a spaceship full of space aliens being taken to see our leader, but what else could possibly match that description? An unidentified flying object.

The Vulcan Is Back!

The Avro Vulcan is a relic from the Cold War, one of britains fleet of V-Bombers, designed to carry nuclear weapons into the heart of Russia on one way bombing strikes. Eventually it did see action during the Falkland War, depositing explosive devices on the runway of Port Stanley Airport at astonishing distances from their bases. Most vulcans have been scrapped, but there's one or two in museums here and there.

I remember seeing a vulcan at a Great Warbirds display at Wroughton airfield many years ago. I was struck by the sight of a large jet bomber showing extraordinary agility at low level, and most of all, the sheer noise and drama as it pulled skyward suddenly and vanished into the clouds with a crescendo of car alarms going off everywhere. The ground literally shook. That was some finale.

I hear one of the remaining vulcans has finally been cleared for public flying display at a cost of around