“Ghost Planes”: Solved!
On Monday evening there were a number of reports all across Derbyshire of “ghost planes”. Other local media reported them as “ghost planes”, feeding supernatural belief and not offering any rational explanation.
At 19:10 on Monday evening I was sent a low resolution video of planes over Morrisons in Belper by Charlotte Craddock, who related that they had disappeared and must have landed because it looked like they crashed but there was no sound. This is an image from that video, proving that the planes were real and material, not spectral objects, which were definitely physically present in the Derbyshire skies.
Today, after seeing supernaturally focused news reports from other outlets, I spoke with a Wing Commander who was the on call RAF spokeman at the MoD Press Office in London. He confirmed, “They are definitely not ghost planes.”
What was flying low over Derbyshire and the Peak were three Lockheed C-130 Hercules planes. They are four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft which are capable of using unprepared runways for landings and takeoffs. They flew up through Derbyshire on routine training on Monday evening from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The planes were mistaken for World War II bombers by many who spotted them. This is probably due to aesthetic similarities in aircraft design. The low flying is practice for normal use of these aircraft.
You will probably see them again as the RAF often does routine training through this area. They still won’t be ghosts though.
(Photos 1 and 3 are used under Open Government Licence. Photo 2 is copyright Charlotte Craddock)
A lovely site.I love to see them fly over our house in Ambergate
Great article! Thanks for sharing, i was starting to get worried the Marie Celeste was on the cards!
IS THE RAF FLYING HERCULES LOW IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT GHOST PLANES — JUST AS THE U.S. AIR FORCE DROPPED FLARES TO DISCREDIT THE FAMOUS “PHOENIX LIGHTS” MULTI-STATE UFO SIGHTING ???
The silent ghost planes have been seen for DECADES and many fit the description of a Douglas “Dakota” C-47 Skytrain (which has only TWO ENGINES and is MUCH smaller). The Lockheed C-130 Hercules was never seen to VANISH IN MID AIR like some of the ghost planes.
> This is an image from that video, proving that the planes were real and material, not spectral objects
BUT IT DOES NOT SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF THE GHOST PLANES. It only proves Ms. Craddock mistook the Hercules for a ghost plane. The ghost plane sightings do NOT all coincide with Hercules flights.
https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/767545/ghost-plane-peak-district-uk
Another SILENT ghost plane
Eighty-eight-year-old George Furnace saw it out of his bedroom window and thought it was TOO SMALL TO BE A LANCASTER and that it looked more like a Liberator, the American B24 bomber that also had four engines. Richard Burley, who watched the ghost plane FLY LOW OVER SOME TREES while golfing, agreed that it was SMALLER THAN A LANCASTER, had an antenna and was camouflaged. Local military and airport officials said there were no air shows or historical plane flyovers in the area. There are very few of these planes left and even fewer are operational, so their flights would be well-known. And, unlike in the reports, loud.
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/08/ghost-plane-seen-by-multiple-witnesses-in-england/
According to the Telegraph, they have been “inundated” with reports from citizens across the county who saw one or two grey, OLD LOOKING planes flying strangely and FRIGHTENINGLY LOW to the ground and MAKING NO NOISE.
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/03/ghost-plane-sighting-england-derbyshire-dark-peak/
Derby Telegraph now tries to debunk ghost planes with cover story
https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/hercules-ghost-plane-derbyshire-1392551
On March 24, 1997, yet another sighting of a propeller driven plane being witnessed flying low above moors. The aircraft had difficulties to fly and suddenly disappeared, seemingly crashing on moors above Sheffield. A rescue operation involving 100 volunteers and police was launched but failed to find any trace of a plane or crash place.
http://www.messagetoeagle.com/uks-bermuda-triangle-mystery-of-ghost-airplanes-over-peak-district/
Another apparent hotspot for sightings is the A44 in the vicinity of Eisteddfa Gurig Farm at the base of Pumlumon, which is the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. Ghostly Lancaster bombers have been spotted here for many years. In 2004, there was a rash of sightings that were reported from the area of Barnoldswick and published in a series of articles in The Craven Herald.
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/07/the-spectral-wwii-bombers-of-the-united-kingdom/
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2017/02/more-wwii-ghost-planes-sighted-over-derbyshire-england/
Is this the ghost of 1943 RAF plane crash pilot ?
https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/599266/WATCH-Is-this-ghost-1943-RAF-plane-crash-pilot-caught-camera-haunted-Gateshead