Richard Deakin Head of UK Air traffic: UFOs in UK 'around one a month'

LateX'Dog said:
I know what UFO stands for yes, but you ask anybody and the context of UFO is taken as flying green men is saucers.
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As you well know the same language used by the lay man and in specific professions is not at all comparable.

As such somebody in charge of air traffic control using the term UFO is not exceptional and does not mean the same as a brick layer down the pub.
 
Telescopi said:
As you well know the same language used by the lay man and in specific professions is not at all comparable.

As such somebody in charge of air traffic control using the term UFO is not exceptional and does not mean the same as a brick layer down the pub.
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Thats what i was trying to get at, but obviously completely failed. :(
 
As you well know the same language used by the lay man and in specific professions is not at all comparable.
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That's not the same as arguing that the term UFO and non terrestrial cannot be synonymous though is it? Tbh the distinction probably applies to each and every case regardless of profession taking the above in to account.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
Yes, clearly Aliens, Mars keep sending probes to check Earth for inteligent life, but they found this forum post instead.
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you might want to try reading the whole thread... context is important here, don't take everything at face value especially when it comes to sarcasm
 
synaptik said:
That's not the same as arguing that the term UFO and non terrestrial cannot be synonymous though is it? Tbh the distinction probably applies to each and every case regardless of profession taking the above in to account.
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Okay, so you're ignoring the use of the word in this guy's profession and assuming it means what you think it to mean.

does this mean:
a) He's just said aliens have visited the UK
b) he's misused the term
c) you are misinterpreting a technical term in this context

You've obviously ruled out (c) but I'm interested if you think (a) or (b).

Unless you're just saying a UFO could be an alien, which is of course so obvious it's not even worth stating. It doesn't make it likely nor does it justify the lay man's interpretation of UFO = aliens.
 
Telescopi said:
Okay, so you're ignoring the use of the word in this guy's profession and assuming it means what you think it to mean.

does this mean:
a) He's just said aliens have visited the UK
b) he's misused the term
c) you are misinterpreting a technical term in this context

You've obviously ruled out (c) but I'm interested if you think (a) or (b).

Unless you're just saying a UFO could be an alien, which is of course so obvious it's not even worth stating. It doesn't make it likely nor does it justify the lay man's interpretation of UFO = aliens.
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I'm not necessarily ignoring the use of the term in context of the "guys" profession or trying to suggest it as anything beyond what it is- I am merely trying to suggest that the actual use of the term is so general and so vacuous as to mean absolutely anything to anybody.

I much rather people use the term non-terrestrial if they ment other-worldy than UFO so that we can at least guage context as to what it is they mean when they are referring to UFOs.
 
just realised there is this (definition) but it is one which is seldom used apparrently:

the term ETV (ExtraTerrestrial Vehicle) is sometimes used to separate this explanation of UFOs from totally earthbound explanations.[2]
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LateX'Dog said:
Wow! :eek:

Thank you for not taking the usual OCUK stance.

Whats the Air Traffic controls procedure when spotting something that isn't identified?

I'm assuming you work in Air Traffic control to know so much about it, so have you ever experienced something like this?
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I actually experience it more often than once a month, however the offending aircraft are usually eventually identified. Some slip through the net though.

If an aircraft strays into controlled airspace without a clearance, whether it is lost or the pilot just doesn't care, the primary objective is to avoid it with all the aircraft under our control. Next, we try to identify the aircraft so that we can take measures to communicate with the pilot with the intention of getting them out of controlled airspace again. Lastly, we have to report it so that remedial action can be taken.
 
LateX'Dog said:
Wow! :eek:

Thank you for not taking the usual OCUK stance.

Whats the Air Traffic controls procedure when spotting something that isn't identified?

I'm assuming you work in Air Traffic control to know so much about it, so have you ever experienced something like this?
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Damn it Scuzi, beat me to it.
 
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Xordium said:
That's the part that interests me tell me more.
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An investigation will be carried out by the CAA to determine whether the pilot made a genuine mistake due to abnormal circumstances, got lost, didn't plan well enough or just didn't care. Some get a stern talking to, some get a period of retraining, some get their licence taken from them and some have even been prosecuted and had to pay massive fines.
 
Creature said:
Note: This may be inacurrate, but it's what i've understood from my training so far.

There's a lot of phone calls. Firstly to agencies around the area where the aircraft is flying to try and work out if they're not working it. Usually in these instances in private pilots doing the flying, not big companies. If none of the local agencies are working it then call some of the other radar units to see if they are working it, or have previously worked it, or they know who he's possibly talking to now. A phone call to Distress and Diversion follows if nothing comes from the other units to see if they're working the plane as they may be lost. It's when you get the guys flying round with no radios that it gets interesting, and in that instance, you maybe get one of the other radar units to help you keep an eye on it to see if you can find out where it lands.

As Scuzi is actually a fully qualified Air Traffic Controller, and i'm still in training, he probably know the system a hell of a lot better than me, but that's how we work it at the college i'm at to give you a basic idea of the process.
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Pretty much spot on. Aircraft with a Mode S transponder make it much easier for us since we can have the aircraft registration on the screen immediately, making identification a breeze. A bit of creative googling can find the aircraft's base airfield, where a phonecall can be made to find out more details if all else fails.

There was one occasion where we did this for a non-radio aircraft and managed to get one of the passenger's mobile number. He got a call he wasn't expecting :D
 
Scuzi said:
An investigation will be carried out by the CAA to determine whether the pilot made a genuine mistake due to abnormal circumstances, got lost, didn't plan well enough or just didn't care. Some get a stern talking to, some get a period of retraining, some get their licence taken from them and some have even been prosecuted and had to pay massive fines.
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Thank you for the reply! Presumed that was the case but always good to know from someone who does know.
 
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