"Happened to have a copy": Mythland reveals ex-government press officer's account on Scotland's mysterious UFO sighting involving RAF jet

Mythland (Image via YouTube/@BBCScotlandChannel)
Mythland (Image via YouTube/@BBCScotlandChannel)

BBC Scotland's new series Mythland takes a look at one of Scotland's most mysterious UFO cases. In the recent promo video released on Instagram, it also features a former government press officer who kept a rare copy of an important photograph.

The episode introduces Craig Lindsay, a former government press officer working for the RAF, who shares a story of UFOs he has not shared with anyone before on British TV. Speaking with Dr. Zara Gladman, he recalls getting a call one day in August 1990 about two hikers who had taken photographs of a UFO. They wanted to know if the object had anything to do with the RAF. Sharing the details of the picture, he said:

"The picture showed what looked like an RAF aircraft flying round about it."

When Dr. Zara Gladman says she would love to see a copy of the photograph, the former officer replies:

"Your wish is my command. I just happened to have a copy."

The discussion was about the famous Calvine incident from August 1990, when two men photographed a large diamond-shaped object reportedly near the Perthshire countryside.


BBC Mythland explores the 1990 UFO sighting that left a former government officer searching for answers

While sharing details about the photograph with Dr. Zara Gladman in Mythland, Craig Lindsay says that they examined the print to check its structure but could not find any evidence of tampering. Pointing to the picture, Gladman says that the shape looks like the outline of a military jet. Lindsay agrees, saying that it is definitely a military jet. He adds that the main view at the time was that it was an RAF aircraft.

However, he also points out that no one has ever been able to find out who was flying that aircraft on that Saturday night. He explains in Mythland that the flight logs could have shown which aircraft were flying in that particular area at that exact time.

In the clip taken from Mythland, Gladman asks:

"So the pictures were sent to the MoD in London. Did you hear anything back after that?"

Lindsay reveals in Mythland that a couple of weeks later, he was in London when he saw something that he found surprising. He says he clearly remembers opening a door and stopping because there was a huge print of the photograph hanging on the wall.

He adds that he was told to leave any further investigation to the team in London, as they would handle it themselves. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) also kept some of the information locked away for seventy-five years. Lindsay says this still astonishes him, as there are so many doubts and unanswered questions surrounding the case, with one mystery leading to another.

According to The Guardian, two men were hiking near Calvine in August 1990 when they spotted a diamond-shaped object in the sky. It made no sound and had no visible signs of an engine or smoke. The men took many pictures of it, and a Harrier fighter jet soon appeared and flew around the object before it suddenly shot straight up and vanished.

Speaking of what he saw after entering the MoD office, Craig Lindsay, according to a statement reported by The Guardian, said that he saw a large print of the UFO photos and learned that experts had found no signs of a hoax but could not identify the object. According to The Guardian, he said:

"I gradually forgot all about the thing. Nothing had appeared from the first inquiry … I assumed that everything had just been forgotten."

Mythland is presented by Zara Gladman and Evelyn Hollow and produced by Aneesah Hussain. It is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.


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Edited by Vatsala Chauhan