Incident · 21 April 1991 · Over Lydd, Kent, at about 22,000 feet, some 30 nm south of the Biggin VOR (London Air Traffic Control Centre)
Alitalia MD-80 encounter with an unidentified “missile” near Lydd, Kent
Also known as Alitalia UFO 1991, Lydd near miss, Alitalia MD-80 near-miss, Kent missile UFO, Zaghetti UFO, Alitalia AZ284
On the evening of 21 April 1991 Alitalia flight AZ284, an MD-80 registered I-DAWC flying from Milan to Heathrow with 57 people aboard, was descending through 22,000 feet over Kent when Captain Achille Zaghetti saw a light-brown, missile-like object about three metres long pass about 1,000 feet above the airliner in the opposite direction. He shouted a warning to his co-pilot, who also saw it, and asked London control whether they had anything on radar: the controller reported an unknown target 10 nautical miles behind him.
The Civil Aviation Authority investigated and confirmed a faint radar trace, the press reported a “near miss” with a missile, and the MoD, asked for help, ruled out British missiles, space debris and a weather balloon, could not identify the object, and closed the case as a UFO report. In 2008, when the files were opened, Zaghetti told Italian newspapers it had passed about 300 metres away and was definitely not a weather balloon, more like a fighter's long-range fuel tank. No video testimony from the crew has been found.
Sources: MoD files DEFE 24/1953 (pp. 77–83: the captain's report, The Independent of 6 May 1991, the MoD minute) and DEFE 24/1955 (pp. 89–122), The National Archives · KentOnline, 20 October 2008 · Corriere della Sera, 20 October 2008
Facts and claims
- claimed In his near-collision report to air traffic control, filed the next day, the captain wrote: “During descent, at FL 222 I saw for about 3-4 seconds a flying object, very similar to a missile, light brown coloured, with a track opposite then mine which was 320° - it was higher than us about 1000 ft.” He described it as an “object similar missile - without exhaust flame”, light brown, “about 3 meters length - round shape”. — Achille Zaghetti Source: defe-24-1953.pdf
- claimed He continued: “At once I said “look out - look out” to my copilot who looked out and saw what I had seen - As soon as the object crossed us I asked to the ACC operator if he saw something on his screen and he answered “I see an unknown target 10 N.M. behind you”.” — Achille Zaghetti Source: defe-24-1953.pdf
- documented The Civil Aviation Authority said in a public statement, quoted by The Independent on 6 May 1991, that the London air traffic control centre had no other aircraft in the vicinity, “but consistent with the pilot report, a faint radar trace was observed 10 nautical miles behind the Alitalia aircraft”, and that “Extensive inquiries have failed to provide any indication of what the sighting may have been.” Source: defe-24-1953.pdf
- documented Passing the CAA's report on, the MoD's UFO desk wrote on 9 May 1991 that, given the ministry's public denial of any UK military involvement, “the radar evidence attached to the report which shows an object in the vicinity of the Alitalia aircraft should be examined (in the first instance) in the context of an air defence/air safety matter rather than as a UFO report.” Source: defe-24-1953.pdf
- documented The National Archives' guide to the files describes a “Close encounter between an Italian MD-80 airliner, carrying 57 passengers, and an unidentified ‘missile’ on the evening of 21 April 1991”, reported to the Civil Aviation Authority by the crew and examined with the MoD's help. Source: oct-2008-highlights-guide.pdf
- documented The MoD told the RAF's air traffic headquarters in July 1991 that the captain's report and the London controllers' reports had been examined by the air defence branches, which “have not been able to confirm the identity of the object sighted by the Alitalia MD80 crew”. Source: defe-24-1955.pdf
- documented It said it had been able “to rule out any possibility that what was seen was a missile from Army firing ranges in the Lydd area”, that there were no reports of space-related activity to explain it, and that the captain's description “does not correspond with what would be expected if the object had been a meteorological balloon”; it would treat the sighting “like that of any other Unidentified Flying Object” and investigate no further. Source: defe-24-1955.pdf
- documented Internal minutes in the file note that only the RAF's Bloodhound and the Royal Navy's Sea Dart could reach 22,000 feet, that no Sea Dart test firings took place that day, and that the Lydd range has only anti-tank, light mortar, grenade and rifle ranges. Source: defe-24-1955.pdf
- claimed David Clarke, the historian who advised The National Archives on the release, told KentOnline in 2008: “It is the most impressive UFO incident ever been reported and investigated by the MOD.” — David Clarke Source: kentonline.co.uk (archived)
- claimed Corriere della Sera reported in 2008, from the British press coverage of the files, that the encounter happened at 19.58 and that the object, travelling at about 120 miles an hour, turned suddenly and passed little more than 300 metres from the airliner, forcing the pilot into a sudden manoeuvre; neither the speed nor the manoeuvre appears in the captain's own report in the MoD file. Source: corriere.it (archived)
- documented The same 2008 coverage tied the case to an Essex Police report from Brentwood of a dark, silent flying object at 22.25 “di quella stessa notte” (that same night); the police report in the MoD file is in fact dated 21 May 1991, a month later, and describes a dark egg-shaped object seen from a garden near the A127. Source: defe-24-1953.pdf
Connected files
Documents
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 20 October 2008 (19 files) (subject of) — DEFE 24/1955, pp. 89–122
People
- David Clarke (statements by)
- Achille Zaghetti (witnesses) — Commander of Alitalia AZ284; reported a missile-like object passing about 1,000 feet above the airliner over Kent
Mentioned in this file
- The National Archives: guides to the Ministry of Defence UFO files (2008–2013) (Document)
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)
- Ministry of Defence (UK) (Organization)
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