Recently a new UFO incident in the UK has come to light. The Pentyrch Incident happened in February 2016 and has a primary witness called Caz Clarke. She suggests that a large interdimensional craft was spotted and hunted by the RAF and Army for 4 days near the sleepy village of Pentyrch in South Wales.
In this episode, I talk with Caz Clarke, who was a first-hand witness to a spectacular UFO that appeared near where she lived in the small village of Pentyrch, South Wales, in February 2016. What has come to be known as the Pentyrch UFO incident was preceded by days of unusual aircraft activity in the area and escalated into what can really only be described as a full scale military operation to intercept the mysterious interloper, actions which resulted in reports of an explosion some miles away and evidence of damage to woodland in that area.
Military aircraft circled a Welsh village for three days, waiting for something to arrive. At 2:30 AM, they got their answer when a massive black pyramid materialized above Pentyrch. What followed was a four-minute battle between military forces and unknown objects that left witnesses paralyzed and the government scrambling to cover their tracks. Caz Clarke watched the entire encounter unfold from her backyard.
For eight years, she fought the Ministry of Defence to uncover the truth. Her investigation revealed illegal operations, falsified documents, and a coordinated cover-up that reached the highest levels of government. The evidence suggests our military has protocols for hunting UFOs and procedures for retrieval operations.
The explanation as to the nature of these events that was provided from official channels is short on detail and does not correspond with witness testimony. Added that that, there was suspicious activity reported in the area afterwards that seems directly connected to the incident and again the rationale given for this is left somewhat wanting. All in all this is a fascinating case.
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Clarke reportedly passed multiple polygraph examinations (“truthful with no deception indicated”) to support the reliability of her testimony.
Eyewitness Accounts and Initial Observations
On that extraordinary night in Pentyrch, Caz Clarke and neighbour “Dave” walked to the eastern corner of a nearby field. Her neighbour ventured onto the pasture.
It had started a few days earlier, the 23rd, when Dave saw a small grey twin-propeller plane flying slow and very low in a figure of eight pattern over the village. Then it switched to flying in a large circle before resuming its 8-pattern. This went on for three days and three nights continually. At no time in this period did observers leave the airspace unwatched. One plane would arrive before the other would leave and not a minute before. On Wednesday, the 24th, they saw a second plane, which swapped places with the first. The two plans were a Hawker Beechcraft 300 and a Britten-Norman BN-2T Turbo. The air space over the village was evidently under constant observation.
On the evening of Thursday, the 25th, an E3 Sentry, an early warning and control aircraft with a rotating dome on its fuselage, circled the sky over the fields. When it banked, the moonlight illuminated a mushroom on its back. It circled seven times. It was followed by other red lights that formed the outer edges of a huge pyramid. The pyramid tilted to the right, turned very slowly anti-clockwise and started to move away. Soon, the red light became three, and the apex of a pyramid entered the space on an oblique angle. It was not seen to “arrive,” but rather emerge gradually as if through a tear in space.
Another witness, resident Mike Henbury who was taking his dog for a walk along Tyn-y-Coed Road just after midnight, said the red pulsing light was very large indeed. When the triangle of lights lined up behind trees by the field, it ejected a bright green starlike object as if fired from a cannon. Meanwhile, the large craft was descending lower in the sky towards the ground. It appeared to be landing. The E3 Sentry began flying up and coming back round again.
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Bright red lights towards the bottom of the craft changed to sodium orange, and fingers of arcing light raced to the ground. The red lights then flicked off and the large object became invisible.
Dave saw a large number of red and green orbs dance and gather into one. One of red orbs slowly rose, stopped and turned to green, flashed very fast, and slowly moved off. Two aircraft followed it. planes that had since arrived, were joined by a C-130 Hercules aircraft. The green object then moved west in the direction of Llantrisant. Other local residents, including Diane Blackmore and Christopher Buckley, recalled prolonged low-flying helicopters, red pulsing lights, and ground disturbances consistent with parachute flares or hazard-marking operations.
Residents in the neighbouring Talbot Green area reported seeing the green light being chased, and then being shot down by an aircraft.
Official Response and Military Activity
The MoD refused to comment upon the incident but did say an exercise was happening in the area (well they would say that, wouldn't they!). About the shaded reply from a soldier. Having served in the Navy the shady reply seems fairly common. On my ship most of the crew knew very little and were directed to be careful how we answered questions about our ship in a number of ways. We were even shady when sharing information with our crew mates. So, it's not surprising that the poster found the soldier's answer less than informative.
The official line was that the activity was related with Exercise Chameleon, a bi-annual training drill between the British army and the RAF. As this was a completely normal exercise, the Forces said it was not necessary for local people to worry. The exercise periodically includes low-altitude helicopter and C‑130 operations, parachute drops, and flare simulations. However, all this was official dissemblance.
People took to social media. One person complained to police, ‘What’s going on in Llantrisant? Something definitely woke me and now there’s a shitload of helicopters circling outside.’ The helicopters were seen to land on the local common. The landings and commotion lasted for many hours. One distressed resident complained about the presence of a big double-engine Chinook military helicopter. She said it just missed her chimney. Others said that they were causing houses to shake. People asked if their children and livestock were in danger.
I'm pretty sure that what happened here is that the witness stumbled upon a UK Special Forces exercise. The planes, the people the night activity and the secrecy all suggest that this was an SAS or similar unit on exercise. The area isn't too far away from Hereford, the home of the SAS. The exercise had since been published as EXERCISE CHAMELEON and happens twice a year and even happened in 2021. It involves ground forces, helicopters, Surveillance aircraft and transport aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules to do para drops. The secrecy from the MoD is due to it being SF.
513305N 0032324W (LLANTRISANT). AIRSPACE. NON-PARTICIPATING MIL ACFT SHALL AVOID THE AREA. 01677 XXXXXX. Valid from 2100 on Feb 25, 2016 to 0700 on Feb 26, 2016 (all times UTC, identical to local time in this case), from the surface up to 5000 ft. 'Exercise Chameleon: Up to 7 helicopters operating without lighting within a 5 nautical mile radius centred on 51° 33' 05" N, 003° 23' 24" W (near Llantrisant). Aircraft will remain clear of controlled airspace. E) EXER CHAMELEON. S. WALES). RADIUS, 2000-5000FT 5 NM RADIUS, 5000-18000FT 10NM RADIUS. SUBJ ATC CLR. NIGHT. FOR INFO 07767 XXXXXX. Valid from 0001 to 0400 on Feb 26, 2016, from the surface up to 18000 ft. 'Exercise Chameleon: Parachute jumping exercise within a 10 nautical mile radius centred on 51° 33' 06" N, 003° 22' 20" W (near Llantrisant, South Wales). The drop is contained within the following cone (all heights in ft above mean sea level) ... Drop height subject to ATC clearance. This puts the para drop smack in the middle of the video narration's 'starting at 2 am'.
I think when the witness reports she saw the military removing metal from the common it is good evidence that they were preparing either an LZ - landing zone for helicopters, or a DZ - drop zone for parachutists. The NOTAM for the para drop states that the Aircraft will operate up to 18,000 ft. The area isn't too far away from Hereford, the home of the SAS.
All this could appear very weird to someone who has had no exposure to the military or aircraft operating at night. A friendly police officer might say "Nothing to see here Sir.
Just found this in the video. The callsign KITTYHAWK indicates that there was a member of the Royal Family on board. I searched through the past engagements of the Royal Family and discovered that Prince William was in Cardiff that night to watch a Rugby match between Wales and France. But for the BAE-146 using KITTY 74 on arrival and then KITTYHAWK 74 (note the change in callsign) it suggests that it had picked up a member of the Royal Family, rather than ferrying in 'military top brass'. Yup, 'Kitty' is the callsign used for empty positioning flights whilst 'Kittyhawk' is used for the actual VIP transport.
It would also have been nice had the documentary so much as bothered to mention that RAF Northolt is the home base of No.
Table of Key Events and Observations
| Date | Event/Observation |
|---|---|
| February 23rd | "Dave" sees a small grey twin-propeller plane flying in figure-eight patterns. |
| February 24th | A second plane, a Hawker Beechcraft 300, replaces the first plane. |
| February 25th | An E3 Sentry circles the sky, followed by red lights forming a pyramid. |
| Night of the Incident | Witnesses report a massive black pyramid, military activity, and explosions. |
| Aftermath | Reports of tree damage in Smilog Woods and elevated EMF readings. |
Investigation and Physical Evidence
Herald.Wales reported that the event provides rich detail on eyewitness testimonies-describing multiple shapes, lights, explosive sounds, tree damage in Smilog Woods near Llantrisant, alleged suppression of media footage, and claims of intimidation and suspected clean-up activity by military personnel following the incident. It calls the Pentyrch case “the greatest UFO cover-up of the 21st century.” It underscores the rain-like lightning tendrils, red-to-green object timing, phone malfunctions, and MOD’s Section 26 refusal to release details.
Clarke and collaborator Gari Jones investigated Smilog Woods, finding a burnt path of snapped trees and vegetation apparently scorched or destroyed-possibly aligned with where one of the smaller craft may have crashed. They measured elevated electromagnetic field levels (EMF) safety thresholds in certain spots, especially where the pyramid was seen closer to the ground.
Investigators with the Swansea UFO Network (Emlyn Williams, Steve Drewson and Mike Maunder) also found the terrain in Smilog Woods visibly damaged-snapped 40-ft trees and scorched vegetation-and measured persistent EMF readings reaching 1.2 milli‑tesla (3× the normal safe threshold) even years later. Reports reference mysterious foam or “angel hair,” or pseudo-snow observed at the site; some users suggest it comprised silica-rich particulate matter reported in other UFO incidents.
I was also interested to hear the witness talk about what she saw. This is a picture from her presentation to a local UFO group. showing a large Triangle or Pyramid UFO with orange lights around the edges. They look remarkably like these drop zone markers that are used by the military when para dropping at night.... At one point she describes a green beam if light that eminated from the ground. I guess that the common was cleared for a para drop of some kind, probably by SF parachutists rather than a supply drop.
The suggestion that the soldiers had live rounds comes from one witness who said their guns didn't have the yellow safety cap on the end. This is the BFA or Blank Firing Attachment that acts as a safety cover when blanks are used and also ensures enough gas is returned to the working parts so that it can load the next round. All this confirms is that the soldiers didn't have blanks. It's quite common for exercising troops to carry their rifles unloaded of they do not expect to be using them. I think this is why they didn't have BFAs fitted. So this does not confirm that live rounds were being used - just that they didn't have blanks and probably didn't have any rounds in their magazines.
Here's an image that appears to show Gari recording EMF levels By taking a picture with his mobile phone next to the EMF meter.
Hey Flarky / everyone. I was very curious about this case myself, and contacted the witness, Caz, and Gari Jones to get more info. I asked if I could help figure this out in any way, seeing as I am an engineer and fairly scientific person....and they said "Yes, we don't really understand the Geiger Counters, or anything about the Radiation Levels. We need someone to figure out what they really mean". I will say now, I do not think that Caz or Gari have been at all intentionally misleading. They have always been totally forthcoming with any information, and are not people who would know how to frame something like this. They totally misunderstood how to read the results, but that does not mean that nothing weird happened here.
After questioning them thoroughly about how they had the DP66 Geiger Counter set up, how they measured, and after reading the DP-66 manual thoroughly.... it seems there could have been Beta/Gamma combinged radiation of 0.05mR/h at 662 days after the incident (first actual measurement). Subsequent measurements were taken with a different, more modern Geiger Counter, and seemed to measure around 0.25uSv/h (0.025mR/h) at 1643 days, and 0.15uSv/h (0.015mR/h) on day 1827. These folks did the absolute best they could to find the highest radiation level they could, always. All of these readings came from the "bald patch" area, with lesser readings in smilog woods. The DP-66 never registered anything except for in these areas of study, and readings of "up to 10" were seen at the bald spot. I believe "up to 10" was read from the 0-200 part of the scale, meaning 1/10th of the way through the setting they had it on ( which was 0.5mR/h , this measures radiation levels 0.05mR/h - 0.5mR/h in increments of 0.05 ( this is multiplied by the number on top scale, being 1-10). So, my guess at the initial level is hence 0.05mR/h at the bald spot.
I figure, even at the very most sensitive setting, if the DP66 registered up to 1/10th of the way through its measurement scale.... that is at least 0.05mR/h.. which is well above the background radiation found in 2021 at 0.015mR/h. I have asked them to go back and measure the bald patch with the DP66, without changing a thing on the device. So I can compare apples to apples. This seems kind of strange to me. Also, there EMF readings are up to 0.6 uT all along the "path" they checked in Smilog. Thats the same as standing next to high voltage equipment, I understand.
If we're going to look at this I'd suggest we need to have an initial baseline of data recorded, i.e where is the source data from? You and I have already spoken about control figures, but for everyone else it appears that they didnt record any off side radiation or EMF data to compare with data over the 'UFO Crash site'. That is exactly the issue that makes this so tough to be confident in. The data is lacking, no baseline, ect. What I can do is give you what I have, and we can decide what it means. From that, you can deduce how they believe this to work, and possibly back out the real reading.
When they write 1, 3, 7, 10, etc down as their readings... I am pretty sure they are reading the scale on bottom that is used for calculating the counts per minute. They took that number, and assumed it was the level in mR/h...... But the way I believe it is supposed to be done is to take the reading you get, and multiply by the interval that the range is divided by. In this case, they had it on the most sensitive setting, which measures levels 0.05mR/h - 0.5mR/h in 10 intervals of 0.05mR/h. They had the dial go up to about 1.5 on the top scale at moments, but was steady at about 1.0. On the 0.05mR/h - 0.5mR/h setting, the DP66 counts both Beta and Gamma at once, I believe. Everything on the counter was set to highest sensitivity ( Beta x 1 , probe wide open), and readings were very low everywhere except when they would get...
Skeptical Perspectives and Alternative Explanations
Credible alternative explanations suggest that flares (C‑130 Angel Wings), drop zone markers, night parachute operations, and military helicopters could account for much of what was seen. In experienced military circles, large flares can form pyramidal light patterns in the sky, which may be misinterpreted by untrained observers.
The fact that phones reportedly failed to record footage fuelled speculation of electromagnetic interference or equipment shutting down-though sceptics point out that poor reception and darkness often prevent clear capture in rural areas.
Sceptical remarks included: "My opinion … is that she saw a military exercise involving the RAF, British Army, SAS… called Exercise Chameleon. … flares can easily form a triangle shape at night…" "She didn’t know a military exercise was underway … jumps to a primed conclusion that it was space aliens."
Another sceptic noted that Clarke had prior interest in ufology and may have misinterpreted flares, training markers, and parachute operations as extraterrestrial craft.
There are many other bits of this story that are either fallacious, guess work, wild assumptions and optical or perspective illusions which are all based upon the conspiracy theory that a massive UFO was hunted for 4 days in the skies of South Wales, and then crashed and was recovered by 6 guys in a LandRover.
Recent Developments and FOI Requests
Multiple Freedom of Interest (FoI) files regarding the Pentyrch incident have been released by the Welsh Government:
- FOI release 17096 - “Pentyrch incident” (59 KB PDF), published 28 February 2023
- FOI release 16842 - same subject, published 30 November 2022 (58 KB)
- FOI release 19542 - “Details of alleged UFO incident at Pentyrch,” published 13 May 2024 (86 KB)
Each file contains the formal Welsh Government response to public requests. The documents reportedly state that no records exist showing permissions granted to close woods, paths, roads, or to use explosives, raising questions if military action occurred without legal authority.
The case remains active in UFO discussion circles, with supplemental podcasts, books, and online forums keeping the story alive.
Caz Clarke has told me that, in her opinion, the Pentyrch event is one of ‘the biggest cases in the UK and possibly the world.’
Update from the witness....! Another massive triangular craft has been spotted above Pentyrch. This video was recorded on Sunday 6 June by Caz Clarke and reportedly shows the three red lights at the corners of the craft. Apparently military jets were scrambled to intimidate it but it was too high for them. I'm not convinced. Looks more like 3 red Chinese lanterns flying in formation. You can even see the yellow flame underneath them in the video. Why's there a US-style 13th June 2020 date at the bottom of that vid? No true Brit would put up with such silly date order, so at the moment that looks more like something an American captured last year than something from Wales 2 days ago. Either that or someone unable to change their phone preferences, but why would a phone sold in the UK default to a US setting? Phone companies and carriers both generally regionalise their UI's. Would the military scramble jets for suspected chinese lanterns flying over a military area? It seems that they were unable to adjust the date and time, so it makes me question if they were able to use the camera at all.
-massive explosion which set off car alarms and shook awake the patients in the nearby hospital (this had NO place taking part where it did as part of a special ops training operation). No residents had been given prior warning. whatever happened that night- something came down in the trees. Either shot down (which explains the huge explosion) or crashed and was covered up and dealt with in a very strange manner by the military and government. The radiation and EMF measurements taken there were only recorded in the fields and they all showed high readings. Not unusual for some parts of the country. There have been no published readings from outside the fields for control comparison - ie are the readings naturally high in that area. This is a simple scientific principle.
Apart from that, I am at odds to what other shape could be formed by three (non-colinear) points. Maybe the particular arrangement of the three lights was special somehow?
All the stuff about investigating the woods and the broken trees seems like magical thinking - they basically wandered around the woods until they saw something they could fit to their story. If you see wider shots of the area it looks like nothing.
The Mysterious Pentyrch Incident
Wikipedia’s entry on UK UFO sightings includes this incident with a summary of an unusual pyramid-shaped light that descended and emitted two smaller objects before military aircraft arrived.
Clarke gave a detailed interview on UFO Chronicles Podcast (Episode 100), describing the pyramid, barrel craft, pursuit by military vehicles, and a crash site filmed the next morning. The narrative includes mentions of spotter aircraft preceding the event and tree-damage inspections. It also references direct seismograph readings and describes Clarke’s assertion that phones and cameras failed during the event.
Community Discussions and Online Forums
Reddit community discussions provide insight into both supportive and sceptical viewpoints. Supporters often highlight the consistency of accounts and local physical disruption: