Lieutenant Morgan’s Aerial Encounter

On January 31, 1916, during World War One, British pilot Lieutenant Morgan had one of the first documented pilot UFO encounters in aviation history. Flying at approximately 5,000 feet over Rochford, Essex, Morgan observed a “dark object with a row of illuminated lights” that resembled train carriage windows. When he approached the object, his aircraft engine mysteriously malfunctioned. He fired at the object before it climbed rapidly to higher altitude and disappeared.

The Encounter

Time and Location

The sighting occurred:

• Date: January 31, 1916
• Time: Approximately 8:25 PM
• Location: Over Rochford, Essex, England
• Altitude: About 5,000 feet
• Context: Wartime patrol flight

The Witness

Lieutenant Morgan:

• British military pilot
• On active duty
• Experienced aviator
• Trained observer
• Official report filed

The Object

Physical Description

What Morgan observed:

• Dark object
• Row of illuminated lights
• Lights resembled train carriage windows
• Clearly structured appearance
• Not a natural phenomenon
• Unknown aircraft type

Size and Shape

The craft appeared:

• Large enough to carry multiple lights
• Distinct window-like illumination
• Solid, structured body
• Unlike any known aircraft
• Substantial in size

The Encounter Sequence

Initial Observation

Morgan spotted the object:

• While on patrol
• At cruising altitude
• Clear enough visibility
• Object stood out against sky
• Decision to investigate

Approach

When he moved closer:

• Engine mysteriously malfunctioned
• Sudden power issues
• No apparent cause
• Coinciding with approach
• Electromagnetic effect possible

Engagement

Morgan’s response:

• Fired at the object
• Standard military reaction
• Unknown target, wartime
• Effect on object unclear
• Object then departed

Object’s Departure

The craft’s exit:

• Shot upward rapidly
• Climbed to higher altitude
• Speed extraordinary
• Disappeared from view
• Beyond pursuit capability

Significance

First Pilot UFO Encounter

This case represents:

• One of earliest documented pilot sightings
• Military witness
• Official record
• Engine malfunction component
• Pattern that would repeat

Electromagnetic Effects

The engine failure suggests:

• Possible EM interference
• Pattern seen in later cases
• Proximity-triggered malfunction
• Unexplained technical failure
• Characteristic of UAP encounters

Wartime Context

The setting matters:

• Active military operations
• Trained observer
• Serious reporting
• Not dismissed
• Official documentation

Historical Context

Aviation in 1916

State of flight:

• Relatively new technology
• WWI spurring development
• Pilots experienced but aircraft primitive
• Night flying challenging
• Limited instruments

What Aircraft Existed

Contemporary craft:

• Biplanes predominant
• No craft matched description
• No “lighted windows” designs
• Object unlike anything known
• Beyond 1916 technology

Wartime Secrecy

Possible explanations considered:

• Secret German craft?
• Experimental aircraft?
• No evidence found
• Technology too advanced
• Remained unexplained

Similar WWI Encounters

Other Pilot Reports

The war saw other sightings:

• “Flaming Onions” phenomena
• Strange lights pursued aircraft
• Unexplained objects observed
• Pattern of encounters
• Never fully explained

Pattern Emerging

Elements repeated:

• Objects with lights
• Engine interference
• Rapid departure
• Beyond pursuit
• No identification

Analysis

What It Wasn’t

The object could not have been:

• German Zeppelin (wrong description)
• Contemporary aircraft (illuminated windows unknown)
• Weather phenomenon (too structured)
• Misidentification of known object

What It Might Have Been

Possibilities include:

• Unknown aerial phenomenon
• Advanced unknown technology
• Early UAP encounter
• Something beyond explanation

The Engine Failure

This detail is significant:

• Reproducible in later encounters
• Suggests EM properties
• Not coincidental
• Characteristic of UFO encounters
• Physical effect documented

The Question

On a winter night in 1916, a British pilot saw something impossible.

A dark object in the sky. Lit windows, like a train carriage floating in the darkness at 5,000 feet.

Lieutenant Morgan approached.

And his engine stopped working.

In 1916, there were no aircraft with lit windows. No passenger planes. No craft that could climb away at speeds Morgan couldn’t match.

But he saw one.

He fired at it.

And it disappeared upward, into the night, faster than anything human-made could move.

This is one of the first documented pilot UFO encounters in history.

A military aviator. On patrol. In wartime.

Seeing something that shouldn’t exist.

Experiencing engine failure as he approached.

Watching it escape at impossible speed.

The elements are all there - elements that would appear again and again in UFO reports for the next century:

Structured craft. Lights. Approach triggers malfunction. Rapid departure.

Lieutenant Morgan reported what he saw.

The mystery was never solved.

Over a hundred years later, pilots are still seeing things they can’t explain.

The phenomenon didn’t start with Kenneth Arnold in 1947.

It didn’t start with Roswell.

It was there in the skies over England in 1916.

One pilot. One object. One impossible encounter.

The first of many.

And still unexplained.