British Legion pair spark UFO scare (From This Is Local London)

British Legion pair spark UFO scare

10:00am Sunday 13th June 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(2)

AN EXTREME flight team had a close encounter of a German kind, when residents mistook their state-of-the-art wingsuits and high speed flight patterns for UFOs.

The Royal British Legion Extreme Human Flight Team, Jump4Heroes, were training in Bad Lippspringe, Germany, ahead of the Canopy Piloting National Championships and World Championships last weekend when police were called in.

Major Alastair Macartney, who serves at the Defence School of Languages at Wilton Park, Beaconsfield, and warrant officer Spencer Hogg were flying their high performance canopies above their base before they decided to break out their new Poppy-branded wingsuits for a jump from 16,000ft.

The duo were gliding through the clouds at more than 100mph before they swooped into make their landing to find two police cars waiting for them on the ground.

It turned out that their German hosts had never seen extreme flying and had called in police to report that UFO's were flying above their homes.

The team demonstrated their equipment and flight modes to police, who graciously declined an offer from the daredevils to accompany them on a jump.