UFO sighting by RAF pilot dubbed ‘Saucer Sam’ in 1952 left aviation minister ‘convinced’ we are not alone

A UFO sighting was deemed so credible it convinced a government minister who investigated it.

The sighting by an RAF fighter pilot on a training mission over West Germany in 1952 has been revealed for the first time by papers released by the Churchill Archive at Cambridge University.

Flight Sergeant Roland Hughes was returning to base when he was followed by a ‘gleaming silver, metallic disc’ which flew alongside him before disappearing at incredible sped.

Saucer Sam: Sgt Roland Hughes stands beside his fighter with its UFO art painted on by colleagues after he spotted a UFO that was confirmed by radar

The object was caught by RAF radars, which confirmed it was travelling at speeds far greater than possible for any aircraft of the time.

Hughes reported the sighting and was sent to visit Duncan Sandys, then aviation minister, to give his account in person.

He described seeing a flash of ‘silver light’ which rapidly descended towards him until he could see that it was a ‘gleaming silver-metallic disc’.

He said its surface was shiny, ‘like tin foil’, and ‘without a single crease or crinkle’.