Published: 6:35 AM 11/14/2009

Glasgow, Scotland - 1979

I wanted to tell you about a close encounter with a spacecraft that took place many years ago in 1979, August 23 to be exact. I was in the middle of Glasgow, Scotland, and had gone to visit my friend.

He had recently returned from a stay in New Zealand, and was staying with his parents.They went to bed and we sat and chatted for a while. My friend went to the toilet and I decided that I needed a breath of fresh air.

I had been visiting the house for some years and had never gone out onto the balcony. I walked through the kitchen and noticed that the time was 3 minutes till midnight, and opened the door to the balcony.

It was a beautiful, cloudless night and although city lights restrict star viewing, there were plenty in sight. I stood looking at the sky for a minute or so and in the direction of southeast, I noticed a bright light high in the sky.

It seemed to be falling in a gentle arc. I considered the options, not a plane, not a satellite. I ran to get my friend. We stood and watched as this bright light descended.

When it got to the point that I thought it was going to disappear below the horizon, it stopped. Then it began to get brighter and was obviously approaching us. We looked at each other and wondered what was this.

No conventional aircraft behaves in such a way. It got closer and closer to the point that if I had a stone and threw it, I could have hit it.I t hovered for a few seconds, thirty feet or so above our position. It was the size of a house: a rectangular cuboid in shape, but aerodynamically shaped and was silent.

We were astounded at this point. As I said, it hovered for a few seconds and then accelerated at an unbelievable speed leaving our world. My whole perception was changed forever by this sighting.