Bits of Famous, Lost (and Fake) 'Flying Saucer' Turn Up in British Science Museum

Space Extraterrestrial Life Bits of Famous, Lost (and Fake) 'Flying Saucer' Turn Up in British Science Museum By Rafi Letzter published 16 February 2018 in News When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works . The "flying saucer" captivated the U.K. press in 1957. (Image credit: Dr. David Clarke) Share Copy link Facebook X Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Share this article Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Pieces of a 50-year-old English "flying saucer" have turned up in the London Science Museum archive. As the BBC reported Feb. 9, David Clarke, a journalism lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, examined the metal shards and determined that they came from a famous 18-inch (45 centimeters) metal saucer. The object captivated the U.K. press in 1957 after it turned up in Silpho Moor near Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. Then, after being chopped up into bits for examination, it gradually disappeared in the intervening decades.. Three men originally discovered the object in the moor, the Yorkshire Post reported Feb. 8, just three weeks after Russia launched Sputnik — the first satellite of the Earth created by humans. As the Post reported, its copper bottom was covered in hieroglyphics, very much like the saucer discovered in Roswell, New Mexico a decade earlier. [ 7 Huge Misconceptions About Aliens ] Article continues below You may like Bright-green fireball meteor caught exploding above famous Viking raid site in UK 2,000-year-old Phoenician coin was used as bus fare in England, but 'how it got there will always be a mystery' Rare medieval seal discovered in UK is inscribed with 'Richard's secret' and bears a Roman-period gemstone The Silpho Moor saucer also contained a small book, the Post reported, covered in more hieroglyphics, which a Scarborough café owner claimed to decipher as a warning from an alien named Ullo about atomic war: "You will improve or disappear." Metallurgists and other experts who studied the Silpho Moor object determined that it had no special properties and had never been to outer space, the Post reported, a journey that leaves telltale signatures in metal. Still, now that Science Museum archivists have learned the "cultural significance" of the rediscovered shards, the BBC reported, they might put them on display as a record of that strange moment in British history. Originally published on Live Science . Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Rafi Letzter Staff Writer Rafi joined Live Science in 2017. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of journalism. You can find his past science reporting at Inverse, Business Insider and Popular Science, and his past photojournalism on the Flash90 wire service and in the pages of The Courier Post of southern New Jersey. Read more Meteoroids Bright-green fireball meteor caught exploding above famous Viking raid site in UK Archaeology 2,000-year-old Phoenician coin was used as bus fare in England, but 'how it got there will always be a mystery' Archaeology Rare medieval seal discovered in UK is inscribed with 'Richard's secret' and bears a Roman-period gemstone Archaeology Man in Czech Republic accidentally finds Bronze Age spearhead mold in his backyard Latest in Extraterrestrial Life Extraterrestrial Life The government is very serious about UFOs. So why are researchers being stymied? Extraterrestrial Life Scientists squished microbes into a steel 'sandwich' — and made a profound discovery about life in space Extraterrestrial Life SETI scientists reveal 100 'signals of interest' from collapsed Arecibo Observatory Extraterrestrial Life Advanced alien civilizations could be communicating 'like fireflies' in plain sight, researchers suggest Latest in News Cancer Heartbeats physically stop cardiac cancer from growing — and that could be key to thwarting other cancers, too Space Exploration Can NASA and SpaceX really build a moon base in the next 10 years? Archaeology 'Lifelong monogamy' and 'half orphans': DNA analysis reveals clues about life on the Roman frontier after the fall of Rome Artificial Intelligence 'I violated every principle I was given': AI agent deletes company's entire database in 9 seconds, then confesses