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| THE Army has been forced to deny reports of a UFO over Edinburgh. Suspicious residents plagued officials with calls about a mysterious object as it swept over the skies early at around 1am on Tuesday morning. Defence chiefs were able to reveal it was in fact a helicopter testing out a new landing pad. An Army spokesman said: "There was an Army exercise directed from the new barracks at Glencorse in which a helicopter landing pad required to be tested during the night. "We have received numerous calls about the incident but I can confirm it was merely a training incident and the city isn't under attack from aliens." |
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| JUST how did some citizens of Edinburgh think a helicopter on the early hours of Tuesday was a UFO ('Alien attack' is a helicopter, Evening News, May 2)? Don't they know what a helicopter sounds - and feels - like? I knew it was a helicopter for the simple fact that the blasted thing woke me up. It was actually about south Edinburgh for a while and even when I could no longer hear it, I could feel the throb of it vibrating the air. So the Army says it was an exercise, was it? Well, I know that military exercises have to be carried out and I don't for one moment want to criticise the soldiers involved, who were after all only obeying orders. I would like to know, however, just who in the military top brass decided to carry out a helicopter exercise, with no prior notification, above residential areas in the early hours of the morning? Why 1am when most people are trying to sleep? Trying to sleep because they have work in the morning. Work where they earn money, which pays taxes, which funds defence, including wages. So come on top brass, as a tax payer it could be argued that I'm your boss. An apology at least would be nice. And the next time you have a night exercise, try keeping it away from residential areas, or at least warn us beforehand. Leslie John Thomson, Moredunvale Green, Gilmerton |
