PORTUGAL FIRED A MISSILE
AT THE CIGAR-SHAPED UFO

The Portuguese military fired a ground-to-air missile
at the luminous UFO that passed over their country during
the early morning hours of Monday, June 7, 2004.
(For the original report, see UFO Roundup, volume 9,
number 23 for June 9, 2004, "Luminous UFO seen by hundreds
in Portugal," page 5.)
Portuguese ufologist Gregorio Sao Xavier reported
that "the cigar-shaped UFO was tracked on radar. It moved
in a south-to-north direction. It was reported in the
Portuguese newspapers that 'a target on radar' was found
at three separate military bases."
These included "Beja, south of Evora and north of the
Algarve region; Montijo, near Lisboa (the capital of
Portugal--J.T.); and Oporto, the second largest city in
Portugal. The news was released by a colonel in the
Portuguese Army."
"That same day, only one report came from a civilian
identifying the trajectory of the unknown object as coming
from north to south, and a cigar form was described."
"Some days later, it was reported on Spanish and
German TV that an official of the Portuguese Army
confirmed that a missile had been launched. What most
people saw trailing smoke" was the missile launched at the
UFO.
"Visual contact with the object was made at the base
in Beja," Gregorio added, "A week later, the photo of a
cigar-shaped object appeared in a popular (Portuguese)
magazine. And a few days later, the military officials
charged with the investigation of the incident closed the
case, calling it an 'unknown object.'"
One of the most curious aspects of this case was the
multiple sightings of a radar-domed AWACS plane, provided
by NATO, which was seen flying offshore, just west of Cabo
de Sines, 120 kilometers (72 miles) south of Lisboa.
CHEERS ;)
UFOHARRY

Maybe the aliens were just checking in early to catch the football? :P
Seriously, with today's homing/targeting technology you'd have to think it'd take something special to avoid a Surface-Air-Missile, but I assume that's what happened as the report doesn't mention any explosions or anything. So if the missile didn't hit it's target - where DID it land? (the missile I mean, not the UFO).

HI STORMWATCH,GOOD POINT AS EVER.I REALLY DONT KNOW, NO MORE INFO THAN WHAT I POSTED.WE MAY HEAR MORE.MAYBE THE OBJECT THEY FIRED AT WAS THE BALL COMING BACK DOWN TO EARTH FROM BECKHAMS PENALTY MISS LOL. :lol:
CHEERS
UFOHARRY

:D
You'd never guess this was a SCOTTISH group would you?
Seriously though - what does happen to missiles that miss their target? Anyone know? Do they self destruct? Do they crash land and explode?
??

HI STORMWATCH,HEY DONT ASK ME ABOUT MISSILES LOL I`M AN OLD PEACE AND LOVE HIPPY. ;)
CHEERS
PEACE & LOVE MAN LOL

It is an exciting story but as Stormwatch says, what happened to the missile?! If it hit the ground then surely it would explode? If it landed in the sea then maybe it wouldn't?

The cigar shaped UFO seems to be making more of an appearence just lately. It was only a year or so ago it appeared on the front page of the Sun newspaper. A snapper had managed to take a picture of it in Brighton.......

:blink:

HIYA CAT,YEAH GOOD QUESTION...WHAT DID HAPPEN TO THE MISSILE???THERE WAS NO MORE INFO WITH THE ARTICLE I POSTED BUT YOU NEVER KNOW WE MAY HEAR MORE ON THIS. :ph43r:
CHEERS
UFOHARRY

This whole thread has got me wondering - it just doesn't seem likely that a government would allow their defence forces to fire surface-air missiles - they have to land somewhere after all, and they could do more damage to their own citizens than a briefly sighted UFO.
I don't suppose anyone here has any knowledge of this kind of thing?

Originally posted by UFO Harry July 2nd 2004