The Salthill UFO encounter took place on a blustery day in Galway, sometime between the 22nd of February and the 1st of March, 1986. (When I first wrote this down in 2016 I was convinced that this was the only time that I had seen something that didn’t belong in our skies. It was later proven that this was not the case.)
An Unexpected Adventure
The 1986 experience kicked off an unexpected adventure, one that took me from the hills of Salthill to the icy shores of Greenland.
The pleasures of life in Galway were simple. For me, one of the finest was walking along the coastal promenade, the “prom” as it is called. My neighbours in Fairlands Park had a boisterous ten-month-old puppy named Rocky, and I’d often take him out to burn off some of that boundless energy.
“Come on, Rocky,” I said that afternoon, tugging his leash. “Let’s get a move on before that sky opens up.”
We were heading up the hill on Dalysfort Road toward Salthill beach.
The sky was a patchwork of moody grey and brilliant blue, and I was trying to guess whether we’d get soaked. As I tilted my head back, scanning the clouds, something caught my eye.
The Cigar-Shaped Object
Framed perfectly between the rooftops of a row of houses a solid, grey, cigar-shaped object hung silently in the air. It was utterly still. Rocky, meanwhile, was far more interested in a promising-looking patch of grass.
I didn’t have my 35mm camera with me, a fact I’d regret for years. The object seemed to be hovering a mile or two away, just above the rooftops, as motionless as myself, as I stood there contemplating it and looking for a “rational” explanation.
“It looks like a Zeppelin,” I finally murmured to myself, and dismissed the idea that I was seeing a UFO.
So, I continued the walk. And I kept the object in my sights. Due to the change in perspective, a house and some trees slid in front of it, temporarily, for few seconds, blocking my view.
Naturally, I expected the object to reappear on the other side as we cleared the obstruction.
But it didn’t. The patch of sky where it should have been was empty.
Searching for Answers
“Hold on a minute,” I said, turning around. Rocky looked up at me, confused. I walked back to the exact spot where I’d first seen it. Nothing. The sky was just sky. A slow-moving blimp would still be there, or at least nearby. This was just… gone.
It had vanished in a matter of seconds. I paced back and forth three more times in disbelief. Rocky started whimpering, having had quite enough of this strange game of back and forth. We carried on our walk.
Down at the Salthill promenade, we turned left at the corner store. The green across the road was buzzing with activity. Unfortunately, today, in 2025, all that’s left of the green is a huge car park. But in spring 2016 a full-blown festival was underway. At the seafront, I scanned the wide-open sky one more time. Clear.
Seeking Witnesses
A question crossed my mind: could others have seen the same object as me? I overcame my naturally shy nature to quiz a few people milling about:
“Have you just seen a blimp or any balloons in the sky here?” It felt like being a market researcher. I just got shrugs and shakes of the head in response
I’d already given up hope of finding anyone else to ask when I spotted my friend, Mick, who owned the local amusement arcade. “Mick, good to see you!” I shouted over the noise of a live band. “What’s all this then?”
“College Week, Eric!” he grinned. “Or Rag Week, depending on how much of a mess they make. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Not a ghost,” I said, lowering my voice. “More like… a blimp? Did you see anything up there in the sky? Big, grey, cigar-shaped?”
Mick laughed. “The only thing I’ve seen in the sky is my profits from the slot machines. You’ve been working too hard, mate.” He gave me a funny look, and we left it at that. The week carried on and came to a close on the 1st of March.
Headlines
About two weeks later, I went on another walk to Salthill promenade. I went inside inside the Western House corner store to buy cigarettes. Scanning the magazine rack, a headline suddenly jumped out at me:
“UFO flap reported over Irish coast and England”. My heart hammered in my chest. I grabbed the magazine and read the article right there and then. It turned out I wasn’t the only one who had seen strange things that week.
It was a small piece of a much larger puzzle.
Parallel Sightings at about the same time
“Charles in UFO Riddle”
On 23rd February 1986: according to the Sunday Mirror, Prince Charles was flying over the Irish Sea in a RAF VC-10, returning from the USA. The pilot reported a glowing red object to Shannon air traffic control that had lit up the cockpit. The Ministry of Defence confirmed there was no danger. Other aircraft in the area reported the same object.
- Miles Johnston, an investigator in Belfast, saw a red fireball with a tail over the Irish Sea on 23rd February and reported it to Armagh Observatory. This account appears in “Northern UFO News, number 118” from 1986.
- In his book “Extra-Terrestrials Among Us,” George Clinton Andrews recounts the Prince Charles incident. Prince Charles is quoted as saying, “I felt I was in the presence of something outside our knowledge or control,” though the book cites tabloid sources.
- Five witnesses reported nocturnal lights over the Irish Sea during this period.
From Salthill, Galway, the Irish Sea lies to the east, less than 200 miles away – a distance any aircraft could easily cover.
30 years later I reconstructed what I saw that day in 1986, close to Mutton Island in Galway. In 2016 I would discover that this spot may have a history of strange sightings.
Was it here, over Galway Bay, that the mythological Thuata De Danaan arrived in dark cloud ships and landed on a mountain further inland?
Myth and Mystery: The Arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann
The story of the Tuatha Dé Danann arriving in ships that landed on a mountain is most prominently featured in the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland). This collection of poems and prose recounts the mythical origins of the Irish people.
According to these accounts, the Tuatha Dé Danann – a race of god-like beings with mastery over magic and craftsmanship – arrived in Ireland under a shroud of mystery. The texts describe them coming in “dark clouds” or “flying ships,” which enveloped the land in shadow for three days. Specifically, they are said to have landed on Sliabh an Iarainn (“the Iron Mountain”) in modern-day County Leitrim. The striking image of a people making their initial appearance on a mountaintop enhances the mythical nature of their arrival.
Reclamation, Not Refuge
Their journey is best understood as a reclamation of ancestral lands rather than a flight to asylum. Some scholarly interpretations draw parallels between the story of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the biblical narrative of the Israelites returning from exile.
The Book of Invasions
§55-64: The Tuatha de Dannan
https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html
The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann
https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/jewels.html
I have made several FOI requests, regarding Irish and British UFO sightings for 1985-1986 and I will update this page when they are released (date of writing 27.August. 2025). This is regarding the Prince Charles UFO and Shannon ATC. More information is on Facebook.