The Green Light That Dropped Into the River Tay

BACK CATALOG. First reported 29 October 2026, week of Mon 26 Oct to Sun 1 Nov 2026. Part of the Redacted Weekly six-month back catalog (May to Nov 2026). Not breaking news.

What happened

Shortly after 6 pm on Wednesday 28 October 2026, a man at home in Newport-on-Tay, a Fife town on the south shore of the Tay estuary facing Dundee, saw a bright, flashing green light over the water. He went outside with his phone and filmed it for about six minutes.

By his account, it darted back and forth near the oil rigs moored in the river opposite Dundee, about 15 m above them, close to the Tay Bridge. It then rose straight up, turned right, slowed down and dropped into the water with no splash and no sound. The Courier published his account and video on 29 October under the headline “Mystery as Fife man spots ‘UFO’ flying over the Tay.” Its report included no official explanation and no response from aviation, police or military authorities.

The footage

The evidence is the witness’s own phone video, about six minutes long, published by The Courier on 29 October 2026. It is hosted on The Courier’s site, which blocks automated readers, so it is linked rather than embedded here, and no frames are described beyond what the coverage reports. Secondary coverage describes it as a bright green, flashing point of light moving over the river against the lights of Dundee and the rigs. One aggregator republished a frame from the video next to clearly labeled illustrations. Single-camera phone footage of a point of light at night carries no reliable cues to distance, size or speed.

Timeline

• 1997-2009: The UK Ministry of Defence publishes yearly UFO report logs.
• 1 Dec 2009: The MoD closes its UFO desk and hotline, saying, according to search summaries of the BBC report, that the work had no defence benefit.
• 2017-2020: Drilling rigs are regularly berthed at the Port of Dundee. Five rigs were photographed there in June 2017, and the BBC reported on a rig at Princess Alexandra Wharf in January 2020.
• 28 Oct 2026, shortly after 6 pm: The sighting and the six-minute video.
• 29 Oct 2026: The Courier publishes the story and the video.
• 29-31 Oct 2026: Aggregators and UFO news sites repeat the story, some with errors.

What witnesses reported

There is one witness. He is a private individual and is not named here. Secondary reports quote him telling The Courier: “There’s absolutely no explanation for this at all.” Another summary says he was “convinced it wasn’t a light or a drone or anything,” and that he first wondered whether it was a helicopter, then ruled it out. Coverage says he has no prior interest in UFOs. No second witness, independent video, or report from rig crews or port staff appears in the coverage.

What the research found

Only the newspaper reported it. Every account traces back to The Courier’s 29 October story. Aliennews.co.il (31 October), Aliens.co.il (29 October) and UFO Watch’s 30 October briefing all cite it. None adds an independent interview, an official statement or new footage.