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Location of Llandrillo, Wales.

On 23 January 1974 on the Berwyn Mountains in Llandrillo, Merionethshire, Wales, lights and noises were observed that were alleged to be related to a UFO sighting on Cadair Berwyn and Cadair Bronwen. Scientific evidence indicated that the event was generated by an earthquake^[1] combined with sightings of a bright meteor widely observed over Wales and northern England at the time.^[2]^[3]

History

On the evening of 23 January 1974, residents of the Berwyn Mountains area in northern Wales reported a loud noise and a bright light in the sky. When UFOlogists claimed that a UFO crashed and the British Government covered up the military's recovery of a crashed spaceship, some tabloid newspapers jokingly labelled it "The Roswelsh Incident".^[3]

Scientific evidence indicates the event was generated by an earthquake^[1] combined with sightings of a bright meteor widely observed over Wales and Northern England at the time.^[2]

Declassified Ministry of Defence documents also suggest the incident was caused by the combined effects of an earthquake and a meteor. The Institute of Geological Sciences (now British Geological Survey) reported that a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was felt at 8:38 p.m. that night over a wide area of northern Wales and as far as Formby in England - 13 miles north of Liverpool. It was not immediately identified as an earthquake, hence the police investigation. However, the magnitude of the shock was such that had it been due to an aircraft crash, the resulting crater would have been large enough to be easily visible. The unusual lights reported may have been simply the meteor, but may also have included the phenomenon known as earthquake light.^[3]