ZAMBIA EXPLAINS
UFOs: Could the Mysterious Flying Lights of Kabwe and Katondo Hold Answers?
Article by Rodgers Mangwela | KASONDE24
Imagine looking up at the night sky above Katondo, Kabwe, and seeing a strange light moving silently through the darkness. It appears to travel faster than an ordinary aircraft, changes direction or disappears before you can understand what you have witnessed. You call someone to look, but by the time they arrive, the mysterious visitor has vanished.
For some people, such an experience might inspire curiosity. For others, it could trigger fear, religious interpretations or memories of stories told by elders around the fire.
Now imagine a commercial passenger jet travelling thousands of feet above the ground encountering a mysterious object so close that aviation safety investigators are left asking what it was.
That is the question attracting international attention following reports of a British Airways aircraft encountering an unidentified object after departing London's Heathrow Airport. The incident has revived an enduring subject in human history: unidentified flying objects, popularly known as UFOs.
But as the world looks towards the skies, a question worth asking in Zambia is this: Do we have documented UFO sightings of our own, and how much do we really know about the strange lights people sometimes report seeing at night?
The British Airways Encounter That Has Reignited the UFO Debate
According to reports published on 25 and 26 October 2026, a British Airways Boeing 777 encountered an unidentified object on 24 June while climbing after departing Heathrow on a flight reported to be bound for New York.
The pilot reported seeing a fast-moving, shiny, silver-coloured object pass very close to the aircraft's right wing at approximately 5,800 feet. The object was described as being about the size of four toasters.
The encounter was reviewed by the UK's Airprox Board, which investigates incidents involving aircraft operating in close proximity. The board assigned the incident its most serious collision-risk category, Category A, but investigators could not establish the identity of the object. A review of radar information did not produce a corresponding contact that could confirm what the pilot had seen.
The important distinction is that the object remains unidentified; its identity as a drone was not confirmed by the investigation.
Nor does the term UFO automatically mean an alien spacecraft. It simply describes something observed in the sky that has not been identified.
Nevertheless, the incident demonstrates how an ordinary question about something in the sky can become a serious matter when aviation safety is involved.
UFO Sightings: A Mystery That Refuses to Disappear
Stories about mysterious objects in the sky have appeared across generations and cultures. Some witnesses describe strange lights, others report unusual shapes, and some accounts involve objects apparently moving in ways that observers find difficult to explain.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, UFO reports have attracted attention from the media, researchers and government institutions. The subject has also become part of popular culture, inspiring documentaries, films and countless debates about whether humanity is alone in the universe.
In recent years, the term unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, has also been used in official discussions, particularly in the United States.
However, there is an important difference between documenting an unexplained observation and proving an extraordinary explanation for it.
A light in the sky might initially appear mysterious, but further investigation could reveal that it was an aircraft, satellite, drone, meteor or another natural or human-made object.
Other reports may remain unresolved because witnesses lack photographs, precise locations, reliable measurements or other evidence needed to identify what they saw.
The mystery, therefore, is not always proof of something extraordinary. Sometimes it is a reminder of how much information is needed to turn an observation into a reliable conclusion.
What About UFO Sightings in Africa and Zambia?
When international media discuss UFOs, much of the coverage familiar to audiences comes from the United States and Europe. This can create the impression that mysterious aerial sightings are primarily a Western experience.
But does that mean Africans do not see unusual things in the sky?
Not necessarily.
The question deserves serious investigation rather than an assumption that Zambia has no stories to tell. However, establishing how frequently sightings occur requires reliable records, consistent reporting methods and evidence that can be examined.
For Zambia, I cannot establish from the available evidence that there is a comprehensive, publicly accessible national register of UFO sightings covering places such as Lusaka, Kitwe, Kabwe and other communities.
That does not prove that sightings have never occurred. It means that the existence, scale and nature of such reports need to be established through documented evidence rather than rumour.
Could Zambia have witnessed unusual aerial phenomena that were never formally reported? It is a reasonable question to investigate, but it remains a question, not an established finding.
Perhaps universities, astronomy enthusiasts, journalists and relevant public institutions could help document credible reports and distinguish unusual observations from familiar objects.
The Flying Lights of My Childhood in Katondo
Growing up, many of us heard explanations for things we could not easily understand. The night sky was not simply a collection of stars and distant planets; it was also a place where community beliefs, childhood fears and family stories found a home.
In Villages and rural areas across Zambia , strange lights moving through the night could attract interpretations rooted in traditional beliefs. Some people might associate them with witchcraft or supernatural activity, particularly when an observation seemed to defy their understanding of the natural world.
At school, however, we encountered scientific explanations for objects in space. We learnt about comets, asteroids, planets and other celestial bodies.
These different ways of understanding the world can exist side by side in a community, sometimes creating fascinating conversations about what people see and what they believe.
But an important distinction must be made: a strange light in the sky is not evidence that witches are flying, nor is every unexplained light a UFO in the extraterrestrial sense.
Comets and asteroids are also not interchangeable explanations for every moving light. A meteor, for example, is the streak of light produced when a space object enters Earth's atmosphere. Comets and asteroids have different physical characteristics, while aircraft, satellites and drones can produce lights that observers may misinterpret.
The challenge is to investigate each sighting on its own merits.
I often wonder whether some of the mysterious lights people have observed around Katondo and Kabwe could have ordinary scientific explanations that were never properly explored.
Without photographs, eyewitness accounts, precise times and locations, or independent observations, it would be impossible to identify those childhood sightings retrospectively.
Still, the question remains worth asking.
Why Do Western UFO Stories Receive More Attention?
One possible explanation for the greater visibility of UFO stories in Western media is the difference in public institutions, research programmes, media coverage and reporting systems.
In some countries, aviation incidents and unusual aerial observations may be recorded through established reporting channels. When an incident involves a passenger aircraft, an official investigation can generate a report that journalists around the world subsequently examine.
The British Airways encounter is an example of how a reported observation can enter public discussion through an aviation safety investigation.
However, media visibility is not the same as the actual frequency of sightings.
A country may receive extensive international coverage because its institutions publish reports that are easy for journalists to access. Another country might have eyewitness accounts that remain within communities, never reaching researchers or the mainstream media.
Whether this explains differences between Western countries and Zambia would require evidence about reporting practices, available records and public awareness.
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It would be premature to conclude that Zambians see fewer unexplained aerial phenomena simply because fewer stories appear in international headlines.
Perhaps the question is not only whether Zambia has UFO stories, but also whether we have effective ways of recording and investigating them.
Could Kabwe Become Part of Africa's UFO Conversation?
Kabwe is known for its history, communities and place in Zambia's national story. Like other towns, it has residents who observe the changing skies above their homes, schools, farms and neighbourhoods.
Imagine if residents who witness unusual aerial objects could record their observations systematically, including the date, time, direction of movement, duration, weather conditions and apparent characteristics of the object.
Where possible, photographs or videos could provide additional evidence. Independent witnesses could help researchers compare accounts, while astronomers and aviation specialists could examine possible explanations.
Such a project would not need to begin with the assumption that extraterrestrial visitors exist. It could begin with a simple commitment to documenting what people actually observe.
Kabwe's schools, astronomy enthusiasts, community organisations and media platforms could contribute to public education about the night sky.
KASONDE24 could also play a role by encouraging readers to share carefully documented experiences, provided that reports are treated responsibly and unverified claims are not presented as established facts.
The aim would be to build a record that separates eyewitness observations from interpretations, rumours and speculation.
If Zambia has compelling, verifiable reports, a properly documented approach could help bring them to wider attention. If many sightings turn out to have familiar explanations, that would be valuable knowledge too.
The Mystery Continues, but Questions Need Evidence
The story of UFOs continues to capture human imagination because it sits at the intersection of science, curiosity, culture and our desire to understand the unknown.
The British Airways incident is a reminder that an object can remain unidentified even after an official investigation. It is not, however, proof of extraterrestrial life or evidence that alien spacecraft are visiting Earth.
For Zambia, Africa and communities such as Kabwe and Katondo, the opportunity lies in asking better questions.
What have people actually observed? When and where did they see it? Could the object be identified through astronomy, aviation records or other evidence? Are similar observations being reported independently?
These are questions worth pursuing with open minds and sound judgement.
As for the mysterious lights that some of us remember seeing during childhood, perhaps some were aircraft, satellites, meteors or other familiar objects. Others may remain difficult to explain because the necessary evidence was never collected.
Until reliable records emerge, we should neither dismiss people's experiences nor turn uncertainty into proof of supernatural activity or extraterrestrial visitors.
Perhaps Zambia's UFO story has not yet been properly told. But before we declare that we have discovered something extraordinary, we must first establish what people saw.
And who knows? The next important observation might not come from a busy airport in the West. It might begin with someone looking up at the night sky in Kabwe, Lusaka, Kitwe or a quiet village in Katondo.
Published by KASONDE24
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