John Lennon reports seeing a UFO in New York City

“On the 23rd Aug. 1974 at 9 o’clock I saw a U.F.O.” (John Lennon)

Lennon, who enjoyed outsized success as a member of The Beatles, said he saw the flying object from his apartment in New York City.

“It wasn’t a helicopter, and it wasn’t a balloon, and it was so near,” Lennon said.

The singer-songwriter said the round object was black or grey in the middle with blinking white lights wrapped around it and a red light on top.

He said it flew past his window on a warm summer night and was so close he could have thrown a brick at it.

“The thing I noticed was there was no noise, and I could hear the freeway down below – all the cars going. So I realised, ‘Oh, it’s not a helicopter, so then it must be a balloon’,” Lennon said.

“But it was so close to the rooftop that it couldn’t be a balloon.”

He was abusing drugs and alcohol at the time, but said he was completely sober when the sighting took place.

He took photos with two different cameras but no photos came out.

He then called the police, who reportedly said they had received similar calls that evening.