Colonel Paul Foster History

A tentative history for Paul J. Foster

© 2011 Deborah Rorabaugh.

Born: March 29, 1950, Lancaster, Great Britian
Attended the University of London. Assuming that his goal was to become a test pilot, his major was most likely aeronautical engineering.

Joined RAF at 21
32 weeks of training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell. The school commandant at the time was Air Vice-Marshal F D Hughes followed by Air Vice-Marshal R D Austen-Smith.

Flying Officer (OF-2)- 1972.
Reported UFO sighting in March 1974. (Pilots, like police officers, are considered to be 'reliable observers' even in UFO sightings. However we assume that, aside from his written report on the incident, he kept quiet about his observations as it might adversely affect his long term career with the RAF.)
Test pilot training 1975 (12 months for the graduate course at the Empire Test Pilots' School at Bascome Down. The school commandant was Gp. Capt. H.A. Merriman followed by Gp. Capt. M.K. Adams.)
Foster needed to have 750 hours of flight time as First Pilot, a strong background in science and mathematics, and had to have shown himself to be considerably more skilled as a pilot that most of his peers.

Flight Lieutenant (OF-3) - 1977
Reported UFO sighting in September 1977. (Again, pilots are generally considered to be reliable observers and a second sighting may not have negatively affected his career - but then again it may have. One sighting may be a fluke. Two sightings may indicate an unhappy trend.)

Became a test pilot for Ventura Aircraft as this suited the needs of the RAF.
Note: The current minimum term of service for an aircrew officer is 12 years and this was almost certainly true in the 1970s as well. The fact that Foster was working for a civilian contractor when he should have been testing planes for the RAF indicates that having Foster at VAC filled some need of the Ministry of Defence. Another option is that Foster's RAF superiors were not as understanding as they might have been concerning the second UFO sighting and and allowed Foster to resign his commission rather than deal with the possible fallout of a militant flying-saucer-sighting test pilot in their ranks.

Joined SHADO shortly after the end of August, 1980, following an incident while flying VAC's XV-104 fighter prototype which left his co-pilot/engineer dead. His current status with the RAF is unstated, but it is assumed that he is no longer a member of the RAF OR his current status is classified as he is on permanent off-station assignment with SHADO.

Further speculations concerning Paul Foster's history are welcome.

Foster backstory according to 'Episode Guides' - no author or other attribution given.