Haunted Skies Volume 3
1966-1967
now available for sale on Amazon
Whilst generally speaking there is no call currently by the media or the historians to preserve the enormous amount of research conducted into UFO activity that has taken place in this country, it is abundantly clear that there is a need to preserve the social history of the UFO phenomeona whether it be sighting reports, original drawings, photographs or other associated UFO memorabilia - not forgetting the researcher themselves, many of whom are now becoming elderly. We are no spring chickens!
Our role is to preserve this information and catalogue with re-investigation wherever possible the UFO events that have taken place in this country over the last 70 years while we can, and I would like to thank Brenda Butler and the late Ron West of the East Anglian Paranormal research association for allowing us access to many sightings around the Suffolk area over the years, not forgetting other researchers from all over the UK who have been kind enough to allow us access to their records….
We are constantly barraged with films depicting man fight against the alien hordes. In the early 1950s it was the silver grey flying ‘Adamaski’ flying saucers that terrorised the population, but of course man triumphed thank goodness! Many people laugh at these flickering celluloid images seen on the TV and cinema screen - everyone is familiar with those old B-movies. I used to laugh at the ‘Adamski’ style flying saucer with its three globes set underneath into its base forming an equilateral triangle. Now I know they exist!
Our general experience from many years research into this enigmatic subject shows that there is a vast gulf between the ways in which the media present various documentaries appertaining to the UFO subject: they are often distorted and sensationalized; more often than not they repeatedly ram down our throats that UFO sightings are examples of an alien presence on this planet.
Similar described ‘flying saucers’ were seen in and around Great Britain during the 1950s. Margaret Fry and ourselves have re-investigated with Margaret what is probably one of the best documented accounts of one of the objects having landed on 17th July 1955 at Bexleyheath London (this is in Volume 1 of Haunted Skies).
A couple of years ago representatives from well known British TV Channel Documentary, Firefly indicated an interest in screening the Bexleyheath UFO landing involving Margaret Fry. Both Margaret and I were messed about and it never came to fruition although they continued to screen the Zygmund Adamski case involving a coal miner who was found on a coal tip in Todmorden in 1980 and then linked erroneously with a UFO sighting made by PC Alan Godfrey some months later despite having submitted to the man in-depth report prepared following an investigation into the matter by myself and David Sankey when it was patently obvious this had nothing to do with UFOs, they told me “it wouldn’t do the viewing figures any good we will stick to our original script” I will have nothing to do with these people.
Recently we went to Waterstones bookshop at Redditch and asked the manageress if they were willing to stock the book as they had a section devoted to local authors, relating to the mind body and spirit but no books on UFOs. She replied, “Redditch people don’t like books on UFOs; try Birmingham?" What a narrow-minded ridiculous attitude!
In addition to this there are the continuing tongue-in-cheek articles presented by the tabloid press along with banner grabbing headlines - I’m sure you will have seen these time and time again. It is not about presenting any truths; it’s about selling newspapers!
Unfortunately these denigrate and degrade the quality of what has been reported, and while there may well be an alien presence on this planet for all I know, in the main the subject is not taken seriously unless you have the misfortune to become involved yourself. Recently a journalist contacted us and expressed a wish to feature our work and the books. She asked us “What way do your books differ from the declassified records?”
I told her to look at the records, which offer little information about what has been taking place in the UK over the years, along with their conglomerate of standard replies from the MOD, which tell the witness ‘they are of no defence significance’ in contrast to the accounts from named people whom we have interviewed over the years.
Of course we have never received any publicity from other newspapers that were sent copies of the books (why is this?) and dont expect to do so .
Ironically they continue to publish sensationalised accounts of UFO sightings. Undoubtedly the worst one I have ever seen related to a recent Sun front page feature that claimed from a well known UFO researcher that the Royal Navy engaged two UFOs, one of which ‘killed some ratings’ before crashing to earth at the Berwyn Mountains, following which one dazed alien assisted the other out of the ship and then hopped onto a flatbed lorry! And the spaceship jumped on the back as well!
Over the years we have interviewed many thousands of people including senior RAF personnel. We discovered that Lord Dowding, Head of RAF Fighter command during the Battle of Britain, was himself a believer in UFOs and travelled to Washington in 1941 to scrutinise UFO files kept by the USA.
As far as we know Lord Dowding, while he had his own opinions on the subject, could not prove where these ‘things’ came from. Neither could Sir Peter Horseley, the late equerry to Prince Philip; or Lord Louis Mountbatten. This list, of course, goes on.
We have spoken to many airmen over the years (strangely very few sailors; it is believed that the Admiralty have their own office for such reports; this is as far as I know still shrouded in secrecy). The airmen include many senior RAF servicemen; they do not claim to have sighted aliens or flying saucers. They just describe what they did see.
One thing we have learned about UFOs is their behaviour characteristics which remain the same and that on occasion people who have been ‘exposed’ to the fields of energy which appear to surround these objects will experience effects such as mechanical/electrical interference to domestic TVs radios and appliances.
In addition they can also experience ‘secondary’ manifestations, and the discovery of mysterious marks and scars found on their body. More worryingly are the complaints of threats and intimidation examples of which we will quote in due course……….
The nature of this statement will automatically make many of you here jump to your own conclusions, but we don’t know what lies behind UFOs and should be very careful about making snap judgements founded on a belief system based on our own individual interpretations through the culture of science fiction which was itself originally borne from factual reports of UFOs in the 1950’s than the reality of what is actually taking place.
They would be appear to be indigenous to the Planet and sightings of strange objects seen ‘cavorting’ about in the sky have been recorded from hundred of years ago, we have termed this behaviour as UFO displays and have many examples of such over the years.Someone once suggested to me whether ‘Aliens’ could be the rightful in the main invisible inhabitants of Planet Earth if they are – we then would be the alien’s- food for thought! Even if you don’t believe in UFOs we know that the history of man has been influenced ( some may say manipulated) by the appearance of strange things seen in the sky
Dr Allan Hynek concluded that in his opinion after many years research that we were dealing with what appeared to be evidence of a paranormal phenomena rather than UFO.
One of the reasons why the Public laugh at people like us who have expressed an interest in learning about UFOs is because they base their opinions on not what the witness has seen or experienced but on the quality of verbal statements made by researchers to the Press They are often worthless and appear to be a knee jerk reaction made before any proper investigation has been made. That’s why Ladies and Gentlemen we will not be taken seriously. Its time some of these so called UFO researchers stopped trying to raise their own profiles through expansion of their ego’s, and concentrate on being far more professional. Until this course of action is adopted irrespective of whatever sighting comes and goes, we will still be regarded as the Lunatic fringe.
I have met some very professionally run UFO organisations over the yearsand have no hesitance in recommending BUFORA as being one of the best if not the best, and while I do not necessarily share some of their views, (no doubt feel the same about mine. ) I’m sure that you will be pleased to know that Matt Lyons their Chairman he is a credit to the organisation.
SUFFOLK UFOS- short extracts from the files of Haunted Skies
In January 1951Suffolk botanist and ornithologist Irene Stubbings from Upland Road, Ipswich, happened to be looking out of her window at lunchtime "I saw what looked like two ‘silver shillings’, one behind the other, travelling high in the sky ina straight line, heading towards the south-west. They didn’t appear to be going exceptionally fast, as I had them in view for over a minute.”
In 1952 Alec White, now living in Felixstowe, Suffolk, wrote to us about what he saw whilst plastering the inside of a house at Waldringfield that overlooked the river Deben, approximately five miles away from RAF Woodbridge.” My mates left me to finish off the bathroom, while they went next door to erect some scaffolding. l was plastering around the window but began to feel hot, so I opened the window, glancing across the river, when I noticed this giant black object hovering just above the water. At first, l wondered ifit was something dangling on the end of a crane.If this was the case, I thought where were the cables? It then dawned on me that I was looking at something very unusual. Panicking, l ran next door, ran up one of the ladders and shouted to mymates, ‘Quick! Look out of the window’. All we could see was a giant ringof black smoke. They laughed at me – then a Lancaster Bomber appearedon its landing approach, attracting the comments what l had seen must havebeen a flare, which I refused to accept.’At 3.45pm 14th May, 1954 three USAF fighters (from 91st. Fighter Squadron, RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, piloted by Captain Kenneth Scott, Jnr, Lt. Harry Joseph Eckes, and Lt. David Clarby - see left) were scrambled by GCI Radartype 7 at Bawdy to intercept a UFO eight miles from their position. It was travelling at 240 knots, and had been sighted visually as a 30ft. in diameter, silver/grey round object, showing a thin silhouette it turned, at a height estimated at 50-60,000ft. Unfortunately the pilots were unable to get anywhere near the UFO. What the pilots wouldn’t have known is that, on the same day, Marine Corps pilots chased a formation of sixteen UFOs near Dallas, Texas
In January 1960:-3.20pm- Mr Tipping of Cransford Suffolk was asked by his poultry man to look at something strange in the sky which he thought might have been a parachute. “Through binoculars I saw a circular apparently spinning object flashing at great height, (50.000feet) with a bright centre portion .After about 20minutes it disappeared behind clouds” Mr. Tipping contacted the East Anglia Daily Times who told him they a large file relating to such reports!
On the 9th June, 1961, Gordon Kinsey, in his excellent book, Birth of a Beam, tells of a incident that happened near RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk, when it was alleged an aircraft was seen to come down by one of the airmen at the base. A full scale search by military personnel from RAF Bentwaters, and civilian emergency services, failed to find any trace of the ‘aircraft’ seen descending.
On 10th October, 1965, Mr. & Mrs. Harvey-Bloom, of Southwold, Suffolk, were outside their house at 5.15 pm. when they saw,” a cylindrical object, with a pointed end, split into five different vertical compartments, showing brown, orange, yellow, yellow/green and blue colours”.
On OCTOBER 27th 1965 6.28pm - Mrs Moore, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, sighted a sky blue object, resembling a child’s balloon in appearance, travelling in a straight line across the sky, before disappearing over trees, investigated by Cambridge UFO Group - not believed to be a child’s balloon.
At 10am on the 16th of October 1967 it was the turn of bakery workers at Ipswich, Suffolk, to contact the authorities, after sighting “a star-shaped object, with a red and blue light on either side in the sky”,
1970’s Incident at RAF Woodbridge
A ghostly incident was the subject of conversation with retired United States Air Force Captain LarryHammer, of the 81st stationed at Woodbridge Airbase during the 1970's who described an occasion when a Security Police patrolman fired at an intruder who had breached the Victor Alert area where the nuclear weapons were stored.
"He challenged what he took to be a person approaching his position as ground fog began to settle, and then opened fire confirming to laid down directives issued for dealing with incursions onto the airbase. As the person' entered the second fence, the officer panicked and sought the safety of the security hut To my knowledge the incident was reported all the way up the chain of command to Washington, as the discharge of a weapon on an airbase was treated with seriousness. The Patrolman was tested for drugs and alcohol abuse with a negative result and served with article 15 for the discharge of a weapon in the Victor alert area.
”In the cold light of day it would be all to easy to dismiss the Incident as being a product of overactive imagination stimulated by the eerie atmosphere which pervades the forest at night, especially when on your own, but knowing the location well and having seen for ourselves some strange ghostly forms, captured on camera both digital 35mm, not forgetting the bizarre fall of stones experienced on more than one occasion by a number of people visiting the forest one can fully understand why the patrolman reacted in this way.
At 6.55pm 24th February 1975 Thomas Meyer was out walking his dog on Sizewell Beach about one and a quarter miles from the Power Station when he saw what he first thought to be a shooting star approaching from the North east. To his astonishment an object resembling “a green and yellow/ pumpkin surrounded by a luminous glow like a television set appeared in mid air six feet off the ground, hovered for 30seconds and then moved away”. Mr Meyer told investigators later he had experienced a warm feeling and smelt something like acid drops during the incident.(Source: Brenda Butler/Ivan W Bunn Peter Johnson/ Mr M.K Howe BUFORA/Leiston Observer )
At 7pm. 5tNovember 1977 David and Ann Feakes, from Needham Market, Suffolk, were travelling home to Ipswich, in torrential rain,. As they turned right onto the Ipswich Road, close to ‘The Barking Lion’ Public House, they saw: “A great glowing ‘red ball of light’ moving along the hilltop to our left. It was flying just above ground level - far too slow to be an aircraft, and completely silent. As it reached the apex of the hill, it seemed to alter course and head off across the fields at a greatly increased speed, heading, eastwards. Suddenly, it veered south-east, towards Barham, or Claydon, before disappearing into the darkness beyond distant trees.”
At 7.45 pm. 18th October 1979, Electricity Board employees - Norah Squires and Gail Dersley, from Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk, sighted a glowing object resembling a spinning top, flashing with red and green lights, moving over the town. Fifteen minutes later, an identical object was seen moving slowly through the air, a few hundred feet off the ground, by local resident - Ricky Double. “We had just finished evening classes, and were turning into Marlow Road, when we saw what looked like a child’s spinning top - bright red in colour, showing green lights at the top and bottom. As we continued our journey home, people walking along the street stopped to point up at it. I don’t know what it was but I can tell you it wasn't any aircraft, helicopter, or balloon.”
At 10 pm., 6th November 1979 Mr. & Mrs. Thacker wrote to us about what they witnessed, while driving home along the A410, past the giant communications tower, at Mendelsham “As we neared the Mendlesham mast, we saw a bright ‘star’ hovering over the top of it. I asked my husband whether he thought it was Venus, by which time it had changed colour to red. Perhaps it was Mars, I thought! Our curiously aroused, we decided to park at the side of the road and take a closer look at the object - now moving slowly southwards. Suddenly, it veered towards the mast again, and split into two parts, before changing colour from white to orange, followed by the two halves merging into one and shooting across the sky - so fast we could hardly keep up with it, and gone out of sight.”
At 5pm., 18th November 1979, A woman, from Coronation Avenue, Melton, Suffolk, was in her back garden when she noticed a peculiar silver ‘ball of light’ stationary in the sky. “I continued to watch it - not knowing what to make of it - when, in a flash, it changed to a saucer shaped object, made a slight buzzing noise, and began to move away across the sky.” (Source: Brenda Butler)
In February 1980, Captain Lori Rehfeldt - then a Law Enforcement Officer, was on duty at RAF Bentwaters. “I was on patrol with Airman Duffield, outside the Base, near RAF Woodbridge, at 3.00 am. - a place that literally ‘scared the hell out of me’, when we saw a strange ‘light’ in the sky moving up and down, left and right - a bit like an ‘Etch o’ sketch board’.I contacted the Police Control room, at Bentwaters. They advised me to contact Woodbridge, which I did. They suggested we must have seen an aeroplane - an explanation I was not inclined to accept but decided to drop the matter, as some of the personnel had already began to refer to Rehfeldt’s UFO.” (Source: Richard Conway, BUFORA)
Another sighting of something strange took place in the same year, according to Ernie Grainger and his wife, of Coronation Avenue, Hollesley, in Suffolk, who were in the back garden of the house, just as the ten o’clock news came on TV.“A black triangular shaped ‘craft’ appeared in the sky, showing two red and one white light. It passed silently over our house and headed towards the Bentwaters Airbase. We think it was a USAF spy plane. We watched it for five minutes, until it became lost from sight.”
(Source: Ron West / Brenda Butler, East Anglian UFO & Paranormal Research Association)
UFO over RAF Woodbridge
In early November, 1981, Security personnel at the USAF Base, at RAF Woodbridge, reported to their Base Commander of having seen ‘a huge cigar shaped object, estimated to be a hundred yards long and fifty feet in diameter, move over from the coast, float silently over the Base, and complete a ‘figure of eight’ movement over the Control Tower, before heading back out to sea.’
Colonel Charles Halt:“Many of the Security Police had seen unexplained things at RAF Woodbridge. Several personally told of seeing ‘East End Charlie’ (as they called him). He appeared to be a World War Two aviator that wandered near the back gate. One particular event occurred on Guy Fawkes Night, in 1981 when a large cigar shaped craft floated silently over the Airfield and circled the Air Traffic Tower before drifting off.”
Just after 7.00 pm., 11th March 1980, Nicholas George - a subcontractor, from Stratford-upon-Avon - was driving home along the A422, approaching the Temple Grafton turn-off, when he noticed a ‘blob of light’ in the sky, towards the south-east, through the windscreen of his car. Feeling uneasy, he began to slow down, in order to obtain a closer look. To his horror, a large brilliant cigar shaped object appeared, with dark red patches on its curved end. “I took my left hand of the steering wheel and applied the brakes. This caused the vehicle to veer off the road and hit the kerb, coming to a stop. Very shaken, I got out of the car and lit up a cigarette, looking out over the open countryside for any sign of the object, at which point I noticed my left-hand felt tender and oddly dark in places. There was a circle of damaged skin, with a blue/purple narrow ring around its edge. The centre was made up of dead skin. Next to this was another large blister, filled with fluid.”
Mr. George contacted the Worcestershire-based UFO Group, ‘SKYSCAN’, who tape- recorded an interview with him, in which he had the following to say:
“Only one hand was affected because I was smoking, at the time, with my right hand - the left thumb hooked under the wheel. The funny thing is it didn’t hurt like a normal burn. At the time it felt tender, but it was dark outside and I didn’t pay much attention”
In March 1980, a woman from Gorleston, near Yarmouth, Norfolk, telephoned Brenda Butler reporting having seen a huge orange ‘light’ in the sky, heading towards the coast, which she believed came down somewhere near the sea.
The woman told me she and her neighbours had gone outside, at 10.30 pm., after the house lights had began to flash on and off. This was when they saw the UFO. I also remember interviewing another woman in Gorleston, living on the Yarmouth Road. She saw this orange ‘light’ going across the sky. After having watched it, they went back inside the house. About an hour later, they were watching TV. A shadow went across the front room curtains. They opened the curtains and looked out and saw the figure of a man, wearing what looked like a helmet. Frightened, she sent her terrier dog outside but it ran back inside. Looking upwards, she was amazed to see the orange ‘light’ in the sky again. One of the young boys in the family told her he saw a man, dressed in a funny hat and black clothes, running out of the garden.”
On the 15th May 1980, Brian Murphy and his friend, Andrew Keen, were fishing off Orford Quay, Suffolk, at 6.30pm when they saw a silver cigar shaped object, motionless in the sky.” It moved away and then came back. It was as bright as the sun, and kept flickering and making a buzzing noise. It was a clear night. 1 would say it was about the size of a football in the sky. We watched it for about an hour, and then it just vanished in front of our eyes.”
In the early morning of 15th June 1980, something just as strange occurred close to Rendlesham Forest according to Ken Kerns - then a member of the Security Police, posted to ‘B’ Flight.“I was cleaning my firearm, one afternoon, with other members of the Security Patrol, when I overheard a conversation taking place between one of the Airmen - A.I.C.Wagner, talking to Flight Chief Master Sgt. Faile, agitatedly.
Wagner and his partner, Campbell, were on A-2 Mobile Vehicle Control, covering security of the aircraft parking area, when they sighted an orange ‘globe of light’, about 20 feet in diameter, hovering over one of the aircraft. Curiosity gave way to fear when, in a flash of light, the ‘orange globe’ disappeared, leaving seemingly in its place the incredible sight of a pair of startled deer, who were not there a split second previously.”
On 18th June 1980, Mr. Andrews, from Rainbow Close, Ipswich, was walking past Ipswich Hospital, at 10.30 pm. when:” I saw a long, narrow object flying through the sky. It had five square windows on the side. One end was thicker than the other. I watched it for several minutes until it was lost in the distance.”
At 8.pm.18th November 1980, Mike Boyle, from Saxmundham, Suffolk, sighted grey and orange coloured saucer shaped object heading across the sky, over Butley, near to Rendlesham Forest. As it passed overhead, he heard a distinct ‘whooshing noise’ before it passed out of sight, two minutes later.
In November, 1980. Another witness to something strange in the Suffolk sky was now retired Hotelier, Barry Rey, then Manager of the Woodhall Country House Hotel, Shottisham, some six and-a-half miles from Woodbridge, Suffolk - a poplar venue for Servicemen from RAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge. “It was in November, 1980. I’m sure of that, as it was the run up to Christmas, rather than the end of Christmas. Definitely not connected with the incidents that occurred at the end of December 1980, when something was alleged to have been seen in the forest. I remember the sun was beginning to set, when I noticed a strange ‘light’ hovering over the village. I knew, from its shape and appearance, it wasn’t like any aircraft, or helicopter, I had seen before, so I jumped into my car and followed it, as it headed over fields towards the coast. It was ‘disc’ shaped, showing portholes of light projecting a powerful beam from its underneath. At one stage, it was only 50 feet away from me before it passed overhead, rose up slowly, and dropped down over some trees at the other side of the field and landed. I drove along the road, for a short distance, and then saw it hovering over a house belonging to Robin Pendle, before it finally moved away for good.”
Barry wonders, as a result of what he saw, whether the date given for the now World famous incident, involving Colonel Halt, and others, is flawed - a supposition drawn rationally from his own experience, and the promise of a diary from a third person which was supposedly going to prove this hypotheses –but the production of this diary never came to fruition. Unfortunately, Barry would not have realised, without the hindsight of many years research, that he was not the only one to sight UFOs over East Anglia - not forgetting other parts of the Country, during this period.(Source: personal interview)
At 6.40am on the 25th of November 1980 a glowing orange ball of light was seen hovering above the Chevron Oil owned North Sea Oil platform, situated at 60dgs north 54 21.83” and 1degree 25’ 16.46” by crew members and mentioned in the ‘log’ by the Manager Derek Smith who was an ex Royal Navy Commander . The suggestion that it may have been ball lighting was rejected due to the size of the object that was also seen from another platform in the Brent oil field; 12-15miles away. Believing that it might have been a distress flare a RAF Nimrod was launched but nothing was found. (Source: Robert Rickard Editor of Fortean Times FSR Volume 27 No 2 August 1981 ‘UFO over North Sea Oil rig’)
Anne Clarke was the back seat passenger in a car travelling south, along the A12, on the late evening of 28th December 1980. “Just past the South Wold turn, I saw a ‘figure’ sitting on a fence, well back from the right-hand side. I watched, as it got off the fence and walked to the edge of the road, in very small steps - as if weak, or suffering from illness - followed by another similarly dressed ‘person’, wearing a long and voluminous cloak, or habit, heavy cowled, preventing me from seeing their faces. Their hands, held high in front of them, were holding white cards, or something similar. I first thought to myself what a stupid place to hitch-hike, or were they in fancy dress? Such thoughts were dispelled almost immediately when, in that split second, I looked back and they had disappeared. When I told the others in the car what I had just seen, they all expressed surprise - having seen nothing at all.”
Threats and Intimidation
At 2.00 am. 20th May, 1954 Nigel Frapple was walking home from a dance, at Wincanton, Somerset - a regular journey, - when he noticed an orange glow, low in the sky, which he took to be a farm, or house, on fire. Curious, he stopped near a farm gate, a short distance down the road, just past Red lynch crossroads, and crouched down to have a closer look. © John Hanson, 2005 “I was astonished to see this dome shaped object hovering approximately 40 feet off the ground in one of the nearby fields, a couple of hundred yards away. It had a cockpit in the centre, with three portholes, and was glowing with violet light. The outside of the ‘craft’ consisted of what looked like glass panelling, gun metal grey in colour. At one end I could see an orange ‘ball’, cascading with light - like the disco lights you now see. The curious thing was that it didn’t appear to be attached to anything - just suspended in the air. Inside the cockpit were shadowy movements, indicating the presence of something, or someone, moving behind the light, spilling out of the portholes. After five minutes, or so, it moved as if it sensed me watching it. I stood up and took a couple of steps forward.
To my surprise, it tilted and shot off across the sky. When I arrived home in an extremely agitated state and told my brother what had happened, and later reported the incident to the police, at Bruton, ‘all hell then let loose’. I was besieged by reporters from local and National newspapers, including the BBC, who asked me to show them the field. View of scene,When we arrived there, we saw a blackened circle in the grass - still there l2 months later. I was bombarded with questions; somebody even asked me if I was drunk at the time! I told them that I had been drinking but had only consumed a couple of pints over the evening.”
Nigel made some enquires in the area and spoke to Mr. Henry Toogood, who lived in a cottage lower down the hill. He confirmed having also seen the ‘craft’ that evening, but from underneath. ‘It looked like a huge dinner plate, with something resembling metal balls set into the underneath.’
About a week later, Nigel received a visit from two smartly dressed men, who came to his house. “They didn’t show any ID but said they were from London. One of them was in his late fifties and wore a grey suit - he did all the talking. His companion was dressed in a dark pinstripe suit, wearing a bowler hat. He never said a word to me but kept his horrible ‘black eyes’ focused upon me in a most disconcerting way after I told them what had happened. Presuming they were from the Air Ministry, or branch of Government, the eldest of the two said, ‘If you persist in telling these silly stories, we’ll have to take you somewhere where you can’t tell them anymore. They say that time is a great healer and that, as you get older, you forget many things in life. My recollection of what those two said to me will forever remain crystal clear in my memory.”
On 21st October, 1954, housewife Mrs. Jessie Roestenberg - then living at a farmhouse in rural Ranton, Staffordshire, with her husband, Tony - a Dutchman by birth, her children, Karin (2), Ronald (6), and Tony, and family) witnessed something, which was to totally change her conceptions of life on this planet - still very much evident, over 50 years later. Jessie, “At about 4.30 pm., I experienced a peculiar sensation, like a tingling in my nose and throat, as if I was going to catch a cold, but put it to the back of my mind, while waiting for the boys to arrive home from school. At 4.45 pm., I was beginning to worry where the two boys had got to because they should have arrived home at 4.30 pm. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a giant cauldron of water being poured into a fire. I rushed outside, thinking an airplane was going to crash, and noticed the two boys lying flat on the ground. They shouted to me, ‘Look, Mummy, Mummy, there’s a flying saucer!’ I told them not to be silly and get up but realised, from their facial expressions that something had frightened them. They grabbed hold of my skirt on either side of me and we walked up the side of the house, instead of going in by the side door I had just come out of. I seemed to be in some way drawn, or compelled, to the top of the garden - almost as if I was being manipulated by an outside influence, of which I had no control. I glanced around and saw the amazing sight of this flying saucer shaped object hovering 40-50 feet above the roof of the house. Inside the ‘saucer’ I could clearly see what looked like two humans, wearing long golden hair down to their shoulders. I felt a mixture of emotions - amazement and fear run through my body, followed by the thought, ‘God will wipe away all tears’. Immediately, all the tension left me, (something I have never disclosed to anyone before because of its religious significance). I turned to my sons and asked them if they had seen the ‘flying saucer’. They replied, ‘yes’.
When I looked back, the ‘saucer’ was no longer there but, a few minutes later, we saw it circle the house, three times, before it shot upwards, like a rocket, against the blue of the darkening sky.”
Confused and unsure of how to deal with what had occurred, Jessie gathered the children together, hid under the kitchen table, and waited for her husband, Tony, to arrive home, when she explained what had taken place. Tony wisely spoke to the boys individually and then telephoned the Police, at Stafford.
They sent a Sergeant and five Police Constables to the house, who arrived a short time later, and spoke to the family. Jessie was very perturbed to see the following local newspaper headlines, later published, boldly declaring, ‘Staffordshire housewife sees hairy men from outer space’. After the sighting, she felt revitalized, for a short time, until discovering a strange rash covering her face and front part of the body, accompanied by a considerable loss of weight over a relatively short period, which gave rise for concern. Jessie sought the advice of her Doctor, who was well aware of the UFO incident and intimated there was something wrong with her mental health.
Offended by this suggestion, Jessie contacted a Psychiatrist - Dr. Wilson, who confirmed, after a medical examination, there was nothing wrong with her mental state of health. “He asked me if I had been given a chest x-ray and blood tests. When I told him this had not been done, he personally escorted me to hospital, where a chest X-ray was taken but found to be clear. Unfortunately, blood tests showed the blood count was very low. The haematologist said to me, ‘If it didn’t sound so ludicrous, l would say you have been exposed to a massive dose of radiation’. I was given injections of iron, twice a week, which caused all sorts of problems before the correct dosage was established.”
1974 Shortly after their encounter, with a UFO in Essex John and Elaine Day became aware they were being followed on a number of occasions (individually) by three cars, a small red “sports” car, a blue jaguar, and a large white car (Ford Executive?). The number plates were the British new style yellow at the front with white at the rear.
All of them had darkened windows. John,
” I was being stopped at least five times a week by the Police while driving the car, and given a ticket to produce my driving documents, when I did produce at the Police Station the officer there was very curious as to why on occasion the Officers details had not been included on the HORT/1 slip, this took place in December 1974 this harassment lasted well into the summer of 1975”On night in 1975, they noticed a white Cortina car parked on the opposite side of the their house….and so on
Brigitte experience in 1978 with UFO
“You asked me whether my health was affected by the experience. It certainly was. I suffered from intense pains in my head, for at number of years, and discovered five small indentations on my left leg, below the knee cap, which had not been there before. My daughter is still traumatised by what she saw, despite the experience taking place over twenty-five years ago.”
During conversation with Mrs. Hill it was established that on June 26th 1978 a brilliant object had passed over the house, flooding the kitchen with light. This had caused the dog to run under the bed with fright, and panicked horses in a nearby field. More seriously the electric wall clock gained 15minutes, the refrigerator defrosted and the TV picture distorted.
On the 20th September 1978, a hexagonal object was sighted over Chingford, Essex, and subsequently brought to the attention of ex Policewoman Maureen Hall, then a UFO Investigator for ‘BUFORA’. We spoke to Maureen after being put in touch with her by Margaret Fry, when she told us
“Following the matter being forwarded to me for investigation, I received a visit from a middle aged man, wearing glasses, who said he was from the Belvedere area of London, and produced an ID card, which I have unfortunately misplaced. The man politely told me to discontinue the investigation.”(Source: personal interview)
October 1978
The witness returned home one night, and found an extremely odd and altogether unidentifiable black car parked some 200yards from his home .Its number plates had what appeared to be Arabic script. The diver dressed in black looked blankly at him as he walked past. About six months later he was again ‘accosted ‘by the appearance of the vehicle again which was parked near his home. In January 1980 John was driving along the Witney By-pass when he realised he was being followed by a car. When he looked into the rear view mirror he was horrified to see that it was the same black car. Over the course of the weeks that lay ahead John was to receive a number of nuisance telephone calls made to his house during the night which unnerved him and his wife.
1979 Following an encounter with a UFO It will come of no surprise to learn other incidents of ‘high strangeness’ occurred after this sighting involving the appearance of strange dark suited men, who were seen by Lynda, driving a dark classic car, which swerved in front of her, containing two male occupants, wearing trilby hats, while on her driving test.On another occasion, one of the above ‘men’ was seen lurking about in the back garden of Lynda’s house. Lynda called the Police, who arrived and went into the back garden, as they approached him; he disappeared into thin air in front of them, leaving the Officers shocked by what had happened. Unfortunately the identities of the Officers concerned are not known otherwise we would have attempted to trace them, in order to learn more of what they actually saw.
Tracie Hammond, from Spalding, Lincolnshire, (aged 18), was walking home, at 10.45 p.m. on 16th October 1979, after having been out for the evening, accompanied by two friends nearing the Estate where she lived, when they noticed a blue patch of circular light, about two feet in diameter, illuminating the ground in front of them. Puzzled as to its source, they skirted around the perimeter and continued on their journey. “When I glanced behind me, to see if the circle was still there, it had gone - but seemingly, in its place, was the figure of a man, walking slowly towards us. He was a most unusual looking person, reminding me of someone out of the1950's, wearing a trench coat, trilby hat, and old- fashioned trousers. Feeling rather unsettled, we quickened our steps. Suddenly, I heard him calling me by name …not ‘Tracie’ but a nickname, known only to close friends and family members. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turned around to confront him but he was nowhere to be seen.”
August 1980 Hopton Norfolk Mr Frost
“I’ve often wondered if there was any connection with heavy interference to my television set, about a week before the UFO sighting took place. I knew it wasn’t the TV, as a replacement set showed the same problem. Some time after the incident, I did receive a visit from two men, who told me they were from the University of Swindon, and very interested in looking at some scale models I had built of the UFOs I had seen, after taking a number of photographs of those models. They told me, in a very threatening manner, ‘Leave it alone’, which is exactly what I did until you contacted me.”
During the course of our investigations into the UFO we were to come across a number of occasions, involving visits to the witness’s house, by sinister ‘Men in Black’, now popularized in modern-day folklore as being members of a covert government department, whose very presence was to cause fear and intimidation to those concerned.
One man who chose not to be intimidated was Graham Herring, from Southampton, Hampshire - a keen radio ham, for many years.
“At 1.46 am in July 1983, I was transmitting on the FM wavelength at my home address; Suddenly the night sky was illuminated by a powerful light. Wondering what on earth was going on, I rushed to the window and looked out to see a glowing orange saucer shaped object moving slowly through the air, about a hundred feet off the ground.I stood in disbelief watching the object, which I estimated was about 150 feet long and fifty feet in width. After losing sight of it I sketched what I had seen onto one of the wireless logs. I then contacted the ‘Southampton Echo’ Newspaper and told them what I had seen.
A few weeks after the incident I received a visit at the house by two well dressed men, who showed me their identification badges, explaining they were from the Home Office. After discussing what he had had seen, they took possession of the original wireless log, with the illustration of the object on it, and threatened him to keep quiet about the sighting, although their actions didn’t make sense as, by then, the story had been published by the local Newspaper and the News of the World, 9.10.83 .(Source: personal interview)
The following evening at 9.45pm 26th of April 1984, a spinning multi coloured object throwing off globules of light was seen darting about in the sky over Stanmore near Harrow, Middlesex. As a result of a telephone call made by Gerri Ashworth, who was accompanied by neighbours, Terri West & Ruth Novelli to the Police at least seven officers attended the scene, at10.22pm they included, Pc's Richard Milthorp, and PC Paul Isles. Terri,
The following day Terri noticed her face was burning as if she had been to long in the Sun, 'It was very red, even now when I get hot you can see a visible line down my face, I never had this problem before my sighting, worse I was forced to seek medical attention when it was discovered one of my eyes was damaged with a fixed pupil’
There is little doubt in our opinion this medical condition was caused by one side of the face being exposed to the ultra violet radiation given off by the object, an opinion based on other UFO sightings we had come across over the years. In addition to the physical after-effects, Teri reported, 'Strange things began to occur around the house, I came down one day and discovered the glass window bowl of the washing machine had been blown outwards onto the floor, and electrical appliances continued to run despite them being unplugged from the wall’ My character changed completely, as result of the 'Encounter' previously, I had little interest in furthering any academic study and used to skip school regularly, now I have two degrees, and have broadened my own scientific and cultural horizons. I can't say that what we saw was any Alien Spaceship or alien beings, I can only tell you what happened on that evening, and afterwards”
Ruth ,”The weirdest part of the whole episode was when a local UFO enthusiast called me a few days later. He said I should be prepared for men in black suits and a shiny black car coming to my door in the coming days:’ They’ll tell you they are from the Ministry of Defence but they're not,' he said, before adding, 'they'll ask you lots of questions about what you saw but they quickly get tired.' Of course, I thought he was completely round the bend. That was until three weeks later. I arrived home from work and my neighbour asked if we'd been expecting any visitors that day; she said a black car with three men in dark suits had been at my house and left when they realised nobody was home.
'Strange things began to occur around the house, I came down one day and discovered the glass window bowl of the washing machine had been blown outwards onto the floor, and electrical appliances continued to run despite them being unplugged from the wall’ My character changed completely, as result of the 'Encounter' previously, I had little interest in furthering any academic study and used to skip school regularly, now I have two degrees, and have broadened my own scientific and cultural horizons. I can't say that what we saw was any Alien Spaceship or alien beings, I can only tell you what happened on that evening, and afterwards”
She knew nothing of the phone call I'd had from the UFO man. It was extremely spooky and I only wished I'd been in when they'd called” It goes without saying that if it wasn't for the courage of people like, Terri, Ruth and so many hundreds of others, we were to meet over the years, our knowledge of the UFO subject would have been far more minimal, (Source: personal interviews/ Stanmore and Harrow Newspaper/ Harrow)
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