From the Countryside to the Terraced Estates: Lesser-Known UFO and Alien Encounters of the United Kingdom
Marcus Lowth
Just about every country on the planet has UFO encounters on record. The United Kingdom, perhaps particularly due to its size, has more than its fair share. While some of these, such as the Rendlesham Forest incident, are well-known inside and outside of the UFO community, many others are far lesser known.
Perhaps the best place to start is with one of the most mind-blowing encounters on record, which unfolded in the winter of 1987 on the Ilkley Moor near Ilkley in the Yorkshire countryside. The case was detailed in the book Without Consent by Philip Mantle and Carl Nagaitis, and while the witness was happy to share his account with investigators, he did so under the condition that he remained anonymous, which only adds a further hint of credibility to it. The witness was given the name Philip Spencer, and all that is known about him is that he is a former police officer.
At around 7 am one icy cold December morning, Philip left his home on his way to his father-in-law’s home in East Morton. The two of them shared an interest in photography and were planning on spending the morning on the Yorkshire Moors. It was while he was walking up a steep hill that he began to notice a strange humming sound coming from above him. At first, he assumed it was coming from a low-flying aircraft. However, when he noticed something strange moving to the side of him in his peripheral vision, he began to question just what the noise might be. He turned to look at the movement he had noticed and was shocked to see a “small figure” heading up the embankment of the quarry. He immediately stopped and called out to the figure. At the same time, he raised his camera to his eye and snapped a picture of the bizarre being before it turned away and headed off once more.
At this point, Philip began to pursue the figure. The closer he got, he could tell that it was “waving him off”, as if warning him from coming any closer. He eventually reached the top of the embankment. By the time he had done so, however, the figure had seemingly vanished into thin air. Then, he noticed a “huge silver disc-shaped object” hovering directly above him. The next thing he knew, the object shot off into the distance at great speed.
Philip decided to return home, clearly shaken up by the surreal events. However, when he arrived back in Ilkley only minutes later, he realized it was after 10 am. He had somehow lost almost three hours. As soon as this realization hit him, he recalled the photograph he had taken. He made his way to the bus stop, catching a bus to the nearby town of Keighley, where he could have the film developed in an hour. When he received the photographs, he was stunned by what he was looking at. Although a little grainy, he could clearly see the figure he witnessed earlier that morning.
Incidentally, you can view the picture in question by simply searching Google (or whatever your chosen search engine is) with something along the lines of Ilkley Moor Alien Photograph.
In the days that followed, Philip began to experience intense dreams. Combined with the bizarre events themselves, he decided to report his encounter to a UFO organization, although he had no knowledge of UFOs, and so, at least initially, didn’t know who to contact. After researching, he decided to write to investigator and researcher, Jenny Randles. Randles would pass his details (or the PO Box number he used in order to protect his identity) to the Manchester UFO Research Association. Ultimately, however, the group showed little interest in the case. Following this, Philip contacted another UFO researcher – Arthur Tomlinson. And he made immediate plans to meet with him.
Tomlinson and his fellow researcher, Steve Balon, first had Philip take them on the exact route he took on the morning of the sighting. When they were at the sight where the photograph had been taken, Tomlinson noticed how a compass that Philip had with him had reversed its polarity (it now pointed south instead of north). Following this initial meeting, Philip handed the photograph, including the negative, to Tomlinson so that it could analyzed (it has been suggested that the picture is authentic without any signs of tampering).
With all of this in mind, Tomlinson approached the Manchester UFO Research Association chairman, Peter Hough, asking him to come with them on a second visit to Ilkley they had planned. He agreed, and Philip went over the details of the encounter once more. It was noted by Tomlinson that Philip gave virtually the same account with no variations, another sign of the credible nature of the incident.
Once more, Philip took the investigators to the location where he had seen the strange figure and taken the photograph. While they were, investigators noted another fine detail. The sky in the photograph Philip had taken was light. He claimed he had taken the picture at some time between 7:30 am and 7:45 am. However, at this time, the sky would have been a lot darker. When Philip underwent hypnotic regression a short time later, this anomaly would be explained.
Following this second meeting, and before Philip had undergone hypnotic regression, two strange men arrived at Philip’s home claiming to be from the Ministry of Defense, a Mr. Jefferson and a Mr. Davies. They wasted little time in expressing their interest in the photograph Philip had taken on the moors that cold December morning. He told them little of the experience and informed them that he was no longer in possession of the picture. He wasted little time informing Tomlinson of the visit. He didn’t, however, see the two men again.
A short time after this, Philip underwent hypnotic regression. And the details that emerged from the session are remarkable, to say the least, just one of which was that he had taken the picture much later in the morning than he had thought he had.
He recalled that it was a particularly cold morning, and he was walking up the hill on the way to his father-in-law’s house. He recalled seeing the strange figure on the embankment. However, this time, under regression, the figure was not moving away from him but heading towards him. He also recalled for the first time that he couldn’t move, as if he were temporarily paralyzed and frozen to the spot. Furthermore, everything had turned “fuzzy!” Then, things turned even stranger.
He suddenly found himself “floating along in the air” and when he looked down, he could see the strange figure – that he described as having a green tinge to its skin – walking below, slightly ahead of him. Several moments later, he saw the “big silver saucer thing” up ahead. At this point, he appears to have lost consciousness as all he could recall next was that “everything went black”.
His next memory was of being in a “funny sort of room” that was lit up in such a way that he couldn’t see the source of the glow – as if the light was coming out of the walls. He recalled having surges of fear running through him. At the same time, a voice appeared inside his head, urging him not to be afraid. Interestingly, the sense of fear was replaced by a sense of calm. He was placed by unseen entities on some kind of strange table before a tube-like device made its way over his body from his feet to his head. Philip recalled that he believed this was some kind of scanning device. When the device had performed this duty and disappeared, Philip noticed the green figure standing in a doorway a short distance away. And what’s more, it was urging him to join it.
He stated that he didn’t want to follow the figure but found himself heading towards it. He went through the doorway and found himself in a “round room” looking at a “strange ball with things around it”. Then, the voice appeared in his head once more, urging him to continue walking through the room and into a corridor on the other side of it. He did so, following the corridor into another room. Inside, there were two of the green-skinned creatures, as well as a picture on the wall that appeared to move (which was likely some kind of screen). Interestingly, he couldn’t recall what the pictures were, but he could remember the voice asking him, “Do you understand?”, to which he responded that he did. Then, things turned black once more.
His next memory was of standing on the moor looking at the strange figure on the embankment. This time, it was heading away from him as he had initially recalled. He recalled calling out to it, to which it “waived him off”. It was at this point that he took the picture, which he had, it was determined, taken sometime between 8 am and 10 am.
Following the session, it was concluded that Philip Spencer was a very credible witness who recalled the encounter “as something that had actually happened!” The incident also contained many details that can be found in other similar encounters – such things as the no-source lighting, blacking out when entering and exiting the craft, and, of course, the missing time.
There are also other intriguing details. For example, when Philip was asked, under hypnosis, about the visual screens he had seen – which very well could have been some kind of film – he responded that he was “not supposed to tell anybody” about that as it was “not for them to know!” Whether this was his own determination or due to some kind of mental programming, he refused to tell any details. Ultimately, the case remains of interest to researchers and investigators today, almost four decades later.
Another particularly interesting UFO and alien encounter from the United Kingdom was investigated by veteran UFO researcher, Tony Dodd, who relayed the account in his 1999 book Alien Investigator: The Case Files of Britain’s Leading UFO Detective. The incident occurred in a typical English town in Derbyshire in the summer of 1995. On this particular evening, Mike and Debbie had invited their friends and neighbors, Steve and Annie, to their house for a barbecue. It would be an evening that would change all four of their lives.
The barbecue had been a last-minute arrangement, and it was 10 pm before the coals were finally lit. Around 40 minutes later, a mix of chicken legs, sausages, and burgers was cooking on the griddle. The four friends were sitting in the garden, each enjoying a glass of cold cider. Then, things suddenly changed.
Out of nowhere, a huge object appeared over the garden around 20 feet from the ground. This craft was a round disc shape with a black, metallic exterior and bright white lights moving in an anti-clockwise direction. The lights were so bright that they lit up the entire garden. As the group looked on, a door suddenly opened on the object’s side. At the same time, a bizarre feeling swept through the four friends, with each later stating the surroundings took on a strange “dream-like” feel. According to Steve, they felt “as if we had entered a vacuum. All sound seemed to have stopped, and everything went into slow motion!”
The next thing they realized, the craft was moving away from them. While it did so, slowly at first, it soon picked up pace before it disappeared into the distance. Within seconds of the craft moving away, all four of the witnesses began to feel intense stomach pains, as well as feelings of intense nausea. It was at this point that Steve looked over to the barbecue. Not only were the coals now beginning to cool, but all of the food had been completely burnt. When he looked at his watch, he was shocked to see it was almost midnight. They had, it seemed, lost almost an hour and a half.
Despite the bizarre nature of the events, Mike decided to make a report to the police. They promptly attended the property and took statements from each of the witnesses. As part of their standard investigation, they asked if anything was missing. It was soon discovered that two of the cider glasses the group used were nowhere to be seen. Ultimately, the police recommended that they contact Tony Dodd (who was a former police detective). They did so, and a short time later, they were undergoing separate hypnotic regression sessions in order to try and discover what happened in the 80 minutes that were unaccounted for.
To begin with, they would each volunteer the same basic account. They all recalled, for example, seeing the strange glowing object shortly after lighting the barbecue. They claimed it was a considerable distance away, to begin with, but soon came closer. In fact, in no time at all, it was directly over the house. They described the object as being round with some kind of dome on the top, while the lights on the underside were so bright they were almost “blinding”. It was at this stage that each of the accounts became more personal to each witness.
Debbie, for example, offered that after the object appeared overhead, she recalled Annie standing, looking up and pointing at it. She also recalled seeing “rotating lights” of red, green, and white, and that they were so bright they hurt her eyes. As she was describing these events she became very visibly upset – so much so that she had to be calmed down before the session could continue.
When she continued, she stated that she was no longer “on my own! I am not in the garden anymore!” She claimed she could see “shadows” and “different colored lights”, as well as “eyes looking at me, they’re big and black, not like ours!”
The next thing she realized, she was lying on “something hard with my back raised!” She could also sense movement behind her – some kind of figures that she could only describe as shadow-like. She also offered other details, such as noticing how the roof of the room came “down to the walls without a joining!” Once more she became visibly distressed, and at this point, it was decided to bring the session to a close.
When Annie gave her account she showed the same distress, and even fear. She described a column of light coming from the underside of the object and stretching down to the ground. Shortly after, she saw a “small figure” who was dressed in a black cloak with a hood standing in the garden. She further stated that it had a “strange, pale face with a pointed chin and very large black eyes!”
Then, two more of these strange beings appeared. Before she knew it, she was surrounded and they had hold of her arms. They were, she recalled, “dragging me towards the light!” She further claimed that she could hear these beings making “strange, animal-like grunting noises!”
The next thing she knew, she was inside the craft. To begin with she displayed intense anxiety and fear. However, when she spoke of finding herself inside the strange room, she suddenly became calm, leading Dodd to speculate whether this was some kind of calming drug that the aliens had administered. She went on to describe being inside a room with “loads of people around the sides of the room. (They are) little people. They are all wearing cloaks with hoods!”
She went on to describe similar procedures as Debbie had, before offering further details of the room, describing it as “funny, round, and divided into squares”. She also described the light as being a “peachy” color that appeared to come out of the walls and that caused her vision to become blurred.
She then noticed one of the figures had some kind of device in its hand. She described this as being a “silver, small square thing on a rod”. At the same time, she could also see another figure using some kind of medical-type instrument on her toes. These procedures continued, as she recalled something being injected into her neck, as well as something being inserted into her belly button.
Then, without warning, one of the figures pressed its face directly up against hers. She stated under hypnosis that this face was “really pale, with long, black, slanting eyes”. Before she could take in any further details, she could sense something “pressing down on her belly button” causing her severe discomfort.
The next thing she could recall was of standing in the garden and watching the object disappear into the distance.
Mike underwent hypnotic regression but quickly became so visibly terrified that it was decided to bring the session to an immediate stop. Ultimately, it was determined it would be unsafe for his mental health to attempt regression again, although his reaction alone tells us something terrifying and out of the ordinary occurred that summer evening. Annie’s husband, Steve, though, offered further interesting details about the incident.
Interestingly, even before the bizarre object appeared over the garden, Steve offered, while under hypnosis, that there was a “strange” feeling to the night. When the object did appear, the first thing he could recall was his wife’s petrified screams at the side of him. He had a quick memory of the flashing lights before suddenly finding himself inside the object.
He offered he was inside a “bright room, with lots of small people!” Similar to his wife’s description, he stated that these figures wore cloaks with hoods, adding that it appeared these cloaks were made from material that was “like black tin foil but not tin foil!”
The next thing Steve remembered he was standing inside a “transparent tube, without seams”. Standing around the tube were several of the small beings, each staring at him. After several moments, he was removed from the tube and taken to another room. He stated that this room was “very big” and that he could “see all sorts in here”, including “loads of little people, moving around”. He continued that they had “balls of white stuff in their hands” and that he had no idea what it was. Furthermore, he could see a board on one of the walls that had the planets of the solar system on it.
At this point, Steve’s memory became a little hazy and disjointed. He stated that he wasn’t certain if he was standing or not, but he realized that he was temporarily paralyzed. Furthermore, he had vague memories that he was taken to a separate craft at some point during the encounter, before being back in the strange room with the figures performing various experiments on him.
His next memory was of being “back in the tube”. He could hear screaming which he first believed to be his own. Then, he realized it was Annie. He was confused as to where he was before he focused on the craft overhead and realized he was back in the garden beneath it. It was motionless, but the lights were spinning, increasing quickly. As this was happening, he recalled feeling like he was struggling for breath, as well as not being able to take his focus from the object despite the fact he desperately wanted to. Then, the craft began to rise into the air and disappeared into the distance.
Although the four witnesses were glad to have filled in some of the blanks of that summer’s evening in 1995, none of them wished to investigate the case further, and all declined further hypnosis sessions.
Just before 2020, after researching this case, I received an email from a member of Dodd’s investigative team. He insisted that not only was the case a very credible one, but that some of the witnesses went on to develop strange abilities, including telepathy. This is an intriguing detail as there are many people who claim to have developed such bizarre abilities following close encounter incidents.
There is no doubt that the case is one of the most thought-provoking alien abduction encounters on record. And one, should any of the witnesses ever have a change of heart regarding further investigation of the case, that could have further secrets to reveal. Perhaps the fact that all of the witnesses have chosen to remain anonymous with no effort to make money from “telling their story” lends the case even more credibility.
There are also several details from the case that resonate very nicely with others from around the UFO community. We have already mentioned the details of the witnesses seemingly developing strange abilities in the years following the encounter, but even the descriptions of the craft and the rooms inside is interesting. Such details as the walls being “seamless” or “without joints”, for example. We might also recall that the witnesses claimed to have suffered from nausea and intense stomach cramps immediately following the encounter, something else that can be found in many other similar incidents. That something strange happened to the four friends that evening in Derbyshire in the summer of 1995 is surely beyond doubt.
One of Dodd’s most fascinating cases involved a woman known only as “Sharon from Yorkshire”. In the early 1990s, Sharon was listening to an interview with Dodd on the radio. He was speaking about alien abduction cases, specifically, some of the signs that a person might look for as an indicator that they may have also been abducted by aliens. The more Sharon listened, the more she realized that she was experiencing several such signs. And what’s more, these apparent clues had been showing themselves to Sharon for years.
She often awoke, for example, to find her nightdress not only removed but completely disappeared, as if it had simply vanished. Furthermore, she would often wake up to find blood on her pillows from apparent nosebleeds during the night. Even stranger, she would sometimes wake up with mud and dirt on her feet, on the bedroom floor, and even in her bed, as well as even waking up in random rooms in her house with no memory whatsoever of how she got there.
There were also other clues described by Dodd that she had experienced. She would often notice strange smells in the air that she couldn’t explain, as well as finding markings on her body with no memory of how she had received them. There were also many times that electrical equipment would malfunction when she was near them, and strangest of all; clocks would often tick backward if she was in the room.
She would eventually make contact with Dodd, who would detail the hypnosis sessions he conducted with her in his previously mentioned book Alien Investigator. He first took Sharon back to an incident that had happened (then) recently, to around 5 am one morning when she had just gotten out of bed and was getting ready for work. She detailed that, although she didn’t understand why, she had an urge to look out of her bedroom window. To her shock, she could recall seeing three “greeny-brown” craft that she recalled being the “length of a working man’s club!” She further recalled the craft had extremely precise and straight edges and a curved top, with no windows visible on the object’s dark exterior.
The next thing she knew, she was seemingly inside one of these large craft, inside a “large, white room” with ramps leading out of it. She further described tall, tanned beings onboard the craft with her. What’s more, these strange entities spoke to her “into her head”. We should note once more that this detail of telepathic communication is one that can be found in many encounters of alien abduction and close encounters with extraterrestrials.
The next thing she could recall was standing on one of the ramps that led into another white room, only now, there were other people all around her. She stated they were led into the room, which she described as looking like an assembly hall. Moments later, one of the tall, tanned beings appeared in front of them. She recalled that this being began speaking to them, not out loud, but directly into their heads. She said the being spoke about the pollution of the planet and how humanity must change its ways.
At this point, this alien entity told the group to turn and look towards a large window in one of the walls. Sharon recalled being able to see Earth outside. After being left to look at the breathtaking sight for several moments, they were told to move to another room. According to Dodd’s regression tapes, Sharon described what happened next, stating that they were walking “up the ramp, down the long corridor” when she had a sudden urge to touch the walls, claiming she could sense a power coming from them. She described the walls as being “dark and light” with a sand-like texture that appeared like metal but wasn’t.
Then, she was in the next room, one that was dark with a “light at the front” and a bizarre floor below them. At this point, Sharon began to feel a surge of fear running through her, although she couldn’t understand why. She recalled becoming confused – so much so, she wasn’t sure if she was standing up or sitting down. She also recalled a “cold bright light” being shined directly into her face at random intervals. At the same time, she began to feel numb, as well as having a sense that she had somehow been restrained. She noticed that there were now other beings in the room, different from the tall, tanned ones.
She could only see their heads, which she stated were big with big eyes. She then noticed that one of these creatures was reaching out towards her and touching her fingers. She recalled this entity had four fingers that were “not like ours”. She then noticed some kind of round device heading towards her from above, stating that it was “going in my stomach!” She recalled sensing some kind of injection in her abdomen, although she also recalled that she couldn’t feel any pain. Then, before she knew it, the procedure was over.
She now found herself sitting up on some kind of table, although she had no idea how she had arrived there. In front of her was one of the tall, tanned beings who guided her to a strange triangular doorway. After standing in this doorway for several moments, the entity informed her that it was “time to go home!” The next thing she knew, she was back in her bedroom.
Dodd also regressed Sharon back to several other apparent abductions during different stages of her life. One of these was when she was only eight years old. She recalled being asleep in bed when she woke up suddenly. She stated to Dodd, under hypnosis, that “the man is here again” and that she “had to go. I don’t want to go. I’m tired!” This strange man then led Sharon outside where she could see a “spaceship” hovering overhead. The man led her onboard. The next thing she knew, the craft was “going on its side” and she was floating.
She soon found herself in a large room that was full of other children. The large, tall, tanned entities were in the room also. Perhaps bizarrely, she offered to Dodd that these taller entities were “teachers” and that they “had to listen” to them as they “teach you!”
Another intriguing abduction encounter occurred when Sharon was around 14 years old. She told Dodd that she was at her aunt’s house “in the back garden, having a fag!” Then, for reasons she couldn’t explain, she sensed that she was rising from the ground. She recalled that she was “going straight up into the ship”, adding that this ship was “different from the others”. She went on to describe “paneling on the wall” where she could see “funny writing shapes, something like Egyptian writing!” This detail is certainly interesting when we consider what she recalled next.
She found herself standing in her room with all of her clothes removed. The familiar tall beings were standing around her. On this occasion, though, she was the only person there. She suddenly noticed an uncomfortable “pins-and-needles” sensation spreading through her body. As this was happening, one of the entities told her – once more, directly into her head – that this feeling was from the energy they were transferring to her. She recalled that this feeling was spreading all over her body.
Then, she recalled perhaps the most fascinating detail of all. She was told that the pyramids of Earth were of great importance, and most intriguing, that “they (the aliens) put the pyramids here!”
Surprisingly or not, Sharon had no memory of what she had said once she was brought out of these hypnosis sessions. In fact, when she viewed video footage of them, she was completely surprised at what she was saying. She did, though, claim to Dodd that she felt more “at peace” with the bizarre events that had seemingly plagued her life.
Without a doubt, one of the most intriguing alien encounters from the United Kingdom occurred one sunny day in 1940 in Gateshead, England. According to an article in the June 24th, 2011, edition of The Northern Echo newspaper, one day in the spring of 1940, Robert Hall and a friend were playing in the streets of the terraced housing estate where they lived when they suddenly noticed a group of soldiers marching down the street. As Robert watched the soldiers, his eye caught a strange object that was “whizzing” across the sky. He realized he was the only one to see it, so he remained quiet. However, when he and his friend were returning home to get something to eat a short time later, their afternoon took a drastic turn.
As they approached one of the corners of the backstreets – with tall, red-bricked terraced housing overlooking them on each side - Robert noticed how a “shimmy” appeared in the air, very similar to how it appears in very hot conditions. The next thing they realized, they were inside some kind of atmospheric distortion, and of more concern, there in front of them was a strange “egg-shaped thing” that was “surrounded by bright light”. They both looked at each other, both unsure of what to do. A moment later, they noticed around 20 “strange-looking creatures” near the bizarre object.
Robert later described these entities as humanoid, each between two to four feet tall. However, he also offered that these humanoids were decidedly different from each other. One, for example, looked similar to what we would imagine a Bigfoot to look like, while another had long hair, a thin body, and wore what appeared to be a long coat that covered what seemed to be batwings. Some of these figures even looked almost human, with pale skin and long blond hair, a description very similar to the alleged Nordic aliens of the 1950s.
As Robert watched this bizarre scene, he became aware of several other children who had been playing in the alley, and who were also clearly aware of this strange display before them. Robert recalled how they appeared clearly “petrified and in shock”, with some of them trying to “get over the railway” but were unable to do so because of the barbed wire that ran around it. He even heard several of them screaming. Then, one of the creatures turned their attention to Robert and his friend.
These strange beings then spoke in “perfect English”, asking the boys if they could “examine” them. Robert protested, recalling that he said the country was “at war with Germany” and that they shouldn’t go with them. Despite this, the creatures brought both Robert and his friend onboard the egg-shaped object. According to Robert, these apparent aliens then proceeded to take a sample of blood from the back of his neck. Even more harrowing, he was told that he had to remain utterly still during this procedure or he would be “killed instantly”. When taken, a strange jelly-like substance was placed on the spot of the blood of the extraction. Although they carried out several other procedures following this, Robert couldn’t recall what they were. Then, the next thing he knew, the aliens were telling Robert and his friend that they were free to go. Needless to say, they ran as fast as they could all the way back home.
As soon he arrived back at his house, he blurted out to his parents what had happened. However, they both dismissed his claims, offering that someone had likely played a prank on him. This was echoed by several soldiers who were standing on the street near to the house, and who heard Robert’s curious tale. Despite this, several of the soldiers went to investigate the location Robert claimed the incident had unfolded. And when they arrived, they could clearly see the egg-shaped object rising into the air. One of them even fired his pistol in the object’s direction, but didn’t appear to hit it. A moment later, it had disappeared.
Robert recalled years later that he struggled to understand just where all of the humanoid entities had disappeared to, stating that the object was around 12 to 14 feet and, as such, surely could not have fit all of them inside.
Things turned even stranger, and perhaps rather more ominous, the following day when two men in black suits arrived at Robert’s home. Ultimately, they told Robert that he mustn’t speak about what he had seen; otherwise, he would “disappear!” To begin with, Robert put the incident out of his mind. Several days later, however, he would find himself at the center of another bizarre and surreal experience.
Once more, he was playing in the backstreets in between the rows of terraced houses when another strange creature appeared out of nowhere and reached for him. When Robert described this creature – large head, thin body, long arms, and huge, black eyes – it was clear he was describing a grey alien. As it happened, Robert’s uncle was nearby when this bizarre scene unfolded, and he immediately ran over to his nephew. He happened to be carrying a coal shovel at the time and so used this to attack the creature, hitting it on the head. It immediately fell to the ground seemingly dead from the assault. Robert’s uncle then placed the body into a large sack and told Robert to find a policeman and report what had happened.
Robert happened upon Sergeant Brookes, who quickly followed the young boy to the scene in the back alley. Once he had inspected the body for himself, Brookes promptly informed the army. A small military unit arrived a short time later. They inspected the body before removing it, disappearing without explanation.
Robert, incidentally, would go on to face a lifetime of ridicule for his claims, although he never once altered his version of events.
UFO researcher, Richard D. Hall, would investigate the case retrospectively. And he quickly determined that Robert Hall’s claims were very credible. He discovered, for example, that several of the local businesses and shops that Robert claimed had been near the location of the encounter were all accurate and correct. He also discovered that a Sergeant Brookes did indeed work in that location during 1940.
There were also further intriguing details that Hall picked up on after speaking with Robert years later. Robert recalled, for example, that one of the figures held some kind of device that could immediately “subdue or immobilize” a person, a detail that shows up in multiple other UFO and alien encounters. As well as the blood sample (another detail often in alien abduction encounters) Robert recalled that a strange triangular mark remained on his face for several years after the initial encounter. Many people, even before the realization that they have been abducted by aliens, attest to finding similar markings on their bodies. Interestingly, if a little disturbing, Richard Hall suggested that rather than attempting to take a blood sample, these apparent aliens could very well have been “trying to put something in” – essentially, some kind of alien implant.
Eventually, Robert agreed to meet Richard so they speak more of the encounter. However, he quickly changed his mind, stating that he feared further ridicule by continuing to speak of the encounter. Richard then contacted several other UFO researchers who Robert had spoken with in previous years, one of whom was former police officer, Gary Heseltine.
Heseltine informed Richard Hall that Robert had contacted him “out of the blue” at some point in 2003. And to begin with, as Heseltine recalled it, he was convinced that he “had a nutter on the line”. He did, though, listen to Robert’s tale, and as he spoke, Heseltine noticed that he was not only precise and coherent, but that he would respond to each of Heseltine’s questions with “a lot of information”, right down to street and business names.
Heseltine would end up speaking with Robert for close to two hours. And by the end of the conversation, he was convinced that Robert was “showing signs of genuine recall”. In fact, Heseltine believed Robert’s account so much that he agreed to meet with him. Much like his telephone conversation with him, the more questions Heseltine asked, the more details Robert came back with. Furthermore, Heseltine also spoke with Robert’s sister, Rhoda, who would seemingly corroborate her brother’s story. Heseltine recalled that “without prompting”, Rhoda recalled the events in full, claiming that there were “scientists at the door for days afterward” as well as a reporter who waited outside the house for a considerable amount of time in an attempt to speak with her brother.
Ultimately, Heseltine, like other researchers, concluded that something very strange indeed took place in Gateshead during the spring of 1940, and while it was a “very weird story” there was something compelling about Robert Hall’s account.
Enthralled by what Heseltine had told him about Robert Hall, Richard Hall made another effort to speak with him so as to investigate the case further. He sent Robert two tickets for a talk on UFOs that he was a part of in Gateshead. Once more, Robert initially agreed to the meeting. However, once more, the day before the talk, he canceled stating he had since changed his mind.
Not to be deterred, several weeks later, Richard made one more effort to speak with Robert face to face. And this time, he was rewarded. One new detail that Richard picked up was Robert’s claim that during the second incident, when his uncle had seemingly killed the grey alien in the back alley when the military arrived later, he and his family, as well as other families on the street, were all ordered out of their houses, not being allowed to return until each of the properties had been searched. According to what Robert heard at the time, there was a concern on the military’s part that more of these strange creatures could be hiding in the houses. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, no further entities were discovered. Robert also confirmed that several “professors and scientists” would show up randomly at the family home, as well as investigators who had traveled from as far as London. His father, Robert offered, quickly became tired of the attention, and as such, the family, including Robert, ceased speaking of the curious events. Incidentally, years later, when a video of Robert’s experience appeared online, his nephew left a comment on the platform that his uncle (Robert) “always tells me this story”, and that he had no doubt that it was completely true.
With this last account in mind, it is also worth exploring another apparent alien encounter that unfolded 14 years earlier in 1926 in Bolton. The account is relayed in UFO: The Complete Sightings Catalogue by Peter Brookesmith, with the main witness once more being a young boy, Henry Thomas, who encountered three bizarre beings while playing hide-and-seek with his friends in similar backstreets to those where Robert Hall lived.
According to Henry, it was his turn to seek, and as he was creeping along the alleyway looking for any signs of his friends, he suddenly noticed one of the back gates of the houses standing open. Certain one of his friends had chosen to hide in the back garden it led to, Henry walked towards it. He moved through the open gap so as not to push the gate open further and alert his friend to his presence. However, by the time he had stepped through the gateway, he was met by a sight he was not at all prepared for.
Directly across from him, standing in front of the property's back window were three strange humanoid entities, each wearing a futuristic silver garment. Years later, Henry would state that this clothing reminded him of the appearance of the Michelin Man. Each of these beings also had a “transparent dome-like helmet” on their head that was connected to some kind of backpack with tubes.
As Henry stood there, shocked and fascinated, the three figures suddenly turned around to face him. At this point, he could see clearly inside their helmets, noticing immediately how pale their skin was. He also noted that their heads appeared to be in the shape of a light bulb, and each had a small nose with dark, black eyes. Of more concern, he could hear a bizarre gurgling sound coming from one of them. When they began in his direction, he spun around and ran out of the garden, not stopping until he arrived home.
He later stated that although he was terrorized at the time, after reflecting on the bizarre encounter, he concluded that the figures were likely not aggressive and that it was sheer panic due to the surreal nature of the situation that had caused him to run. Of course, whether these alien entities were the same that Robert Hall encounters a decade and a half later remains open to debate.
We should remember that these are only a small snippet of the plethora of UFO and alien encounters that have unfolded in the United Kingdom. Indeed, it just might be the case that a follow-up article, perhaps titled More Lesser-Known UFO and Alien Encounters from the United Kingdom, could appear on this platform very soon so we might explore more of them. For now, though, we should perhaps contemplate just why there are so many UFO sightings in this part of the world. Is it a case that more residents in the UK are happy to report sightings, and so there are more on record? Or could it be that there is an increased UFO presence in the UK, perhaps due to the numbers of seas and oceans that surround it, which an increasing number of UFO researchers are suggesting are being used by these seemingly otherworldly crafts to traverse our planet? Whatever the truth, regular sightings and encounters continue to be reported in the United Kingdom today. If you live there or are visiting there, you just might end up witnessing one of them.
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