Hidden gems: crossing the boundaries
JENNY RANDLES revisits some weird and multi-faceted cases worthy of further investigation
I recently suggested ( FT352:27) a way to revive research into the UFO mystery with the help of interested readers. ‘Project Five Per Cent’ will focus on the one in 20 sightings that defy explanation and might reveal something beyond misperception or chicanery. Several readers agreed to discuss this venture with a view to approaching UFOs from a fortean perspective. The plan is to adopt diverse viewpoints that might point us in new directions. We have set up a forum to plan things, but it is not too late for anyone who might want to contribute: whether you are a car mechanic or psychologist, or have an interest in channelling, apparitions or cryptozoology, diversity will benefit the team. If you are curious contact Project Five Per Cent at nufon@btinternet.com
Interestingly, the 70th anniversary of the birth of modern UFOs on 24 June (see FT355) focused the minds of others on our problems. Long-term ufologists offered scathing reviews of current research, suggesting that UFO buffs just reinvent the wheel over and over again as part of a game they play amongst themselves. That discussion even raged on this journal’s Facebook page and I hope that some of those who took part in the debate might be inspired to put their words into action and join this project. I am less pessimistic that the stagnation of our field is inevitable. However, I do agree that we need to use tools such as the Internet to chart a new path for ufology before it disappears up its own hyperbole. I will report from time to time on progress and hope we disprove the view that UFO research has become the fortean equivalent of Monty Python’s ex-parrot. As a first step, I decided to search my files for ‘hidden gems’ – cases from that elusive five per cent that are not famous but show the complexity of our multi-faceted subject.
Initially I was looking for events that seem to cross boundaries and might appear in several different sections of this magazine, as these may hold the key to refreshing how we do things. Indeed, in the past they might easily have fallen between the cracks. There are likely to be hundreds of such cases out there; five per cent of thousands of sightings reported each year across seven decades means hidden gems are calling out to us from dusty filing cabinets all over the world! Here are just three examples.
On 27 January 1977, a report came to BUFORA from three female factory workers in Bridlington, yorkshire. At 4.45pm they were driving to work when they observed an oval object that descended ‘backwards’ from
It was an oval shape with a glass-like compartment and an orange dome on top
over the factory roof and hovered above an adjacent woodyard. As the object made its closest approach, all three women were able to see through a row of windows or portholes on the side that revealed a corridor inside the UFO. There was no indication of life.
The women were terrified by the experience; one refused to get involved, and the others asked for anonymity. This case is a simple yet profound close encounter that is at the heart of the UFO riddle. The witnesses also reported physiological effects – a cold sensation sweeping over them and a prickly irritation in their eyes. One of them was wearing a watch and this stopped during the encounter, as did some machinery in the factory. Like so many unresolved cases, this one opens up several areas to investigate; discovering new cases like this with multiple aspects to explore is key, though, as experts from various fields can conduct research.
A different example of boundary-crossing is a woman who came to our attention after reporting a ‘precognitive’ UFO sighting on 2 March 1974 near her home in Derby. It was not very spectacular as a UFO – just a white disc of light – but it was the latest in a long line of sightings dating back to 1958. On every occasion strange things happened in her life soon after and she often got a ‘feeling’ that something bad was coming. Scary things started to happen afterward – such as an electric clock in the house running backwards and objects materialising in thin air. As her husband, a no-nonsense aero-engineer, saw these, she now revealed the ‘premonitions’ that followed her sightings. After seeing the UFO in March 1974 she told several people that something awful was going to happen and sensed it would be a plane crash. 24 hours after her sighting, a Turkish Airways DC 10 en route from Istanbul to London crashed in a forest on approach to Paris. Everyone on board was killed in what was then the worst air crash in history.
Another example is one of the most frustrating cases in British UFO history. It was investigated at the time by investigator John Rouse, but his report crossed so many boundaries between phenomena that it was hard to know where it belonged as an investigation. The case happened in the coal-mining village of Fencehouses, County Durham, at 9pm on 3 September 1976. One witness, a 63-year-old woman, did talk, but her teenage relative never did. The women were returning from a family visit when they saw an object on a small spoil heap. They were able to get close enough to measure it as just 5ft (150cm) long and 3-4ft (90120cm) high. It was an oval shape with a glass-like compartment in the centre and an orange dome on top. Beneath were ‘ski sled’ runners of shiny metal. Strangely unafraid, the two women walked in a trance towards it, experiencing curious sensations as they did so. The stiff wind blowing outside the ‘zone’ surrounding this object disappeared and an eerie silence engulfed them. The trees stopped swaying, the rumble of traffic on a nearby road ceased, and the watches worn by both witnesses froze (but worked normally afterwards).
The older woman walked up to the object and touched it – it felt smooth, glass-like and warm. But at this point they both became terrified as two ‘beings’ appeared nearby. They looked as if they had stepped out of folklore rather than outer space: tiny, doll-like and with claw hands, large eyes and long white hair. The creatures seemed scared and put their hands up to their faces. From here, the women’s account became very confused, suggesting a jump in time of up to half an hour before they recalled the object climbing skyward making a humming noise.
This case did not make headlines and came to UFO research by chance, making one wonder how many others never reach an investigator. It spans so many different areas of research –cryptozoology, alien abduction, time-slips, fairies – that you can see why building a broader fortean approach makes sense. So if Project Five Per Cent can find new, boundary-crossing cases like these, then who knows where it might lead?