AMERICA isn’t the only hotspot for UFO sightings – the U.K. has also had its fair share down the years.
A number of famous incidents involving supposed extra-terrestrials have whipped the nation into a frenzy, here are three of the biggest.
4
Rendlesham Forest, 1980
For more than 40 years the Rendlesham Forest incident – dubbed Britain’s own Roswell – has fascinated alien enthusiasts.
It took place in December 1980 over a series of at least two nights.
On December 26, 1980, military personnel at the twin bases of RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk saw a strange light in Rendlesham Forest, which lies between the two bases.
Three men were sent out to investigate where two of them encountered a small, triangular-shaped craft.
One man, Jim Penniston, got close enough to touch the side of the object.
He and another of the airmen present, John Burroughs, made sketches of the craft for witness statements.
Two nights later Deputy Base Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt and his team then encountered the UFO.
He said later: “Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies this sort of thing and diligently works to debunk them, and I’m involved in the middle of something I can’t explain.”
Most read in Tech
Despite an MOD investigation the Rendlesham Forest incident remains unexplained.
Investigators did not find a “credible threat” despite the unusual activity.
History.com reports that there is lots of UFO tourism at Rendlesham Forest – just like there is as Roswell.
“There’s even an official Rendlesham UFO trail that visitors can hike, off of which sits a model of the reported spacecraft,” according to the reference website.
4
Ilkley Moor, 1987
EX-cop Philip Spencer was walking on Ilkley Moor, West Yorks, in 1987 when he spotted an odd-looking being gesturing to him to stay away.
He took a picture before it ran off, then saw a UFO taking off.
His compass pointed the wrong way and he lost an hour.
He says he was abducted by creatures with big hands and feet.
Sceptics have dismissed the incident as a hoax, saying that the figure in the photo is a person or piece of cardboard.
Broad Haven, 1977
The picturesque Welsh village of Broad Haven was gripped with paranormal fever in 1977.
Several people claim to have seen lit-up objects hovering in the sky, a being in a metallic space suit and ghostly figures in a local forest.
Among the witnesses were 14 children from Broad Haven Primary School who claim an other-worldly craft landed in their playing field.
David Davies was 10 at the time and heard reports of pupils seeing flying saucers throughout the day.
4
4
He described seeing a silver “cigar-shaped” craft with a “dome covering the middle third”.
“My sighting only lasted a couple of seconds. It popped up and then went back behind a tree,” he told BBC Wales.
The teachers didn’t believe the youngsters so the headmaster split them up and asked them to draw what they saw.
There were slight variations, but what they drew was basically the same.
Two months later, Rosa Granville, who ran the Haven Fort Hotel in nearby Little Haven, described seeing an object which looked like an “upside-down saucer” and two “faceless humanoid” creatures with pointed heads.
“There was light coming from it and flames of all colours. Then [the creatures] came out of these flames, that’s what I don’t understand,” she said.
A number of theories have been put forward to explain the sightings.
Flt Lt Cowan, an officer from RAF Brawdy, examined the site but could find no evidence of a landing.
In his report, he mentioned the possibility that a “local prankster was at work”.
Some sceptics have questioned whether the supposed extra-terrestrial activity was all just one big hoax.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
