The February 1980 (Vol. 28, #8) issue of the Bulletin contained a preliminary report on the alleged encounter of a West Lothian, Scotland forester with a strange object and equally strange smaller objects or "entities".
The "happening" took place on November 9, 1979, and the following is the information gleaned from additional clippings and mainly from the Journal of Transient Aerial Phenomena, Vol.1, No.2, March, 1980.
Strangely enough, the article was written by Stuart Campbell, the architect who initially identified the object(s) as manisfestation(s) of ball lightning.
However, it does seem that Mr. Campbell is being fairly objective, and the following are the "gleanings".
We refer the readers to the February, 1980 (Vol. 28, #8) issue of the Bulletin to save space and repetition. Robert Taylor, forester, (sixteen years tenure with the Livingston Development Corporation) and now a foreman, left his home in Lothian at 1000 GMT in a Forestry Department van, to inspect young trees to the North of the town near highway M8.
As he could not drive the van all the way due to the density of trees, he left it on the side of the roadway and proceeded on foot. Mr. Taylor, accompanied by his dog—walked the rest of the way, and at about 10:15 he rounded a corner in the forest path ( 100 meters from the road but out of sight of it) and came upon a strange sight. Before him was a rounded object with a rim-like appendage (according to Journal of Transient Aerial Phenomena) not unlike a circular platform (see drawing, reproduced from JTAP, artist not identified). At first the smaller objects were not in evidence, according to Taylor.
The larger object was hovering above the ground, neither moving nor making any sound.
The "thing" was dark grey with a texture similar to that of sand-paper.
It appeared to become transparent in one area or another, seemingly, to Taylor, to "camouflage" itself.
The "craft" was estimated to be twenty feet (six meters) in diameter. Taylor said he stood, amazed, and stared at the object, then two small objects (apparently coming from under the large object) "rushed" toward him.
They had a color and texture similar to that of the "parent" object, but were outfitted with appendages (see figure 1).
They rolled on a horizontal axis and made a "plopping" noise as the "legs" made contact with the ground. Upon reaching him, these objects each attached itself to one (each) of his trouser legs, just below the pockets on the sides.
Taylor felt them tug him toward the large object and at the same time, he said, he was nearly suffocated by a strong acrid smell which he compared with that of burning automobile brake linings and which he felt came from the "things". Taylor became aware that he was being dragged forward and his boots were scraping on the ground, before he lost consciousness, and fell forward and laid face downwards. When Taylor regained consciousness, the objects were gone, but his dog was with him.
He tried to speak to her but found he had lost his voice.
He tried to stand but his legs would not support him, so he crawled approximately 90 meters (300 ft.) back up the trail toward his van, and then unsteadily half crawled and half staggered the rest of the 430 meters to his van.
There, he attempted to contact his headquarters via two-way radio but was unsuccessful because of his voice. Taylor then attempted to back the van up the track but unfortunately he ran off the track onto soft ground and could not get it out.
Using short cuts through woods and fields, he walked the remaining 1600 meters back to his home, arriving at 11:30 a.m.
During his walk between his van and his home his voice returned. Upon seeing her husband's state when he arrived home, Mrs. Taylor assumed he had been attacked and started to call the police, but Taylor stopped her and had her call Mr. Malcolm Drummond, the head of the Forestry Department and his superior.
Drummond immediately went to the Taylor residence and he and Taylor went back to the scene of the encounter where they found strange holes in the ground which Taylor said had not been there before that morning.
Mrs. Taylor had noticed some unaccountable tears in his trousers in the areas where Taylor claimed the small objects had attached themselves. Mr. Taylor was later examined by his Doctor who found only a "grase" (scrape?) on his chin and on his thigh.
The Doctor sent him to the Bangour hospital for a skull X-ray but Taylor checked himself out before this was accomplished.
(Editor's note: This may strike some readers as odd, but if Scottish hospitals are anything like American ones, any tests except for those required in dire emergencies, are only undertaken on weekdays and it is possible Taylor didn't relish a hospital stay over the weekend for an X-ray, especially if he had no pain in his head, and so far the reports do not indicate that he did). The following excerpts were taken from the "Journal of Transient Aerial Phenomena" with their permission: "The ground marks (see Figure 3) were of two types.
First, there were two isolated ladder type "tracks" about 2.5 m long and the same distance apart.
Each "rung" of the ladder (see Photograph 1), was 2 or 3 cm wide and deep, and about 30 cm long, and the area of grass between each "rung" was evenly flattened, but not as deeply as the "rungs".
Although the "tracks" appear to be impressions made by a heavy object, the indentations were only in the grass; they did not alter the ground profile under the grass as they would have done if subjected to a heavy weight.
The grass blades were each folded and formed to follow the outline of a rectangular indentations. Secondly there were 40 holes surrounding the "tracks", as shown in Figure 3.
These holes all exposed fresh earth and were tapered from a maximum width of about 10cm, but at an angle as shown,
The angle was fairly shallow; about 30° to the horizontal.
A remarkable feature was the fact that the direction of the angle of the holes was consistent and always in line with the next hole in line.
Two distinct and related sets of holes can be detected, and it is clear that one set of holes proceeds clock-wise, while the other proceeds anticlock-wise, and that they are in tandem between the "tracks". In some cases, blades of grass surrounding the edge of a hole were sheared off. No grass was scorched.
The marks were measured and recorded by the local police the same day, and the area fenced off by the Forestry Department.
The marks were photographed by Alastair Sutherland (a friend of a member of the Forestry Department) and by me, the following day. Robert Taylor's clothes (including the trousers) were taken by the police for forensic examination.
Only the trousers and his long underpants showed anything unusual.
Figure 4 and 5 show the tears on each leg of the trousers, which are made of navy blue serge.
The right leg tear is about 65cm up from the bottom of the leg, while the left tear is about 76cm up."
The following case is the result of a lead furnished to APRO by Bob Gribble of Phenomena Research Hot Line, and follow-up and investigation was completed by Field Investigator Ed O. Brown.
The name of the witness and some identifying names of the exact location have been changed to protect the principal, as requested. Mrs. Pat Norris, 28, lives with her husband, Carl, and three children in a suburb of Mobile, Alabama.
On the evening of February 3, 1983, she had visited a friend in Mobile and when the friend's husband arrived from work, Mrs. Norris left and headed home on Highway 90.
She had turned off the Highway and when about 90 minutes' ride from her home she heard an explosion.
At this point, her car began to vibrate and continued to do so, making it difficult for her to steer.
She negotiated another turn off the road she was on, brought the car to a halt, opened the car door and leaned out and down and looked to ascertain if the transmission could have been causing the trouble. It had not. OBJECT SEEN Mrs. N. continued driving and the vibrating stopped.
She executed another turn onto another road and saw that the woods ahead were brilliantly illuminated.
At first she thought that there was a helicopter search in progress because of the lights and was very frightened.
She again stopped the car, and at this point sighted a huge object about l/2 mile west of her.
She now feels the explosion she had heard earlier was the object coming down over a clay and gravel pit in the vicinity. The thing was huge — later estimated to be 7 to 8 stories (70 to 80 feet) high and "six telephone poles" (210 feet) wide, and appeared to be moving toward her at 4-5 miles per hour.
The evening had been clear and cool and she had driven with the car windows closed.
After the explosion, she noted a "chopping wind, a high-pitched sound and a roaring sound" as well as the vibration.
She particularly noted the "whipping of the wind — like a tornado." FEAR GONE When the object reached a point fairly close it stopped and all of the noise stopped.
It was completely silent and Mrs. Norris lost all of the fear she had felt before.
She then got out of the car to get a better look.
She strained to take in every detail — feeling like a child with "unbelievable happiness." Mr. Norris said that although Pat told him of her sighting after it happened, he didn 't realize how important it was to her until she started checking books out of the local library pertaining to UFOs and "related subjects." She estimates the time duration of the sighting as five minutes.
As the craft appeared Mrs. Norris' attention was drawn to a top deck with a long window which she estimates 53 feet and through which she viewed 20 to 30 persons, apparently oblivious of her presence, walking about as if they were changing shift.
The wall behind them was curved and white.
There were no instruments.
The people did not give the appearance of looking out.
The beings were pale skinned, dressed in white one piece suits.
She judged them to be about our height, five feet 10", quite slender but with chests larger than ours, the top of the head more prominent, no hair, and having the lower half only of ears similar to our own.
She noted nothing out of the ordinary about the eyes.
What did draw her attention was the great grace of their movements.
The atmosphere seemed "sterile." DETAILS OBSERVED Below this top deck window was an opaque window.
The area around it was all white.
This window was in sections and was inset.
The glass was tinted. Below the center of the craft a door was closing from right to left.
And she looked onto a street that was dark as if made of asphalt or possible concrete.
Off to the side of this street was tubular rectangular equipment.
All across the craft she saw rivets and portholes.
She said she could see the portholes "inside out" as she peered into the craft.
She saw some construction that included "huge I beams like they put ships together with and beams holding the glass in there."
The bottom side was tiered upwards.
The construction reminds her of a ship or submarine.
She said it seemed possible, very likely, it could have been constructed here on Earth. The very bottom of the craft was formed into a cross made with one foot square mirrors and an observation deck hung down and around the bottom with beings in it.
In this case, unlike the top deck, the people were peering out, while overhead she heard a very low pitched but clearly audible (almost like a growl) "announcing" coming from the area of the observation deck now closest to her. Mrs. Norris said she believes they didn't realize she was there until directly over her position. As drawn, she saw four pipes projecting six to eight feet out from the craft set in three or four foot square boxes.
They had a hollow flange on the end like a tank cannon and she believes "it looked like a weapon." The craft took a southerly turn as it went on from where she was parked.
She said it was staying in the wooded area and did not cross Highway 90 again.
Possible it was doubling back towards Irvington and Pascagoula.
It lit up the wooded area, and all beneath it as it moved on off.
It had white spotlights and to the side blue and red lights that intermingled, pointing up to the clouds and then down to Earth. She told Mr. Brown she had prayed she might have such a sighting.
She had extensive dream material both prior to and after the February 4 incident.
The late dreams contain a detailed physical examination and scan of her emotions, which we expect to present later, when prepared.After the object was out of sight, Pat continued on home, arriving at 1:10 a.m.
Night Fishing
As 77-year-old Alfred Burtoo was fishing the Basingstoke Canal in the peaceful early hours of the morning of August 12, 1983, he saw a brilliant light descend from the sky and settle on the nearby towpath.
Thinking it must be a helicopter from the nearby MOD base, he took no notice, and poured himself a cup of tea from his Thermos flask.
Then his dog, Tiny, began whining furiously and two figures emerged from the darkness.
"They were about four foot high, dressed in pale green coveralls from head to foot," Burtoo told reporters. "And they had helmets of the same color with a visor that was blacked out."
The strangers gestured to Burtoo to accompany them.
Calmly setting down his cup of tea, the intrepid pensioner follow them along the towpath towards a saucer-shaped craft.
"I was 77 and didn't have much to lose," he later explained.
Inside the Saucer
Climbing up a set of steps into the saucer, Burtoo discovered that the ceiling was so low he had to stoop.
He found himself inside a black, metallic octagonal chamber, which smelt slightly of decaying meat.
"I did not see any signs of nuts or bolts, nor did I see any seams where the object had been put together," he recalled. "What did interest me most of all was a shaft that rose up from the floor to the ceiling. The shaft was about four feet in circumference, and on the right-hand side stood two forms similar to those that walked along the towpath with me."
One of the beings told the old man to stand beneath an orange light, which appeared to scan him for a few minutes.
"What is your age?" asked the entity, in a "sing-song" voice which sounded like "a mixture of Chinese and Russian".
When he replied that he was 78, it declared: "You can go. You are too old and infirm for our purposes."
Bemused, Burtoo climbed down from the saucer and returned to his fishing spot.
"The first thing I did...was to pick up my cold cup of tea and drink it," he recalled. "And then I heard this whining noise, just as if an electric generator was starting up, and this thing lifted up then took off at a very high speed."
Apparently unfazed by his bizarre encounter, Burtoo resumed the task at hand. "I got into what I had come out for - the fishing!"
Despite his rather curt reception, he later declared his nocturnal adventure to have been "the greatest experience of my life".
Quality Control?
Alfred Burtoo is not alone in having apparently failed an alien medical test. American abductee Carl Higdon believed that he had been rejected as a guinea pig for a hybrid breeding program because his captors discovered that he had had a vasectomy.
Likewise, Luis Oswald, an elderly Brazilian abducted in 1979 by beings who claimed to be from "a small galaxy near Neptune", reported that she had endured a lengthy examination then been told she was "of no use".
In August or September 1987 (later determined to be Wednesday September 2, 1987), I left Ross River (where I lived) and headed up the North Canol Road by myself on my motor bike for moose (hunting). I was planning on spending 3 days in the area between Sheldon Lake and Macpass.
A guy I worked with and a friend of his were to leave a day later and I was to meet them for some fishing.
We were all to stay at a trailer at Dewhurst Creek. I left Ross River early in the morning and the temperature started to drop.
Then it started to rain very hard and very cold.
When I got to Gravel Creek, I stopped at Art John's Cabin and put on extra clothes while standing under the edge of his roof.
I knew the rain would not stop, so I got back on my bike and headed off. I arrived at the trailer ½ hour before dark, very cold and very tired.
I lit up a fire, cooked supper and went straight to bed looking forward to the morning hunt.
Over night the rain had stopped. At daybreak (September 3, 1987) I put my gear and my gun on my bike and headed towards Macpass.
A couple of miles down the road, I was putting along at about 10 mph looking into the trees and watching the hillsides.
I decided to stop for a pee. I stopped where I could see some mountainsides and some valleys.
I parked on the right side of the road.
The sun was shining; the air was perfectly still and a bit cool. I was standing just in front of my bike watching the mountains to the south, when I noticed to the left out of the corner of my eye, what I first thought was an airplane.
It was 400 to 500 yards away and about the size of a DC-3 plane or a full-size school bus. It was travelling north to south, at about 40 yards above ground and moving maybe 30 km/h.
Right away I thought "boy is he low".
I blinked my eyes because I couldn't make out any tail fin or wings. It had what looked like portholes all along the side of it.
It was cigar shaped with a grey strip down the middle and a dark green on top and bottom. I thought to myself, "something's wrong with this picture", then I realized there was no sound! If it was an airplane, the roar would have filled the valley. As I watched, it seemed to partially dematerialize and then return to solid form, it did this as it was moving, a couple of times.
Then it dawned on me, oh, oh, I don't think I should be seeing this. It's a UFO and probably doesn't want to be seen! I crouched down on the road, hiding behind the roadside grass. I then watched it go behind a cone-shaped hill and not come out.
I stood up looking for it and feeling very excited and happy about what I saw and thinking they didn't even know they were being watched. I was standing beside my bike when I heard a loud metallic clunk behind me around the corner. Right away I thought, somebody must be here and I've got to tell them what I saw.
The noise I heard sounded like a heavy trunk lid on a car slamming shut. I quickly walked along the edge of the road to the corner to see who was there. I came face to face (about 20 yards) with 2 grey creatures in blue jump suits, about 5 ft. tall with big insect looking heads, pointy faces, big eyes, thin arms, body and legs.
I immediately thought "they're not little green men*, they're grasshopper people". *(before this, all I knew about aliens was that they were supposed to be little green men.) At that same instant, the one on the left raised his left hand to his waist, which held some type of flashlight device and I saw a bright flash of light come from it. I instantly felt paralyzed and was convinced time had stopped, everything was black, no sound.
I tried to yell "No!" but all that came out was a distorted grunt. Next thing I knew I was standing on the side of the road scared, shaking and confused. Within seconds I remembered all of this that had just taken place and I thought, "I'm getting out of here before they get me again."
I turned around to get my bike and for some reason it was not there, then I noticed it was on the other side of the road.
I said to myself, "what the hell is this? I didn't put it there".
Still panicking I rushed over and got on it and realized the keys were gone. I always left the keys in it, that way I could not lose them while sneaking around in the bush.
I immediately started looking down the road and suddenly saw them in my hand.
I started my bike and raced back to the trailer. I was feeling scared and amazed at the same time and then noticed that all the shadows of the trees were pointing in a different direction than that of the morning sun.
About 15 minutes later I was at the trailer.
Half an hour later it was dark.
I thought "no way, I only left here an hour ago, what's going on?" I was really confused then, I said to myself, "I'm not telling anybody about this, I'll just forget the whole thing". I put on a pot of coffee and could then hear a soft humming sound above the trailer.
I could also feel a soft vibration in everything.
After about 10 minutes it had all stopped.
I had a very strong feeling that they were outside.
I did not look out the windows. Later that night I still couldn't sleep and while having my coffee I began to have flashbacks of the past events.
I remember being in a dream-like state watching scenery flash by underneath as if I was flying.
I watched mountains and rivers and forests go by at a very high rate of speed. I then became aware of other sounds and seemed to wake up.
I opened my eyes and could see nothing but black, very deep and inky black.
As I was looking at this, the blackness pulled back, revealing a face, I had been looking into the eyes of a grey type creature.
I could hear in my mind a voice saying "there is nothing to worry about".
I could hear him talking in my mind. There were 3 or 4 of these types walking around, but only one talked to me.
The two I saw earlier on the road, I never saw again.
(Note: the aliens that he saw at this point were of the typical "grey type" while the ones at the edge of the road were more insectoid.) I then sat up and had an idea of what might be going on and I asked, "Are you going to do experiments on me?" and the one said, "They've already been done."
I felt really good then because, except for a strange sensation in my hands everything felt normal.
I kept rubbing my hands together but did not look at them, as there was a totally strange environment to look at instead.
I experienced no discomfort. The being nearest me asked if I would like to see my home planet and I said sure.
I then walked over to the window, where there was a machine that looked like a big copy machine.
He asked me not to touch it, I replied "Don't worry, I'm not touching anything in here". He then said, that bright white star is your home.
I didn't know anything about astronomy at the time, but I always thought earth was blue, so right away I thought he's lying.
He also explained to me about space and stars etc. but I can't remember any of it now. I was also asked if I would like to go on a trip. I replied "Not yet", I felt very honoured to be asked and I did want to go, but felt that the time was not right. Then I was told I would have to forget all of this.
I was disappointed at hearing this.
The first part of the experience was very scary, but once I was with them, I found them to be friendly, helpful and their looks didn't bother me.
They actually seemed like old friends. They gave me a clear glass, ¾ full with a yellow liquid and said to drink it up, it would make me forget everything.
I told them, I did not want to forget an experience like this.
It should be remembered!
I was told it was for my own good that I forget.
So I took 3 little sips and put the glass down. Next thing I know, I'm on the road by my bike, scared to death and wanting to get out of there. The next day I met up with the other two guys and never said anything to them. Additional Notes 1) When the being shot me with the flashlight device, I experienced what they call "the cone of silence".
It seemed like time stood still and nothing existed but me, like I was pulled from reality.
It was the most absolute quiet ever imagined.
I was really scared and tried to yell "No!", but all that came out was a gnarly growl.
Everything went dark and I had the sensation of hurtling skyward at a terrific speed.
I also felt that I was being stretched, as if my feet were on the ground and my upper body was 20 feet above.
My whole body shooting skyward. 2) When I was watching the UFO move slowly in front of me, I thought, I better get a picture of this.
My camera was just inside my jacket in my shirt pocket and was very quick and easy to get at.
A sort of calming feeling came over me and I felt like, "It's no big deal", "don't worry about it", "I don't have to have a picture". Afterwards I thought, what bizarre behavior.
I kept 2 cameras on the go all the time and I was always on the lookout for photo opportunities.
To think a U.F.O. photo is not important is insane. 3) While driving from Ross River to the trailer, I had a feeling that something unusual might happen, but never expected this. 4) Before this incident happened, I had no interest or knowledge about any of this.
So one day I decided to write everything down that I could think of.
(This original write-up has been misplaced)
Afterwards I bought a couple of books on UFOs and after reading them, realized that I'm not the only one, and that my experiences are not all just me. 5) Although I wanted to tell people about this, I was very reluctant to tell this story.
Since it happened, I have told it to less than 10 people.
Every time I tell someone, I feel like I just broke a promise I made to them that I wouldn't tell anybody.
This feeling may just be me or it may be programmed into me to keep me quiet.
I don't know. I decided to tell it as more of an awareness thing.
I'm sure other people have had experiences but are held back. 6) When I got back to Ross River, I was thinking about the sensation in my hands when I sat up on the bed. (with the beings).
I looked down at my palms and was startled to see a scoop mark in the palm of each hand. I had not seen these before.
Over the next couple of years, I asked two doctors and four nurses if they knew what this was and they all said no, they had never seen anything like it before. In September 2000, I asked my doctor about it and he said yes he knows of it and he told me the name of it (can't remember it now). But they had no idea what causes it.
Coincidence?
I don't know. I still have them.
