Ilkley Moor UFO incident

Last updated

Ilkley Moor on a clear evening Ilkley Moor.jpg
Ilkley Moor on a clear evening

There was an alleged UFO incident on Ilkley Moor on 1 December 1987. [1] A retired police officer claimed that he was abducted by aliens while on a morning walk and briefly held on their craft before being returned to the moor. [2] The man took a photograph of the moor which he said shows one of the aliens that abducted him. [2]

Contents

The photograph subsequently became a news story in the UK. [1] It has been cited as one of the strongest pieces of evidence that we have that extra-terrestrials have visited Earth. [1] [3] It has also been described as “incredibly blurry”. [4] Skeptics have dismissed the incident as a hoax, saying that the photograph shows something else, such as a man or a cardboard cut-out. [2] [5]

Background

Ilkley Moor is an area of moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. [1] It is well-known as the inspiration for the song On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at . [1] It is also known for its carved rocks, particularly the Swastika Stone. [1] There have been many UFO sightings on the moor. [2] [3] [4] Sceptics have suggested that this is because of the nearby proximity of Menwith Hill airforce base and Leeds Bradford Airport. [2] [4] [5]

Philip Spencer (a pseudonym [6] [7] ) had moved from London to remote West Yorkshire with his wife and child in order to be closer to his wife’s family following his retirement from the police force. [8] On the morning of 1 December 1987 Spencer began walking across Ilkley Moor to visit his father-in-law in East Morton. [8] He had taken a camera with him as well as a compass, in case there was fog. [2]

Incident

According to Spencer, he was walking up a small hill when he noticed an odd-looking figure just up the trail ahead of him. [2] It was dark green and about four feet tall [2] with an oversized head and long, thin arms. [9] The creature made a gesture at Spencer, which he took to be a gesture telling him to stay away, but he took out his camera and took a picture of it. [2] [9] The creature then ran away and Spencer followed it. [9] He lost the creature in the fog but then saw a craft rise from the moor and disappear into the sky. [8] He described the craft as being of a whitish colour and consisted of two saucer shaped parts that were attached, with one being on top of the other. [8] There was also a loud hum. [8] He did not take a photograph of the craft. [2] [5]

Rather than continue with his planned route, Spencer headed to another town that was about a half hour away. [9] When he arrived he discovered that it was about two hours later in the day than he expected it to be. [9] Additionally, the compass that he had taken with him was pointed in the opposite direction than it should have. [8]

Initial aftermath

In the days following the alleged incident Spencer made contact with UFO researchers Jenny Randles and Peter Hough. [9] Hough claimed to have been “extremely sceptical” at first but later came to believe Spencer. [6] Spencer handed over the copyright of the photo to Hough. [10] Although the story quickly made the news Spencer insisted on keeping his anonymity. [6] [9] Various write-ups of the case have made it clear that Spencer did not make any money from the story. [5]

As well as examining the site, Hough sent the photograph to a number of experts. [2] A wildlife photographer who examined the photograph said that it was not from any known animal. [5] Experts from the Kodak laboratory in Hemel Hempstead said that they could not detect any evidence of tampering. [5] Bruce Maccabee, a US Navy optics expert and ufologist, concluded that the photograph was “too grainy for proper testing”. [8] [5]

According to ufologist Nick Redfern, Spencer was hassled by the Ministry of Defence a few days after the incident on the moor. [11] He says that they opened a file on Spencer and sent two Men in black to his home to intimidate him into silence. [11]

Account changed under hypnosis

While the photograph was being examined Spencer claimed that he experienced strange dreams. [2] Following Hough’s advice he attended a session of regressive hypnotherapy. [8] This was carried out by Jim Singleton on 16 March 1988. [8] Under hypnosis Spencer’s original account of the incident changed. [10] Singleton has called it a “genuine recall”. [6]

Spencer now recalled that upon seeing the creature on the hill he was instantly paralysed. [2] He was then lifted up a few feet and pulled into the craft. [2] When he entered the craft a voice told him to be calm. [2] [8] A group of green aliens then performed medical experiments on him, inserting items into his nose and mouth. [2] [8] He was given a tour of the craft [2] [10] and shown a film. [2] The film showed apocalyptic imagery, including nuclear explosions, famines and floods. [2] Spencer was then shown a second film. [2] He has never revealed the contents of the second film, saying that the aliens who abducted him do not want humanity to know. [2]

Following this Spencer was returned to Ilkley Moor, where he then took the famous photograph. [2] He claimed that the alien was actually waving goodbye to him, not telling him to stay away, as in his original account. [2]

Legacy

The Ilkley Moor incident generated headlines in the UK at the time and remains one of the country’s most famous UFO sightings. [2] Nick Pope, a journalist who previously worked at the ‘UFO desk’ of the Ministry of Defence included this event in a 2011 list of "Top 10 UFO incidents in the UK". [12] It has been cited as one of the most persuasive UFO incidents to ever occur. [1] [3]

Skeptics have claimed that the whole incident is a hoax. [2] They have said that the photograph is so blurry that it is far from proof of any alien visitors to Earth. [5] They have argued that the “alien” in the photograph could easily be a man or a cardboard cut-out. [5] Sceptics have also asked why Spencer did not take a photograph of the craft, noting that such a photograph would be more difficult to fake. [2] [5] Sceptics have also dismissed the supposed physical evidence of the broken compass, saying that it is easy to manually wreck compasses. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilkley Moor</span> Moorland in West Yorkshire, England

Ilkley Moor is part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The moor, which rises to 402 m (1,319 ft) above sea level, is well known as the inspiration for the Yorkshire "county anthem" On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roswell incident</span> UFO legend caused by 1947 balloon crash

The Roswell incident is a collection of events and myths surrounding the 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon, near Roswell, New Mexico. Operated from the nearby Alamogordo Army Air Field and part of the top secret Project Mogul, the balloon's purpose was remote detection of Soviet nuclear tests. After metallic and rubber debris was recovered by Roswell Army Air Field personnel, the United States Army announced their possession of a "flying disc". This announcement made international headlines but was retracted within a day. Obscuring the true purpose and source of the crashed balloon, the Army subsequently stated that it was a conventional weather balloon.

Alien abduction refers to the phenomenon of people reporting what they believe to be the real experience of being kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and subjected to physical and psychological experimentation. People claiming to have been abducted are usually called "abductees" or "experiencers". Most scientists and mental health professionals explain these experiences by factors such as suggestibility, sleep paralysis, deception, and psychopathology. Skeptic Robert Sheaffer sees similarity between some of the aliens described by abductees and those depicted in science fiction films, in particular Invaders From Mars (1953).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascagoula Abduction</span> Alleged 1973 alien abduction in Mississippi

The Pascagoula Abduction was an alleged UFO sighting and alien abduction in 1973, in which Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claimed they were abducted by aliens while fishing near Pascagoula, Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Redfern</span> British journalist (born 1964)

Nicholas Redfern is a British best-selling author, journalist, cryptozoologist and ufologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Tehran UFO incident</span> Radar and visual sighting of a UFO over Tehran, Iran

The 1976 Tehran UFO Incident was a radar and visual sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) over Tehran, the capital of Iran, during the early morning hours of 19 September 1976. During the incident, two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom II jet interceptors reported losing instrumentation and communications as they approached the object. These were restored upon withdrawal. One of the aircraft also reported a temporary weapons systems failure while the crew was preparing to open fire. An initial report of the incident was relayed to the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on the day of the incident.

This is a list of alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects or UFOs in Brazil.

This is a list of sightings of alleged UFOs in Australia.

This is a list of notable alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the United Kingdom. Many more sightings have become known since the gradual release, between 2008 and 2013, of the Ministry of Defence's UFO sighting reports by the National Archives. In recent years, there have been many sightings of groups of slowly moving lights in the night sky, which can be easily explained as Chinese lanterns. Undertaken between 1997 and 2000, Project Condign concluded that all the investigated sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena in the UK could be attributed to misidentified but explicable objects, or poorly understood natural phenomena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf Breeze UFO incident</span> 1987 claimed UFO sightings in Florida

The Gulf Breeze UFO incident was a series of claimed UFO sightings in Gulf Breeze, Florida, United States, during late 1987 and early 1988. Beginning in November 1987, the Gulf Breeze Sentinel newspaper published a number of photos supplied to them by local contractor Ed Walters that were claimed to show a UFO. UFOlogists such as Bruce Maccabee believed the photographs were genuine; however, others strongly suspected them to be a hoax.

In ufology, the Taylor Incident, a.k.a. Livingston Incident or Dechmont Woods Encounter is the name given to claims of sighting an extraterrestrial spacecraft on Dechmont Law in Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland in 1979 by forester Robert "Bob" Taylor (1919–2007).

Alien abduction claimants are people who have claimed to have been abducted by aliens. The term "abduction phenomenon" describes claims of non-human creatures kidnapping individuals and temporarily removing them from familiar terrestrial surroundings. The abductors, usually interpreted as being extraterrestrial life forms, are said to subject experiencers to a forced medical examination that emphasizes the alleged experiencer's reproductive system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emilcin Abduction</span>

Emilcin Abduction was a supposed alien abduction of farmer Jan Wolski in May 1978. There was little media attention at the time. A monument was subsequently erected in Emilcin, Poland, at the site where the abduction is said to have taken place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Ilkley</span>

Ilkley is a town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. It has been inhabited since at least the Mesolithic period; was the site of a Roman fort, and much later an early example of a spa town. In more recent times it serves as a residential district within the travel to work areas of Bradford, Leeds and Keighley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barney and Betty Hill incident</span> Alleged alien abduction, 1961

Barney and Betty Hill were an American couple who claimed they were abducted by extraterrestrials in a rural portion of the state of New Hampshire from September 19 to 20, 1961. The incident came to be called the "Hill Abduction" and the "Zeta Reticuli Incident" because two ufologists connected the star map shown to Betty Hill with the Zeta Reticuli system. Their story was adapted into the best-selling 1966 book The Interrupted Journey and the 1975 television film The UFO Incident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zanfretta UFO Incident</span> Alleged 1978 alien abduction in Italy

The Zanfretta UFO incident was an alleged alien encounter of Italian nightwatchman Pier Fortunato Zanfretta. He later claimed to have been abducted by the beings 11 times between 1978 and 1981.

The Frances Swan story is a 20th-century legend of a Maine housewife who, in 1954, claims to receive messages from extra-terrestrials via automatic writing. Allegedly instructed by the messages to contact the Navy, the housewife reaches out to her next door neighbor, a retired admiral, who arranges for Naval investigators to interview the woman. Using automatic writing, naval investigators summon a UFO.

On 16 September 1994, there was a UFO sighting outside Ruwa, Zimbabwe. Sixty-two pupils at the Ariel School aged between six and twelve said that they saw one or more silver craft descend from the sky and land on a field near their school. Some of the children claimed that one or more creatures dressed all in black then approached and telepathically communicated to them a message with an environmental theme, frightening them and causing them to cry.

References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "'Picture Post: When Ilkley Moor became an alien landing site'". The Yorkshire Post. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Sweeney, Matty. ""Ilkley Moor Alien Photograph"". theparanormalguide.com. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    3. 1 2 3 "Alien Evidence Re-investigated". 'The Telegraph & Argus'. 29 August 1998. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    4. 1 2 3 Coulson, Jim (6 October 2020). "'Alien And UFO Sightings In Yorkshire And Lancashire'". 'Northern Life Magazine'. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "'The Ilkley Moor Monster: A Watertight Story'". theironskeptic.com. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    6. 1 2 3 4 Harley, Gill. "'Alien encounter on a wild moor'" . Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    7. Redfern, Nick (2018). "Top Secret Alien Abduction Files: What the Government Doesn't Want You to Know". Red Wheel Weiser. p. 130. ISBN   978-1633411043 . Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Ilkley Moor Alien". ufoweeklynews.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Redfern, Nick (2018). "Top Secret Alien Abduction Files: What the Government Doesn't Want You to Know". Red Wheel Weiser. p. 131. ISBN   9781633411043 . Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    10. 1 2 3 Redfern, Nick (2018). "Top Secret Alien Abduction Files: What the Government Doesn't Want You to Know". Red Wheel Weiser. p. 132. ISBN   9781633411043 . Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    11. 1 2 Redfern, Nick (2018). "Top Secret Alien Abduction Files: What the Government Doesn't Want You to Know". Red Wheel Weiser. p. 129. ISBN   9781633411043 . Retrieved 12 December 2021.
    12. Pope, Nick (29 June 2011). "Top 10 UFO incidents in the UK". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2012.