Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 17/12/2019
Introduction
In early October 2019 a 58 year old Scottish man named Rob got in touch with me via telephone to discuss a number of fascinating, and in some cases frightening, UFO and contact related experiences which had happened throughout his life. Unlike many cases, most of these incidents involved multiple witnesses. This report covers these experiences in depth and features many photographs and drawings from Rob, as well as testimonial statements from some of the other people involved.
Vision in the Wall
Rob’s first unusual experience happed in late July of 1965. Usually I would have to query the witness to find out the details of what happened to them. However many years later Rob actually wrote down this and some of his other experiences in a diary. Below is his recollection of what took place.
“One sunny summer morning shortly after my fifth birthday I was awake in bed nearest to the wall behind my brother. There were no curtains on the large bay windows and from where I was lying I could see into Govan dockyard, but all I could see was the tops of the many cranes that were there, they were busy moving to and fro, lifting this and that from the ships in dock like giant metal fingers moving around. I was just staring, day dreaming, but my mind was really on other things. Dad was on his way and Mick and I would be tucking into something special when we eventually got out of bed, but not before mum or dad, there were rules.
Dad was home, it was just after seven in the morning and I knew better than to get out of bed, so I just stared out the window hoping that the time would pass quickly. Mick was fast asleep, and the house was still, very little traffic no real distractions or noise to speak of.
With my back to the wall I was suddenly aware of a coldness, a chill if you like. I wrapped the blankets round me tighter but then I realized that I could see my own breath. I was puzzled for a moment but soon realized that this is happening. I turned round and what was once a recess wall with white wood chip wallpaper was now a complete image of a back lane with cobble stones and brick bin sheds on either side the full length of the lane. What five year olds imagination could ever have stretched as far as to conjure up such an image, not even in a dream? But there it was, as large as life, like a giant wall poster that could only be fit for a wall in Hell.
The lane was about half the length of a football pitch and at the out her end of the lane I could see there was a figure standing with their head bowed down hiding their face. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I froze on the spot. What was this, who was that standing at the other end of the lane? My curiosity was about to become a terrible reality.
Suddenly the figure started to move down the lane, slowly at first, at walking pace with its head still bowed, then it quickened until it was almost at a running pace. It started to lift its head as it got closer and closer, now I could see it.
Its head was elongated and misshaped, almost horse like with large dark eye sockets and sunken eyes. As it got closer I can see its eyes and with its brows turned down with an evil menacing look about it. Suddenly it was there, it was as if a hole had just opened up on the far side of the wall. Its long gnarly fingers were ripping at the wall creating a bigger and bigger hole until its head was completely though it, and now it was staring straight at me with its mouth open and a long slithering tongue lashing about. I didn’t hesitate, I catapulted myself over Mick not even taking the time to wake him. I ran like the wind in to my mum and dads room, in one movement I had grabbed the bottom of the bed clothes, lifted them over my head and shot under the blankets without stopping. I was moving that fast, what a fright they must have got but nothing compared to what had just happened to me. My dad throw his hand round to stop me from ending up at the back of the head board.
I started screaming my head off. ‘The man, the man is in the wall, there’s a bad man in the wall!’ It probably took them about ten minutes to settle me down to a point where they could start asking me what was wrong. I repeated everything I had seen, they were not convinced and they put it down to a bad dream. Dad decided it was time to get me back into my bed. He woke Mick and said to go to the back of the bed and let me go to the front. Mick, under protest, complied and dad reassured me that it was just a bad dream and no monsters where in the wall, he returned to his room.
Minutes past, then suddenly I could hear a raspy breathing sound. I was hoping that it was Mick but I could see my breath again. I grabbed the blankets and pulled them up over my head but curiosity was getting the better of me. Was I imagining things? Was this just a bad dream? Why the fuck did I do it? I turned round and there it was, lunging strait out of the wall at me with its tongue waving about! It was the most hideous thing to look at, I was off like a shot again but this time a got hold of Micks top and screamed at him to get up and run. To be honest I don’t know if he followed me or not.
A few years ago I joined an online paranormal group, I posted a blog with the information about the thing in the wall and I got a message back. The nearest description I could give was the teacher from the Pink Floyd music video 'Another Brick In The Wall', the head shape is almost the same with the eyes set as far back.
What five year old wouldn’t be scared of an image like this?”
According to Rob the paranormal group he contacted informed him that the creature he had seen was a demon which was known to stalk children and caused activity similar to a poltergeist. However I can’t help but wonder if this terrifying incident was in fact an early visitation. Some of the aspects of the being Rob describes, such as the elongated face and dark eyes are reminiscent of a Grey.
Greys have often been reported to appear from and step through bedroom walls, maybe some kind of portal to another location had opened and the being used this to arrive in Rob and Mick’s room. Also screen memories, where ETs mask their true appearance, are especially common in childhood, and it is possible that Rob interpreted the being as a monster and so this is what he saw. This is merely speculation due to the fact that later on Rob had other experiences clearly linked with contact, as you will see.
Ghosts
The being coming through the wall wasn’t the only unusual thing which occurred at the house. In Rob’s notes he eludes to the fact that there were numerous incidents of a paranormal nature. While these incidents are unlikely to be directly related to his contact experiences as they often involved other people, they are worth including.
“It wasn’t easy for mum and dad to find accommodation, but there was plenty of room in that house. Even though it was a loft apartment everyone had a bed. My nana had her own room which was closer to the living room, mum and dad where in the room across from us. They were quite generous rooms, the one Mick and I had my uncle Jim slept in for many years until he met my aunt and moved out. It had been empty for some time but mum and dad had fixed it up as well as they could until hopefully something else would come along come along.
There were strange things going on that Mick and I never knew about, but every now and then we would hear bits of information as we sat around the kitchen table which was the place everyone would gather, the heart of the house. We were hardly ever in the living room. I remember my aunt talking about the Polaroid photo that she had taken of my uncle on his birthday with his brothers at the bottom of the hall at the front door. Once the photo had developed, directly behind the 4 of them was a figure of an old woman with a crouched shawl over her head. She was looking over her right shoulder holding the shawl over the right side of her face peering out straight at the camera lens. It was unmistakeable, she didn’t belong there. No one had any idea who she was. As I got older, 18/19, I got to see that photo.
The hallway was always poorly lit any time of the day or night, and you would find yourself running along the hall as fast as you could to the kitchen door. What a relief when the door opened and you were in the light and you could see a friendly face again! I remember almost squatting and putting my head down as I entered the ten foot high dark green front door of the house. I would run like the wind along the hall to the kitchen before I felt as if someone was brushing over my hair with their hand, it was a very strange sensation.
Mick and I were in bed. There were still things that belonged to Jim in the room, mostly musical instruments, TV parts and an old wooden organ that you would have to pump air into with the foot pedals at the base. It sat in the alcove where part of the slate roof started sloping at the windows. Jim being a bit of an engineer got it from an old woman for repairing her black and white TV with every intention of fixing it but he never got round to it.
It was late and I was fast asleep. Suddenly I could hear Mick screaming his head off! I sat up and looked at him. He was sitting up in bed and looking into the recess of the alcove. I could tell that he was scared with tears running down his face. I asked him several times what was wrong but he never answered. My mum and dad where on their way, I could hear them stirring. Mick became quiet. Dad was trying to open the door but was unable. Mick started to move his head from right to left towards the bedroom door as if he was following something moving in the room. Then he looked up as if someone was standing right next to him. Dad was still trying to get into the room. Mick started to lift up his hand and opened his fist like he was receiving something from someone. Then the door opened and dad was in.
Dad asked him what was wrong. ‘The bad man’ he said. ‘What bad man?’ my dad asked. ‘The bad man that was sitting on top of the organ.’ Apparently he was sitting on top of the organ with his legs crossed and he had the classic devilish red eyes. ‘There’s no one there’ said dad. ‘I know, it's ok the lady chased him away’ Mick said. ‘What lady?’ asked dad. ‘What did she look like?’ Mick replied ‘She was lovely. She had a blue top on with a white scarf over her head, like the lady in Nanas pictures. She gave me something.’ ‘What did she give you?’ asked mum. Mick started to open his fist but there was nothing there. A look of disappointment came over his face, but the person he was describing my mum and dad believed was the Virgin Mary.
The priest was called, he came to the house and blessed it, but it never made things any better. Could it get any worse?
My mum was heavily pregnant with my sister, she had been preparing the evening meal with my aunt. As she bent down to place something in to the oven suddenly she felt someone, something trying to push her down and into the oven. She turned to my aunt at the table with a look of total shock, and next to my aunt a chair roses up as if it was stuck to the wall and hung there for a moment till it hit the floor.
It was obvious that things where not getting any better, in fact it was quite the opposite, things had gone to another level! The priest was called again, but it was all they could do just to keep their wits about them and not crumble.”
Nordic Visitation
After all the paranormal activity at their home Rob’s parents decided they needed to move out. However the council would not allocate them a home straight away, so his mother’s parents offered to let them temporarily stay at their house on Alderman Road in the outskirts of Glasgow.
Soon after moving in Rob’s parents purchased a bunk bed for him and his brother to sleep on. It was set up in the living room as this was the only space available for it. Mick being the eldest got the top bunk. Rob really wanted to try the top bunk so persistently moaned until his mother gave in and let him sleep on the top bunk for one night. It was during this night that Rob had another fascinating experience. As before, he wrote down the details of this incident.
“It was getting dark and my grandparents had already retired for the night. Mum and dad set about getting James settled down for the night in the box room. Mick and I were in bed and the living room was in darkness except for the light coming from under the box room door.
I had just dropped off to sleep or so I thought. The time I was unaware of but I could suddenly feel a presence above me to my right hand side. Then it happened. I felt someone kiss me on the lips softly. I opened my eye half expecting to see my mum standing over me, but instead there was a strange but really lovely looking woman leaning over me. I know it’s hard to believe almost incredible. I think about it still. Who was she? Why was she there?
She really was quite beautiful with long blond hair and ruby red lips and eyes that looked like they were glowing with an intense shade of blue. She was smiling, and it was as if she was glowing. It took a second or two for me to realise that it wasn't my mum and I knew that my aunts had gone home. I started to scream at the top of my lungs with fright. I can still hear the sound I made.
In a flash she had moved towards the kitchen door that was adjacent to the box room, and it was as if she just disappeared in a cloud as she turned right at the kitchen door. Mum and dad arrived late obviously. They got me out of bed and asked me to describe the woman and asked me if she said anything. She hadn’t.”
Some of the aspects of this experience point towards it being a visitation by a Nordic being. These are usually reported as looking quite humanoid, having blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Also I have investigated other cases where these beings have been seen to glow, just as Rob reports here. Many experiencers feel positive about encounters with these beings, and often sense that they are cared for by them or even protected from harm. If this was indeed a Nordic rather than a ghostly apparition of some kind, maybe this kiss was symbolic of this, and she wanted to let Rob know that she was there to look after him.
Dual Abduction
On Saturday 25th November 1971 Rob had an experience which has clear links with ET contact, an incident involving both a UFO and the apparent abduction of himself and Mick. He has documented this incredible incident in detail.
“My cousin Jean was recruited to baby sit while my mum and dad went to my aunt and uncle’s wedding anniversary in Grangemouth. Jean was going on fourteen, my brother Mick had just turned twelve in September, I was ten.
At school we would chat about the things we were watching on television, mostly cartoons or the odd scary movie, but one program in particular stood out, The Untouchables, a new US hit crime series, everyone was talking about it.
The program in question was scheduled to start at 7pm that night. On the way out my father reminded Jean that I was to be in my bed for 7.30pm. Well at least i was going to get to see this amazing American Gangster show, something to talk about on Monday at school! At 6.30pm there was an announcement. ‘Due to unforeseen time delays in our scheduled programs the Untouchables will now be shown 30 minutes later than billed.’
This meant I’d be in bed when the program started. Well that was not going to work. I was going to watch the show and that’s that! But Mick made it quite plain that bed time was a lot closer than I thought and I wasn’t going to be watching the telly. Bang on 7.30pm Mick was out of his chair and trying to push me out of the living room. I had a firm grip on the door, using my foot as a door stop, it seemed as if I was winning for a moment but it wasn’t going to last long. The door was about to shut on me, the program was starting and I was still trying to look around the door to see what it was all about.
Suddenly the room lit up. There was a bright light coming from outside in the street. The living room lit up like day light...much brighter than the street lights or car lights and it was still getting brighter! Jean let out a scream and shouted ‘Don’t go to the window, stay away from the window!’ But that never stopped me. Mick was in a trance so I pushed the door open wide and stepped back into the living room. The light got brighter and things started to disappear in the room, you couldn’t see the light from the bulb in the standing lamp next to the fireplace or the light from red bulb in the electric fire. The picture on the TV screen had disappeared too. I turned round to the window. It was ultra-bright, you couldn’t cast a shadow with your own hand on the living room wall. I ran to the window and lifted the net curtain over my head.
As I looked out to my left I could see a light moving slowly from left to right. It was a beam of light hitting the road and up onto the pavement. It wasn’t a car, just a great big white ray of light on the ground. It started to get closer and moved across towards my friend house zigzagging its way along the street. The light crept up the wall and across the roof and down the front of wall the house next to my friend Billy. It moved to my right and out of sight. I wanted more, I wanted to know what it was. My eyes are stinging with the light, then it was gone from sight.
Unchallenged by Mick I made a run for the front door, ran out of the side door, turned right and started to run to the bottom of the path next to the front gate. Down four steps and I was there.
I turned to my right and looked up at this massive white circle hovering over the woman’s house next to the lane about 40 feet away from me. It looked quite funny at the time because the apex of the building it was over made it look as if it had a missing piece from it like a piece cut from a cake. It was broader than the house. The light was so intense that you couldn’t see anything above the white disc. I could hear Micks feet on the path heading towards me. He came down the stairs and stood right behind me at the gate. This was better than the Untouchables! I turned round to say something to him but when I looked at him he was light grey with a tinge of blue from head to toe. The hedges where grey blueish, the fence, the gate. Mick had a shirt with a bit of tartan in it but you couldn’t see any colour on it. The look he had on his face it was so scary. I said ‘Look at you!’ and Mick said the same thing back.
I turned back round to look at the light. Suddenly I was aware of a hand on my right shoulder. I looked round and there was someone standing next to me. I could clearly see fingers on my right shoulder. I looked up and I could see that his face was as grey as everything around us, smooth with no hair. I could only see the side profile of him, but what was really strange about him was the things he was wearing. It was like a long gown from the neck down to the feet, but the strange thing about that was it was as black as a coal mine. I felt as if I could reach out and put my hand right into the blackness. I was mesmerized by the darkness, but if everything else around us was grey blueish, what made his gown react in that way? It was as if the light was being absorbed by the darkness. I looked back up at him, but he never turned round, he was staring into the light too.
The next thing I could remember was of being in what appeared to be a pinkish like bubble. Then it started to disappear in front of me, dissolving. Bits of blue sky and sunshine started to appear through the top of the bubble and it was dissolving from top to bottom. There was no sound at first but slowly the sound of singing appeared. Music started to play in my left ear – ‘Where’s your mama gone, where’s your mama gone, far far away, far far away.’ That song is ingrained in my mind.
The pink bubble was almost gone. I looked down to my right where a hole had appeared. It started to reveal a boy playing in the lane next to the electricity power box. He had a toy truck in his hand but he was just looking straight at me. I would have done the same thing too! I turned my head round to the left to see where the music was coming from and saw Mick standing in the same position he was in last night, but now it was daylight and why were we standing in the lane next to our house 30 feet away?
I ran to the top of the lane to see where we had both been standing just moments ago. In actual fact it was still 7.35pm last night in my head, I really couldn’t understand it. It was about 9.30am maybe even 10am on a cold crisp November morning. I knew something was wrong, I knew it, but I hadn’t got a clue about what happened. Then a side window opened up on the house that the disc had been over last night. A woman appeared and said ‘Are you the two boys that have been out all night?’ We both made for the house, but the information was already disappearing from our minds as the minutes passed. Eventually I couldn’t remember anything, it was gone. But the memories of that night hadn’t quite disappeared into the back of my mind, tucked away never to be seen again, far from it.”
So many aspects of this incident fit in with other cases on record, including some I have directly investigated. Many contact experiences begin with the location being flooded in white light. It seems clear that this light was coming directly from the glowing craft seen in the vicinity of the house. It is very probable that this light would have also spread into the other houses in the neighbourhood. You may then ask why no-one else had also stepped outside to see what was taking place. Although it was fully dark outside because of the time of year it was not particularly late. However it is probable that this craft was here specifically for Rob and his brother. There are many cases on record where other people in the surroundings have been temporarily “switched off”. Contactees have often reported not being able to wake sleeping family members or seeing other people in a trance-like state. This could have been what happened here, and if so this would explain why Rob and Mick were the only apparent witnesses to what was taking place outside.
The being which touched Rob on the shoulder was clearly a Grey. While Rob did not see its face on this occasion (although would do at a later date), he did see that its head was completely hairless and grey in colour. It is very likely that this being was there to take him and his brother aboard the craft, although neither of them had any recollection of this. While he does not mention it in his notes, Rob informed me that other than the colouration the being’s hand looked human. This is a little odd as usually Greys are described as having elongated and smooth fingers.
The boys then experienced missing time for approximately 14 hours. While it cannot currently be verified at this point, it is probable that they were aboard the craft during this time, and were then returned to the approximate, though not exact location where they were taken. The mottled pink “bubble” of energy seen around them when they were returned is very interesting. While I have investigated some cases involving glowing energy or swirling portals, I do not recall any where this exact same thing has been reported to me. It was clearly blocking out the sound, as this slowly returned as the bubble dissipated. It is fascinating to wonder what the boy with the toy truck saw. Did he witness Rob and his brother suddenly appear from thin air? It is unlikely we will ever find out.
In his notes Rob describes how he and his brother ran back to where they had previously been standing, but then the memories of everything started to fade away until they were completely gone. While this is rare, I have investigated other cases where the exact same thing has been reported. And just as with this incident, some but not all of what took place returned at a later date. I believe that this is a memory block put in place on purpose by the ETs. It is probably intended to be permanent, but for whatever reason the memories sometimes come back, usually in the form of flashbacks or nightmares. How Rob and Mick recalled the incident will be discussed later in this report.
During this time they were abducted Rob’s parents would of course have returned home. It is unknown what Jean remembered, she may have recalled seeing the glowing light and the boys running outside, or maybe it was all completely blanked from her mind too. Either way it is likely that they had searched the neighbourhood for the boys and asked around at neighbouring houses for any information as to their whereabouts. This would explain the question asked of them by the lady in the window.
Soon after the incident his family moved house to Dumbarton outside Glasgow. Rob does not know why his parents did this, he says they had no reason to move at that time as they were settled. He wonders if his parents decided to move because of what had happened there.
There are clues that his parents were aware that something related to UFOs or contact had taken place. Rob used to often go fishing with his father. On numerous occasions up to the age of 17 he recalls his father bringing up the subject of UFOs. At the time he did not associate this with anything, and his father did not specifically mention the incident. But looking back he wonders if he was trying to jog his memory of what had taken place.
The Orb
Contactees often report seeing glowing orbs of light in their proximity, and Rob’s case is no different. In July 1973 just before his 17th birthday he had an experience of this nature which was also witnessed by his father. They were now living in a house on Lochlea Avenue in Drumry, Clydebank. Below is Rob’s account of what took place.
“I remember sitting with my dad one evening having a drink. There was a cupboard to the right hand side of my chair. Above that was an old serving hatch to the kitchen that had been blocked off years ago. My dad was at the other end of the living room with his chair next to the fire across from mine. We were talking for a while the usual things - fishing, snooker, more fishing, but my eye was now drawn down to the right hand side of my chair. I could see a ball of light moving along the top of the skirting board. The middle of the ball of light was bright white then in to a light pink and out to a bright red. It was bright for its size, powerful if you like, about the size of a marble but not solid, blended edges, smooth colour flow.
It moved slowly towards the fireplace, along the skirting board. I quickly mentioned it to my dad and that he was about to see this thing. It moved left then right across the front of the fireplace and into plain sight. Dad could see it crossing the front of the electric fire towards him. ‘What the fuck is that?’ he exclaimed. Well he reacted the way I should have.
It got closer to my dad, he was almost backing away as it drew nearer. It turned again down the other side of the fire place and along the back wall. My dad leapt to his feet and pulled his chair and a small drop leaf table away from the wall to see where it was but it had gone. We looked at each other in disbelief. What the hell was that and where did it go to? We sat for a long time talking about it. Deep down I knew what dad was thinking, but he wasn’t going to say for fear of panic in the house, so he said to me not to say to anyone about it, especially my young sisters.”
It is unknown whether this orb of light was linked with his contact experiences, a ghostly apparition, or was some form of energy manifestation like ball lightning. However I was not surprised at all to learn of this incident as once again it is something often reported in cases of ET contact.
Ghostly Dog
The glowing orb would not be the only thing Rob would experience at the house Lochlea Avenue. This was just the beginning of paranormal events at the property, as Rob explains in his notes.
“I came home from work one Saturday afternoon around 3-ish. My Saturday ritual every 3rd Saturday of the month after work was a shower, something to eat and head straight up stairs and back into bed.
I was ready to settle down, get a few hours’ sleep and then get up later for a night out with my friends. I shut the bedroom door, closed the curtains and got back into bed. I was laying on my stomach with my hands under the pillows in front of me. I was ready for my 120 winks. Dozing off I was aware of something in the middle of the bed to my left almost at my waist. I could feel the mattress being pressed inwards as if something was turning round and round then scratching at the bed clothes.
My first thoughts were that our dog Penny was on the bed beside me and she was settling down making her bed the way dogs do. I pulled my left hand out from under the pillow and moved it down and tried to brush her off the bed but my hand just ran right through the space I thought the dog might have been lying. There was nothing there. ‘Penny get off the bed’ I muttered, and moved my hand down further thinking she was there. Nothing! I got up and looked to the spot where this was all going on and there was nothing there. I looked down at the bottom of the bed. I could hear myself saying the words ‘Penny come on outside’ but I knew there was nothing there.
I walked to the bedroom door looking over my shoulder and fumbling, reaching for the handle on the door so I can make a sharp exit. The door opened and I was off, right down the stairs. I burst into the living room. Dad was startled. ‘I just had a dog on my bed!’ I blurted out. ‘What?’ dad replied. ‘I just had a dog on my bed and thought it was Penny.’ ‘But Penny’s been here with me for ages’ he said. But he knew I was telling the truth and we both went back up to my room. After an inspection my dad said again ‘Don’t say a word to anyone.’ It really had started again. My head was buzzing, the memories of Glasgow started to rush in. But it was more personal, it was something making itself known to me. How close do you need to be to something like that and not be afraid or intimidated about it in some way?
A week or two had passed, nothing had gone on in that time, but this particular night that was going to change. Dad and I were at home, the girls where in their beds or siting about in their room, Jamie was out with friends. It was an ordinary day, things had gone well, and dad and I had settled down for the night. It was my turn for making coffee. I was in the kitchen getting the coffee ready. For some reason my dad had taken the kitchen door off.
Coffee in both hands I started to make my way to the living room. I had to put my left elbow up to turn the light switch off as my hands were full. Then I turned left down the hall towards the living room. I was stopped in my tracks. The lights in the hall were off but that was usual for us, we never left lights on if it wasn’t necessary, and we could navigate our way round the house without light.
There was a dog in the hallway, sitting right in front of the living room door! I could clearly see it by the light coming from the glass panel in the front door. It was just sitting there. My first thought was ‘It’s Penny’ but there was no movement, nothing to suggest it was Penny. No tail wagging, no tongue hanging out panting as you would expect your dog to be doing. It was just looking up staring at me. The interesting thing about it was its eyes. They were a piercing bright bright green.
I said ‘Right Penny move, come on, let’s go’ but nothing, it was just staring right at me, tilting its head from left to right, as if studying me. i was still thinking that it was Penny, what else could it be? I started to move towards the door. ‘Right Penny come on’ I said. Still no movement. I lifted my leg over it to get by and it was still there. I was getting quite annoyed at the dog thinking it was Penny being a bit of a wee pest. I opened the living room door and walked in. To my surprise Penny was sitting on the chair and my dad was on siting on the floor. ‘Dad, I’ve just seen the wee dog that was in my bed just now outside in the hall!’ I said. I put the coffee down and went back into the hall to see if it was still there but there was nothing to see. It was probably the first time that we had left a light on for any reason.”
Poltergeist Activity
Soon after witnessing the apparition of the dog, other paranormal activity began to occur in the house. Rob recollects a number of incidents involving unexplained sounds and moving objects.
“You know your home, every little noise, creak, bump, bang that goes on, we had all become aware of that over the years. In the early hours one morning I came down the stairs to use the bathroom about 2-3am. There were no lights on. I was standing in the bathroom. I had left the door open, and had almost finished what I was doing. I could hear a noise from the hall behind me. Imagine coming down your own staircase from top to bottom and the noise you might hear from the wooden steps. Well you get to remember each step and the noise it made. If there was another noise to be heard it wold be me going back up the stairs and the noise would be reversed but that’s not what was happening.
Almost done I could hear the noise again, but it had started at the top of the stairs. I turned to see who was coming down but there was no one there. The stairs where creaking as if someone was coming down right to the bottom of the stairs. A cold shiver ran down my back. What the hell was happening? Well I guess I was in the right place at the right time for a change. I wasn’t happy about going back up the stairs, well you wouldn’t be!
It seemed that something was trying to get our attention, soon everyone was going to experience something, what it was and when was going to happen was the big question.
Mum was away at the caravan site in Wigtonshire, the two girls and my brother had gone too, leaving dad and myself to get on with painting the living room and the hall. We had almost completed the hall and had called it a day. Dad went over to the shop and bought some beer for refreshment. We sat in the living room. The TV was on and we were chatting. Suddenly there was an almighty crashing noise from mum and dad’s bedroom upstairs directly above us! We did get a fright, it was so unexpected. Dad and I ran upstairs to see what was going on and when we got into the room there was nothing out of place, no mess. Nothing had been moved or touched. It was very strange but we soon realised what was going on. We had a visit again.
The noise was real. I described it as if someone had gone in to the kitchen, taken the cutlery draw went upstairs into the bedroom and just slammed it onto the floor. We could hear the metal like forks and spoons hitting off each other, exactly like that.
Saturday tea time. Dad had made mince and potatoes with dough balls. I got home from work, went straight into the kitchen and sat in my usual chair at the alcove. Dad came over to where I was sitting with my food. I was absolutely starving, early finishes on a Saturday meant I hadn’t had a lunch break. Dad had go back over to the sink to clean up some dishes. I was holding the fork to my mouth for my first bite. Suddenly my plate was airborne and heading for the back of my dad’s legs! The plate hit the back of his right leg and into the kitchen sink door. Dad turned to me and shouted at me, but he saw me with the fork in hand and a look of disbelief on my face.
Mum decided that the girl’s bedroom should get freshened up with a lick of paint and new curtains. So my older brother and I set about doing that. All the windows were open and the furniture was back in place. It looked really nice, clean and drying out well.
That night everyone was in bed. It was the back of 2am. We are all woken to the sound of one of my sisters screaming at the top of her lungs! My brother and I leapt to our feet and rushed into the girl’s bedroom. We put the lights on and saw my younger sister Julie sitting up in her bed, holding the blankets up to her face. Dad arrived and asked ‘What’s going on?’ We thought that someone had broken into the girl’s room through the bedroom window.
‘What happened?’ dad asked. Julie replied ‘There was a man standing there.’ ‘Where?’ asked dad. ‘Right next to my bed there at the window.’ ‘Did he say anything?’ ‘Yes, he said I'll get you if it's the last thing I do.’
Dad noticed that there was a hand print on the wall directly above Julie’s head board. The rest of the room was dry except for the wet hand print. My older brother had the biggest hands in the house. Dad said ‘Put your hand in that hand print.’ So he put his left hand over the wet print and lined his hand up. The fingers were at least and inch and a half longer, easily. This room seemed to hold a presence - very dark, very dangerous and very real.”
White Disc Sighting
It was a bright, clear and still summer’s day in 1986/87. Rob was round visiting his friend Michael (who like his elder brother he nicknamed Mick) at his house on Vanguard Street, Drumry. They were playing with his pet dog in the front garden. Rob was holding a rubber play toy which the dog would bite a hold of and he would then swing the dog round in the air. The semi-detached houses on the street have concrete steps leading up to their front doors. Mick’s mother Kathleen and sister (also named Kathleen) were sitting on the top step of the house watching them. Mick’s younger 9 year old brother Mark was also in the garden playing by himself.
At the right hand edge of the garden is a 7 foot high hedge. As Rob picked up the dog into the air and swung him round he caught a glimpse of a white flattened object over the top of the hedge. He immediately thought someone had thrown a Frisbee over the hedge and instinctively ducked. But nothing landed in the garden. As he stood back up he looked towards Mick’s mother and sister on the step. They were staring past him into the distance with their mouths hanging open. Rob turned round to see what they were looking at.
Roughly about 400-500 feet away East of their location in the sky visible above the hedge was a white object. It was a disc, but the top had a slight domed shape to it. Rob estimates it was about 7-9 metres in diameter and about 3 metres in height at its central point. It appeared to be about 200 feet off the ground. The underneath of the object was a brilliant white colour. The top was more cream coloured. However at intervals around it were what appeared to be scorched lines that were almost black in colour.
The object was moving on a level course at roughly 30-35 mph. It was travelling to the South West in the direction of Glasgow Airport. To prevent it being lost from view Rob and Mick ran inside the house and to the front bedroom window to get a better view. The UFO passed over Clydebank Rugby Club. However as it neared the River Clyde it began to slowly turn to the right by 90 degrees. It then began flying to the North West following the river towards Earskine Bridge. They watched it intermittently through the gaps between the buildings until it was fully out of sight.
They then went back downstairs and spoke with Mick’s mother about what they had just seen.
Mick was sceptical that the object was truly anomalous and said “This is unbelievable! It must have been under remote control!” Rob dismissed this saying “Remote control? Did you see the size of the thing? IF it was remote control you would need to be able to keep in range of it and see it. Who would have been flying it? You’ve got to realise what you’ve just seen there!”
Mick’s mother was dumbfounded at what had just occurred. She sat back down on the step and began rubbing sun tan lotion into her arms. Then everyone heard a dull roaring noise coming from the North East. The sound got louder and louder. Suddenly two harrier jump jets flew straight over the roof of the house! They were quite low altitude and the sound coming from them was tremendous. Mick’s mother got such a shock that she fell backwards into the open doorway of the house. The jets flew away in the direction the UFO had travelled.
Rob informed me that he never saw any other jets fly over while visiting Mick. It seemed clear that they had been launched to intercept the disc they had seen. RAF Lossiemouth is 120 miles North of Glasgow and it is from here that Rob speculates they may have taken off from.
Later on that evening Rob described to his girlfriend what they had witnessed.
(Continued in Part 2)
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2019