Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Date: 11/08/2011
Last Updated: 17/01/2025
In July 2011 a man named Patrick Hartnett got in touch with me to discuss an unusual incident which occurred in 1999 when he was about 18 years old. There are many signs that suggest that he may have been abducted. This report covers the experience, as well as other unusual experiences that he has had throughout his life.
Moving Curtains
Around the age of 5-6 Patrick remembers seeing the curtains of his bedroom open by themselves late at night after dark on numerous occasions. Whenever it happened he would tell his parents that there were people looking in from outside. But his parents would just tell him it must be a bad dream.
He also remembers disliking being on his own after dark. This fear built up until he could only drop off to sleep if his mother was there in the room.
It is possible that the curtains opening were nothing more than his young imagination. Also perhaps his fear of being on his own after dark was just a typical fear that many children have. However there is the possibility that Patrick was experiencing ET contact even back then, and that these incidents were signs of this. He does not recall seeing any ETs but often contact will begin in childhood and continue through the individual’s life, so this cannot be fully ruled out.
Finger Marking
Around the same time that he was experiencing the incidents after dark, Patrick awoke one morning to find a strange inflamed marking on his right index finger. It was in the shape of a 1 cm line then a small gap followed by a slightly slanted much shorter line of roughly 2mm. He remembers that it itched. Patrick showed the marking to his parents but they could not explain where he may have got it from.
Within a short time the marking faded to a white coloured scar which Patrick still has today. Below is a photograph of how it now appears:
As the marking left a permanent scar this does suggest that it was down to normal injury and not something out of the ordinary. Most markings received during abduction experiences tend to fade away within a couple of days. However I felt it was still worth mentioning, especially as it occurred around the same time as his fear of the dark and the moving curtains.
Red Lights UFO Sighting
In October/November 1996 Patrick was living in Germany with his parents. His father was in the and was stationed there at the time. They lived in a house in the barracks of Honhe army camp. Late one evening, between 10.30-11.00pm Patrick was walking back to the house from the local gym. It was a cold and clear night with no cloud cover.
Patrick was walking alongside a cemetery and large lake that was next to the housing quarters. He happened to glance up into the night sky. Over the far end of the lake, about 200 metres away to the North at quite a high altitude he noticed three red glowing lights in a triangular formation.

The lights were moving in unison, and he believed them to be three lights on a singular object rather than three objects flying in formation. They were moving to his left at what appeared to be a fast speed. However they did not keep flying in this direction. They began darting around in the sky, back and forth, up and down. If the lights were on a singular object, this appeared to also be rotating different directions – the three lights were not always at the same angle to each other but the distance between them did not change at all.
Patrick was fascinated by the strange movements of the lights and realised they could not be a conventional aircraft. There were no aircraft stationed at the military base, and the movements were far too erratic. He watched them for a number of minutes. Then suddenly without warning the lights vanished. He continued to stand staring in the direction where the lights had been, hoping to see them again, but they did not return.
Apparition Of A Girl
In 1997 a short time before Patrick and his parents were set to leave Honhe and return to England, Patrick saw what appeared to be a ghost. He was in the house alone, his parents had gone out for his father’s leaving do put on by the regiment. It was about 11pm and Patrick was sitting in his bedroom. The bedroom door was wide open, giving him a view out onto the landing. His bedroom light was on but the one on the landing was off. However the light from his room illuminated the landing quite well.
Suddenly Patrick saw a little girl walk right past his bedroom door in the direction of the bathroom. She had dark shoulder length hair and appeared to be wearing a dress. She looked quite young, perhaps 5 years old. Her arms were down by her sides and she appeared to be in a daze.
Patrick was quite shocked as he knew that he was the only one in the house and there was no way a young girl would have somehow entered the property. He walked over and peered out onto the landing. There was no-one there. He then looked in the bathroom through the doorway. Again it was clear that it was empty. At this point he became extremely frightened. He quickly ran downstairs and out of the house!
He went to his friends house across the road and started banging on the front door. It was quite late and his friend’s parents were already in bed, but when they saw the state he was in they seemed to understand. When he spoke with his friend, she informed him that other people had reported the same thing in the property. Her father dealt with the housing within the barracks and had informed her of these incidents. When Patrick heard this it confirmed to him that the house was haunted and he had seen the ghost of an unidentified young girl.
While this incident does not seem to be linked to ET contact in any way, many contactees report seeing apparitions or other paranormal activity in their proximity. There is the possibility that they are more susceptible to seeing such things, or that through contact they have gained a heightened sensitivity. Could this have been the reason why Patrick had this experience? Or would anyone there at the time have seen the same thing he did.
The Abduction
Back in August 1999 Patrick shared a small studio flat on Watergate in the centre of Sleaford with his partner at the time. One night he awoke and went to get a drink from the kitchen. As he walked across the living room he began to feel very uneasy like something was watching him. It sent a chill right up his spine and he had never felt anything like it before. After grabbing a drink of milk from the fridge he quickly got back into bed next to his sleeping girlfriend.

Within what seemed like a brief moment, the bedroom suddenly lit up in an intense pale blue light. few seconds later he felt himself being pulled from the bed towards the window of the room. Patrick describes it as similar to the feeling of being on an escalator. He tried to move but found he could not, it was like he was restrained all over his body from the neck down. He was still able to move his head. He was absolutely terrified and tried to scream out loud, but no sound appeared to come out.
Patrick turned his head to look across at his girlfriend. She was facing away from him and appeared to be asleep. However he now became aware that he was looking at her from a slight diagonal angle, and was a short distance in the air above the height of the mattress! This caused him to panic, as it was clear to him now that he was actually floating towards the window, it was not just a feeling of being pulled towards it.
This seemed to go on for about 10-15 seconds, by which time he was nearing the window of the room. Then suddenly there was blackness. This was followed by a brief vision which lasted for no more than a few seconds. He was lying down on a flat surface of some kind. There was a Grey standing alongside him and peering down at him. The being had smooth skin and was expressionless. It had large almond shaped eyes which were completely black. They seemed cold and devoid of life. It had a small nose that did not protrude far from its face, and a thin slit for a mouth. Patrick does not recall seeing any ears. As far as he could tell it was not clothed. He sensed that there were other beings also present although he did not see them. He does not recall seeing any surroundings or a ceiling beyond the Greys face.
A moment later once again there was blackness. The next thing Patrick became aware of, he was waking up the following morning. He immediately recalled what had taken place. At the time he had a basic knowledge of what aliens are supposed to look like and realised that what he experienced could have been related. However, because of this knowledge, he wondered if it had been nothing more than a vivid dream and had not actually taken place.
Over breakfast he told his girlfriend what had happened but she didn’t believe him. He decided to drive on around to his mother’s house in Methringham to tell her about the experience. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something unusual had taken place. He expected her to suggest that it had just been brought on by what he had been reading. However when he told her what happened, she sat there blankly staring at him. When he was finished, she suggested that they take a drive out somewhere. Patrick didn’t understand why she wanted to do this but decided to go along with it.
He followed his mum’s directions and they drove out to a corn field on the outskirts of the village. As they approached the field they were on the Sleaford Road and heading down slope. It became immediately obvious that there was a crop circle in the field. His mother then informed him that it apparently appeared during the night. She wondered whether the two incidents were connected and whether his experience had not been a dream. Patrick was fascinated and also found it to be a strange coincidence that this circle had formed on the same night as the incident. It actually spooked him out a bit.
Sadly neither he or his mother had a camera on them at the time so there was no photograph of the crop circle taken. Ever since the incident, Patrick has wondered whether he was really taken on that night. If he was abducted it appears to have been the only time, unless memories of other experiences have been fully blocked out.
Many of the aspects that he mentions certainly fit in with contact. The feeling of being watched is commonly reported by contactees and often precedes a contact experience. The sudden glowing light seen in the room, paralysis and fact that when he tried to scream no sound seemed to be coming out are all classic signs of an abduction. Also the fact he actually saw himself floating across the room towards the window is very good evidence to suggest that he was abducted.
Some of these aspects could be attributed to sleep paralysis. This is where the body shuts down in a state of semi-sleep, which can cause the brain to imagine or see unusual things. However there are several good reasons why I do not feel this was the case. Firstly Patrick has never experienced sleep paralysis on any other occasion, up until I informed him about it he didn’t know it existed. It appears that he had literally just got back into bed, there was not really enough time for him to have started to drop off to sleep. He was already feeling uneasy because of the feeling of being watched, so it was not like he was in a drowsy state when he lay back down. Lastly during sleep paralysis you can feel like you are being pulled from your bed, however you do not actually go anywhere, it is highly unlikely that Patrick would have hallucinated floating through the air across the room.
The fact that he then had a brief vision of a Grey, sensed others around him and appeared to be lying down on a raised surface suggests that he was taken aboard a craft. These aspects fit extremely well with a “classic” abduction scenario. He does not remember actually lifting up towards a craft, but few contactees do, this aspect is often forgotten. We must take into account the fact that Patrick had previously read into the UFO subject and was aware of what Greys look like. Could he have had a vivid dream suggesting to him that he had been taken? At this stage this cannot be ruled fully ruled out.
The crop circle that appeared on the same night as his experience is interesting. It is of course possible that it was related, but there is no real evidence pointing towards this. It was not very local to Patrick’s house, and could have been nothing more than a hoax as many crop formations in recent years have been.
Ongoing Observation
Patrick says that around twice a month he still gets the sudden feeling of being watched. This tends to happen late at night and when he is alone. When he senses this he has the habit of walking round and checking all the doors and windows are locked. He then gets into bed, ensuring a light is left on. The feeling tends to remain until he drops off to sleep.
Could this be a sign of ongoing ET interaction? It is very common for contactees to feel like they are being watched, and this may sometimes be down to regular observation from the ETs.
Conclusion
Patrick has had some fascinating experiences. The incident which occurred in the studio flat is a very good sign that he could be a contactee. His other experiences are also interesting, though may not be directly linked with ET contact. The UFO sighting that he had is quite impressive due to the manoeuvres it was performing. I believe that it may well have been a genuine craft, however it was quite distant to him and did not seem to directly interact with him in any way.
I feel that the best way forward would be for Patrick to be hypnotically regressed. He seeks answers to what actually happened during the abduction experience. It certainly appears that more may have taken place than he can currently remember. Perhaps with regression these missing memories could be unlocked and we could gain enough information to say for sure whether he is a contactee or not. If he decides to go ahead with the regression the details will be added to this report.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2025
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