Summer 1967/68 - Smallbridge, Rochdale - Disc UFO Landing

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report

Author: Dave Hodrien

Release Date: 28/12/2014

Last Updated: 29/07/2019

Introduction

I have known about this incident for a number of years. Both my ex-wife and her family are well aware of my interest in UFOs and chairing of Birmingham UFO Group. On numerous occasions my ex-stepfather Geoff Walker spoke about the fact that when he was young he and a number of children had witnessed what they believed to be a landed craft while living at Smallbridge, Rochdale. While visiting them for Boxing Day in 2014 I figured it was about time that the incident was officially put down on the record. For the first time I asked Geoff to go over everything he could remember in detail.

Incident Details

It was the summer of either 1967 or 1968. Geoff was 6 or 7 years old at the time and living with his parents in a house on Ashbrook Hey Lane. Near to his home on Hollowspell lived his school friends Michael (also 6/7), John (7/8) and Debra (4/5).

Aerial map of Ashbook Hey Lane and Hollowspell, with Geoff’s old house marked:

Photograph of the house Geoff used to live in:

Just along the road from where Geoff lived is an area of park land which he and his friends used to call “The Rec”. The lower part of the area is a gradual hill covered in bushes. The upper part is a grass field that used to have football fields and a playground at the Eastern edge. Geoff and his friends would often head to The Rec to hang out together.

It was late in the afternoon of a clear and sunny day in the school holidays when Geoff, Michael, John and Debra decided to go to the playground at The Rec. They met up at the corner of Hollowspell and headed to their destination. Despite the fact that it was pleasant weather there was no-one else up there at the time.

While playing on the swings they suddenly became aware of a strange whirring sound. Geoff also remembers seeing a light out of the corner of his eye to the West of them on one of the football pitches. They all looked around not knowing what to expect.

The football pitch had a slight dip in it to the middle, and it was here that they could now see a strange object. Geoff cannot remember the exact shape of it, only that it was quite large in size, he estimates about 20-25 feet across. He thinks it may have been a disc but cannot be certain. What he recalls more clearly is a doorway opening in the side of it. The door was triangular in shape and opened downwards from the top. Pink-ish purple coloured light spilled out from inside of the door. There were also other lights above it, probably attached to the body of the object.

Aerial map of The Rec showing the position of the witnesses where the remnants of the playground can still be seen (A) and the position of the object (B):