Atomic UFOs…
When I moved to the US to live in 2001, one of the chief problems that faced me was: how the hell do I afford to ship my entire UFO collection (books, magazines, files etc) across the Atlantic?
Despite what many within Ufology think, the life of a freelance writer/author is not a rich one, and having some company pack and ship everything to the United States for me just wasn’t financially feasible.
So, here’s what happened: when my plans to move to the US were finalized, I sold my furniture, old computers and more, and just about managed to squeeze all my CDs and clothes into two suitcases and headed off to the other side of the world.
And while my huge book collection of about 5,000 items still remains in storage in the UK to this day (carefully packed in a friend’s cellar - and where it is likely to remain unless I win the lottery!), I elected to donate or sell my many and varied files, magazines etc to colleagues within Ufology.
And those that didn’t sell, I shredded - something which appalled many when they found out. But, hey, I had given people plenty of time before I left the UK to secure all of my files. When it came to the last few days before I flew out to the US, however, and with no-one willing to take the remainder off my hands, I was faced with no choice but to destroy the material.
However, most of the material that got tossed onto a big burning bonfire that a mate of mine built especially for me, had been published in my various books, as well as in countless magazine and newspaper articles - so it wasn’t as if the material was all unseen and now completely lost. It was the original, raw data (such as interview notes, tape-recordings of interviews, files etc) that I disposed of.
But I was careful to preserve those files that contained material that (a) I had not yet published; or (b) had not even investigated.
Well, I have to say that I am not a nostalgic type who lovingly cares for old files when they have served their purpose and the data has been published. No: I just see it as clutter. So, I was having a clear-out a few days ago of that last, remaining British material that I shipped over 6 years ago and came across a newspaper clipping from the early 1970s that offers some intriguing data on official British Government interest in UFOs.
Since the story involves an official body in the UK that has rarely (if ever before, maybe?) been tied to UFOs, it may be worth someone back in Britain following up on it in case it opens further doors.
And with that said, here’s the story…
Throughout the course of 1971, the British Ministry of Defense, by its own admittance, received almost four hundred UFO reports – a figure that remained unsurpassed until 1977. There are indications, however, that it was not just the MoD that was undertaking investigations into unidentified aerial activity during that year.
It was shortly after midnight on a Saturday night in August 1971, and a courting couple in a car on the cliff-top at Joss Bay, Broadstairs, Kent, had a close encounter of a kind that they certainly did not anticipate when they drove to the site.
According to Keith Young and his girlfriend Linda Catt, the first thing that struck them as being odd was a “glowing red ball” that could be seen over the Channel and that was moving “at great speed” in their direction.
According to Young: “A huge glowing ball suddenly appeared from the direction of the sea. It seemed to be making straight for us. It seemed to be only a few feet away when there was an explosion. It was a miracle that nobody was hurt.” Indeed, local residents stated, the explosion was heard at a distance of no less than three miles.
Interestingly, according to the Kentish Express newspaper, a host of official bodies took note of what occurred: Kent police officers visited the scene; the coast-guard launched an inquiry into shipping activity at the time; and the Royal Air Force checked for any possible aircraft movements. All drew a blank.
“In view of the mysterious nature of the incident we can only log it as an unidentified flying object,” said a police spokesperson. But, in this case, there was another player present, too: the Atomic Energy Authority.
Further information obtained by the Kentish Express revealed that the Atomic Energy Authority was launching “a full scale investigation” that would possibly involve scientists from the Harwell facility inspecting the scene of the encounter.
Whether or not Harwell did have a role to play in this particular episode is still to this day unclear; however, the newspaper learned further that in the days that followed the mysterious event, Atomic Energy Authority personnel “were busy collecting statements from eye-witnesses” in the vicinity.
The tone of the article suggested that the object might have been some form of rare natural phenomenon (although it should be noted that the AEA had ruled out lightning as the cause). What was perhaps the most illuminating aspect of this case, however, was that the Kentish Express discovered that the AEA had in its employ “officers with special responsibility” who were mandated to conduct such investigations.
This, of course, raises an important question: how many more incidents of a UFO nature was the Atomic Energy Authority involved in? One? Ten? A hundred? The possibilities – and the implications – are endless.
Perhaps someone in British ufology who reads this will be willing to look into this admittedly intriguing story and get to the bottom of the mystery, as well as determining the reasons why personnel from the Atomic Energy Authority (in the early 70s, at least) were running around investigating UFOs…
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 8:02 am and is filed under The Redfern Files, Breaking News, Eyewitness Accounts, Alien Encounters, Government Projects, UFO Sightings, Close Encounters, Evidence, UFOlogy. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.
del.icio.us Digg Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Help
- Related News Stories:
- Flying Saucer Music #5 »
- Harwell, Harlequin and UFOs »
- Anti Gravity Rumor from 1957 »
- The Green Fireballs »
- Stan Friedman - A New Interview »
|
Aug 29 2007 
August 29th, 2007 at 9:42 am
My great-uncle used to work at Sizewell. He was one of Britain’s first nuclear physicists. It’s a shame I’m not in touch with him because I’m sure he’d have some interesting stories to tell… if he could. But I’ve heard that dimentia has set in - a loss of a great mind
I do remember him once saying that one of the reactors in the UK that had 3 incidents (as far as the public was concerned) actually had 6. I can’t remember… Sizewell or Windscale… one or the other.
It’s a shame that he never mentioned anything about UFOs. But then, I never asked
August 29th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Is there a nuclear facility of some sort in the vicinity of the sighting area?
PS: God man, I ENVY you. I could never dream of tossing any of my junk…er stuff. Someday I will not be able to open the door of my bedroom but WHO CARES?
August 29th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Red Pill:
I think there were actually a couple of atomic related places, so that may tie in somewhere.
LOL re tossing out junk. A lot of my files did go to new homes, and pretty much all that was left was material that I had put into print anyway, so it wasn’t too much of a disaster.
Although I did end up throwing away 100s and 100s of old UFO magazines that I just could not get anybody to take off me - which I thought was weird, because as the date for my US move got even closer, I offered them all for free. All that people had to do was turn up at the house and I would have gladly loaded them all into the back of the car for them. But no-one came, so they got burned or torn up and thrown out.
But, as I said, for me at least, if I’ve been able to take a huge couple of hundred pages of files in a big bulky cabinet and condense them into a book chapter, and then I can throw out the files to make some space, to me that’s a fine achievment! LOL.
Yes, I know: I’m weird. But that’s me: when it’s done with it, it’s really done with and out it goes.
I’m completely un-nostalgic (is that a word?) when it comes to hoarding stuff!
August 29th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
You dumped all the baggage, but did you bring over any of that Brisish beer you’re so fond of, or are you making do with what my German friends refer to as “Amerikanishes Piss-Wasser”?
~R~
August 29th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Raven:
British beer is hard to find here in Dallas, but I have found a great shop that sells good German stuff that is excellent!
August 29th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
You need to make your way on up to my Seattle neck of the woods. I don’t drink at all, but I’m told we have micro-breweries here that taste good enough to melt the spots off a speckled hog. Might not be British but I hear the stuff’s pretty good.
~R~
August 30th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Off topic on beer, there’s an interesting article regarding Roswell. What are your thoughts on the veracity of this
Roswell/Werner Von Braun connection?
~R~
August 31st, 2007 at 8:18 am
Raven:
I read the Von Braun piece and it’s definitely interesting. Really, there are only 2 possible scenarios: one, that Von Braun was being honest with him; or two, that Von Braun was lying to him to hide the truth of something else having occurred at Roswell.
And I think that’s the biggest problem with Roswell: namely that there are so many theories (some of which - even the ET angle - could be cover stories for something darker as per my “Body Snatchers in the Desert” book), that 60 years on it’s difficult to determine anything about the case with any degree of accuracy.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I’ve wondered if there might not be truth to both the traditional Roswell story as well as the ideas you set forth in Body Snatchers. There were supposedly two “crash” sites. Perhaps there were refugees from Paper Clip performing experiments on human subjects, and at the same time something not of this world crashed. It would be very coincidental, I know, but such a possibility might also shed light on why some supposed eye witnesses described the bodies recovered on way, and different people described them in other ways.
~R~