UFO s in South West Wales
(1977)
On the 4th of February 1977 a UFO was sighted in Broad Haven, Carmarthenshire (Dyfed).
The unusual object was seen over a 20 minute period by a group of primary school children
in a nearby field, (the field was visible from the school building).
Above: the local UFO hot spot of 1977
Above: Some of the group of children who
witnessed the event
The first sighting occurred at around midday. Partly hidden by trees and bushes, only the
upper half was visible. Enough could be seen though to establish without doubt that this
"thing" was an UFO. Whilst some of the witnesses reported the sighting to the school staff,
the word spread and others came to see what was causing the excitement. Apparently,
around 15 children in total saw the object. The headmaster of the school was notified,
but unfortunately, he was not sufficiently convinced to investigate the matter himself .
Some of the children were in a distressed state, afraid that they might be abducted or
even injured by the UFO.
Various descriptions were given. Some said that it was around 20 to 30 feet long, and it
made a humming noise. Some described the object as saucer shaped
(one on top of the other) complete with apertures. Movement was observed near the
"ship", and one of the figures seen wearing what looked like a silver helmet.
Above: Sketches made by Broad haven Primary children.
The local British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) investigator, Randall Jones Pugh was
notified later that same afternoon. He visited the site at around 6pm that evening, with one of the
school children. By this time the weather had deteriorated, it was raining heavily, and daylight
was fading fast. The next morning, Pugh returned with a reporter from the Western Telegraph,
but no traces of the landing were seen.
The school playground at
Broad haven Primary.
Above: Randall Pugh Jones.
BUFORA investigator.
Two weeks later, an object was again seen by a teacher at the primary school, at the same location,
but only for around five seconds in torrential rain. She was about to notify others when it floated
away with a humming sound. Later on the same day, two canteen workers noticed an object at
again the same location, watched a figure climb out and move up the slope of the field. They
refused to accept that they had seen a UFO, even though it was stressed to them that it would
have been nearly impossible for any ordinary vehicle to access that location, given the terrain.
Above: the field where the alleged sighting took place. (photo taken from the primary school)
The above account of an UFO sighting seems quite convincing. There were however other
supernatural happenings in the area, at around a similar period. Here are a few examples:
On the 10th February 1977, two youths spotted a UFO in a field near Haverfordwest
grammar school. At some 100 yards from the thing, one of the boys, fearing for their safety,
propelled a rock at the thing, but the UFO suddenly took off, i.e. it hovered for a short time,
then vanished.
On the 19th April 1977, the owner of the Haven Fort Hotel, a Mrs. Rose Granville, was just
about to retire at around 2 a.m., when she heard a strange humming sound. It sounded like
the central heating, but on reflection she knew this was a different sound altogether. A flash
outside the window made her look out, and there she saw a bluish sort of light pulsating and
circling. She managed to get a close look at this UFO with some binoculars, and observed
an oval object on the ground, and close by two strange figures in boiler suits. The weird
thing was, they did not appear to have any faces.
Above: Haven Fort hotel. Map of hotel and sighting of Humanoid
Looking at the above map, you will see that not more than a couple of hundred yards away to
the East is a nuclear shelter of some kind. A bit of imagination here could see perhaps why the
entities were seen, possibly an interest in the bunker?, it could be a possibility.
The local rag, took this to be a hoax, but Mrs. Granville insisted that what she had seen that
morning was perfectly genuine. Can so many people be wrong, or suffering from delusions?,
I somehow do not think so. This was typical comment from a paper which had not followed
up on the facts, and probably out for some cheap publicity.
Ripperston Farm
Billie Coombs was a herdsman, one of three, who were responsible for the safekeeping of the
dairy herd at Ripperston Farm, on behalf of the farm manager Richard Hewison, who lived at
the neighboring Lower Broadmoor Farm. Mr. Coombs and his wife Pauline lived with their
five children in a cottage at Ripperston Farm.
Next door was an adjoining cottage where Brian Klass and wife Caroline lived. Brian was
another employee at Ripperston Farm.
On 22nd April 1977, Mr. and Mrs. Coombs were watching a late night film despite interference
to the reception, which apparently was pretty bad that night. At around close to
midnight, Mrs. Coombs noticed a bright glow at the lounge window, which was not curtained
off. Some time later, her husband saw a figure, or a face to be more precise. Billie Coombs
estimated the height of the entity to be around 7 feet. As can be imagined, he was terrified by
the experience. Mr. Coombs first contacted the farm manager, Richard Hewison, who in turn
called the Police.
Above: Pauline Coombs. The entity seen by Mr. Coombs
Randall Jones Pugh, the BUFORA investigator was again involved along with the local police,
but as in previous cases, no evidence was forthcoming. Some time later though, approximately
three weeks or so, a similar figure was seen by the couple s 8 year old twins whilst out playing
in a field. They saw a figure or an entity, similar in features to what their parents saw on the
22nd April.
The strange being was dressed in a silver suit, and had a dark or black head. It walked past
them around 50 metres distant, and vanished after "walking through" a barbed wire fence.
However, the most bizarre or incredulous happening was the movement of cattle from one
place to another by supernatural means. On more than one occasion, Billie Coombs
discovered that cattle, at times one or two, but quite frequently an entire herd had vanished
from the farm yard and reappeared some distance away at a neighboring farm.* This was
indeed baffling if not weird , as the cattle would have had to move past their cottage.
A remarkable aspect is that on most occasions neither Brian or Caroline Klass, heard
or saw anything unusual, or was it that they chose to turn a blind eye so as not to add more
publicity to the weird happenings.
Above: Ripperston Farm. Right: Map showing location of both farms (approx 1/2 mile apart)
* On that one occasion when the entire herd vanished from the yard, Mr. Coombs received
a call from neighboring Lower Broadmoor Farm, an angry call at that, complaining that his
cattle were wandering around this farmers land. This was strenuously denied because Billie
Coombs insisted that he had recently seen his cattle, and there was no way that they could
have traversed the 1/2 mile to Lower Broadmoor in the short space of time between last
seeing them and getting the irate call.
Poltergeist activity could well be a connection here with perhaps someone acting as a medium.
The transportation of animals from A to B is not without precedent. The author, John Ingram s
book of 1897 (Haunted Houses), includes an eerie tale of cattle and horse movements.
This occurred in Birchen Bower, near Oldham, Lancashire.
A deceased female former owner, Hannah Beswick afraid of being buried alive, refused
to have her body buried. (her brother nearly suffered this fate) She died in 1768.
Every 21 years, her embalmed body was brought up to the house, and left in a granary for a
week. However, contrary to her instructions, her corpse was finally buried at Harpurhey
Cemetery, Manchester, in 1868. From here on, because her final wish was not followed,
her spirit was seen on numerous occasions and in a distressed state.
The Barn apparently was a focal point for poltergeist activity.
On some occasions, a horse or a cow would be found in the hay loft, an impossible
feat, as there was no way it could have got up there by itself. A hole had to be cut in an
outside wall to have the animal set free.
The house was demolished at some time, but things began to manifest again in 1981, when
a ghost was seen inside the Ferranti factory, which had been built on the site of
Birchen Bower. (try the link below, the Hannah Beswick link might not respond)
for some strange reason.
http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/greatermanchester/gtrman7.html
Men In Black (MIB)
The infamous men in black. Who are they, where do they come from.? The basis of it is,
people who have had close encounters, witnessed unusual events, or are investigating some
phenomena, and perhaps getting too involved, or too close to the truth are visited at some
stage by the MIB s.They are dressed in black, except for a white shirt, and immaculately
turned out. They sometimes threaten people not to go further with any investigations, but
have never resorted to violence. The victim is normally alone at the time of a visit, most
usually in his or her home. The "visitors" arrive alone, in a duo or trio, in a large black car,
normally a Cadillac, but the registration on enquiry is normally non existent, or not been
issued.
Returning to the Ripperston Farm events for a moment, two MIB apparently called to
see Pauline Coombs, but she happened to be out at the time. They arrived in the
usual fashion, very quiet, in fact no one heard the vehicle pull up.
Speaking to Caroline Klass, they asked where Mrs. Coombs was, knowing full well
that she was not her. They left after asking for directions to their next rendezvous.
It was no more than a few seconds later that Pauline Coombs arrived back at the farm.
Strangely enough, she had not passed the two men in their odd car, even though there were no
other exit roads off that particular farm road!. So, how on earth could she have missed them?.
Above: David Tansley, an UFO authority who has suggested that MIBs are a kind of Demon
and powerfully psychic.*
Center: Montague Summers(1880-1948), found a number of MIB cases, a long time before
the initial UFO-MIB case in 1953.*
Above-right: Richard Baxter was a 17th Century writer, who mentioned the story of a
woman living in London, an intelligent woman he adds, who was encouraged to hang herself
by the Devil, in the shape of a black man. Black as a symbol of evil, reappears in the MIB
myth.* Alien World
