THE ISLE OF WIGHT ENTITY CASE

I spoke to Philip briefly about UFOs a few days back. He is the author of “UFO LANDINGS UK” and he prepared one of his articles to CIFE. This is an intriguing report and some might say that this is not a UFO related story, but it’s a really bizarre register. This case is like a mixture of folklore, fantasy and ufology all mixed into one.

Philip Mantle

Having been actively involved in UFO research now for over forty years I have at one point or another dealt with most aspects of the UFO phenomena. For many years I had an on-going interest in UFO landing cases here in the UK after investigating one such case in the early 1980’s. There is a wide variety of such landing cases many of which are unique and packed with aspects of ‘high strangeness.’ Perhaps this next case from the early 1970’s is one of the most unusual on record.

Mr. Y’s daughter & friend,

Sandown,

Isle of Wight,

England,

May 1973

Original case file

Mr. Y’s details had been passed to Norman Oliver of the Flying Saucer Review by author Leonard Cramp. Mr. Y had requested anonymity because of his young daughter’s involvement. Mr. Y detailed two UFO sightings that he had on the Isle of Wight, one in 1970 and the other in 1972. Interesting although these two sightings maybe, it his young daughter and her friends encounter that we will concentrate on.

It was in May 1973 that Mr. Y’s seven-year-old daughter claimed to have had a very bizarre encounter. ‘Fay’ as we shall call her, was near Lake Common, Sandown, on a Tuesday afternoon with a boy about the same age when they both heard a weird noise not unlike an ambulance siren. They follow it across the golf-links and through a hedge leading to a swampy area adjacent to Sandown Airport. Now the noise disappeared.

Artist impression of the creature seen by Fay and her friend (courtesy BUFORA)

As they were crossing a wooden footbridge over a narrow brook, a blue-gloved hand appeared from under the bridge and a strange figure emerged. The figure fumbled with a book, dropped in into the water, then splashed about to retrieve it. The two youngsters then watched the figure enter a metallic hut similar to those used on building sites except that it had no windows. The figure moved with a strange hopping motion with knees raised high.

The children walked away and were some around fifty yards away when the figure (which will now be referred to as ‘he’) reappeared carrying a black-knobbed microphone with a white flex attached. The wailing noise immediately returned, this time being so loud that the boy was scared and began to run away: the noise ceased, and ‘he’ spoke into the microphone and although he was a good distance from the children they could still hear his voice as clearly as if ‘he’ was right next to them. “Hello, are you still there? “he asked, and in response to what sounded like a friendly tone they moved back close enough to speak to this oddly attired ‘person.’

He was nearly seven feet tall and had no neck, as his head appeared to be wedged straight onto his shoulders. He wore a yellow, pointed hat, which interlocked with the red collar of a green tunic. A round, black knob was fixed to the top of his hat and ‘wooden’ antennae attached to either side. The face had triangular markings for eyes, a brown square of a nose and motionless yellow lips. Other round markings were on his white-coloured cheeks and a fringe of red hair was across his forehead. ‘Wooden slats’ protruded from his sleeves and from below his white trousers. His first communication was in writing.

He wrote in a notebook in large print, “Hello and I am all colours, Sam.” The boy was hesitant, but Fay read each word as it was pointed to. This was necessary as the words were not laid out in sequence. The children ventured closer and discovered that the creature could talk without the aid of a microphone, though his lips did not move and his speech was unclear, rather like that of a person who does not open his mouth properly. He asked the children about themselves so they in turn decided to ask him some questions. They asked about his clothes, which were all ripped, and he told them he only had one set so he could only wear those. Because of his strange white features, they asked if he really was a man. He answered with a chuckle and said “no.”

Drawing made by the boy witness from the original case file

His vague reply was more of, “Well, not really, but I am in an odd sort of way.” “What are you then?”they asked, but he replied “you know” with no further explanation.

He also said he had no name. There were others like him, and he drew a rough sketch of them. He also confided that he was frightened of people and was sacred they might hurt him. Apparently if attacked he would not retaliate.

At his invitation the children crawled through a flap into his hut, which contained two levels. The lower, had plenty of headroom and was ‘wall-papered’ in blue-green and covered in a pattern of dials. It also had an electric heater and simple, wooden furniture. The upper level was less spacious, and the floor was metallic. He told the children that he fed upon berries which he collected in the late afternoon but didn’t say where, although he did indicate that he had a ‘camp’ on the mainland that he could go to. He also said that water from the river could be drunk once he had cleaned it. Once inside the hut he removed his hat to reveal round, white ears and thin brown hair. Before eating a berry, he performed an odd ‘conjuring trick.’

He placed the berry in his ear, thrust his head forward and caused the berry to disappear and reappear in one of his odd eyes: repeating the process, the berry travelled to his mouth.

Artist impression of the hut that the creature lived in (courtesy BUFORA)

The children talked to this strange being for half an hour or more, then after saying ‘goodbye’ they rushed across the golf-links to tell the first man they met that they had seen a ghost: he merely laughed. But the children were convinced of their experience and that the being was either a ghost or someone dressed up.

Fay told her father of her experience some three weeks later, on June 2nd, 1973. At first, he found the story very hard to believe, but was amazed at the detailed account and Fay’s certainty that it was true. Mr. Y also spoke to the boy who was with Fay and although he was not as talkative as his daughter, he did confirm their story and that it was indeed true.

Mr. Y added that although bizarre, certain elements of the children’s story rang true to him, and he also took account of the possibility of some connection with his own previous UFO sightings. Summing up he said: “I get the impression that Fay was somehow taken into a bubble of alien reality created by this strange personage…..he told then he had just made the hut.”

Also, Fay told me that while they were talking to this ‘ghost’, two workmen nearby were repairing a post. They paid no attention to the weird charade, as though they could not see it.”

(Source: BUFORA Journal Volume 6 No.5 Jan-Feb 1978).

Some might say that this is not a UFO related story, but what I will say is that it is really bizarre. When it comes to high-strangeness this case has it all. Although the witnesses are young there are two of them. The entity observed is like nothing I have encountered anywhere else in the UFO literature and the ‘UFO’ looks like a work-man’s tin hut. The most bizarre aspect of the whole incident to me is that there were workman nearby fixing a post of some kind, but they did not observe anything out of the ordinary. This case is like a mixture of folklore, fantasy and ufology all mixed into one.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Philip Mantle is a long-standing UFO researcher and author from the UK. He was formerly the Director of Investigations for the British UFO Research Association and the MUFON Representative for England. He is the founder of FLYING DISK PRESS and can be contacted at:

Web site: www.flyingdiskpress.com

Email: philip.mantle@gmail.com

Philip Mantle’s new book ‘UFO LANDINGS UK’ is out now on Amazon.