Thursday, 25 August 2022

BARDNEY (LINCOLNSHIRE ) Mid June 1976. Afternoon

“A group of schoolboys saw something like a stick man, black with a round head, jolting along without making any noise, 150m (490 ft.) away, behind a hedge. No investigation took place”.

Bearing in mind that the Anders report was from 1977, when I read this and the entity description I had a rush of excitement mixed with disbelief. As far as I was concerned the entity described by Mr Anders was unique, if similar to others but it was early days and I had not collated all the material at that point. My mind was expecting to find enough differences to avoid having to face two reports that matched –and neither party involved knowing of the other.

Above: Bardney from the air

It turned out that the quoted source was Nigel Watson and I had corresponded with him on UFO cases back in the 1980s so we at least knew each other. I tracked down Nigel’s current contact email and wrote to him to explain that the report is very similar to another from the UK report as well as one from France and the US around the same period it would be interesting to try to find out more.

Nigel responded quickly:

“I mention the case in Portraits of Alien Encounters but I don't think there is much further info to add. I remember it was provided by one of the boys in a short letter”.

I checked the book in question but nothing on this case so I wondered whether there was a later edition and got another copy but the contents were exactly the same. I went through the book line-by-line four times. Not a mention of the report. So I got back to Nigel and asked what page the account was on; he checked and got back to me: “I just checked and couldn't find it either! I'll check elsewhere it might have been in an article I did for Strange magazine - I'll check that out”.

Prior to final editing of this work I thought I would try and see whether Nigel had found the missing report –he had. It was, in fact, in a BUFORA publication and what made me want to bang my head repeatedly into a wall was that I had a PDF of the very publication! Here is what was written to Nigel by a ‘UFO investigator’ and included in his article in which he looked at attitudes toward children as witnesses in UFO sightings:

“Concerning the reference made by the schoolboy to a 'stick man: I dismissed it partly because there was only one person who saw it, and secondly…that the lads had claimed to have seen so many UFOs in that area" (Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire) .

"Anyway I'11 quote from the letter I received from the lads.

'On Sunday afternoon boys are allowed to go to Bardney. In the summer term, 1976, about mid-June, we saw a "stick man" jolting along. It was black with a round head, not making any noise. It was about 15O yards away from us, and it was quite hard to see’.

"In my letter to Ken Phillips (BUFORA National Investigations Coordinator) I said that if the 'stick man' had been seen by more reliable people, and also if these young boys had not seen so many 'UFOs' (and many of them sounded like phantoms) I might have felt that the report justified an intensive investigation. However, even if the report was investigated little could be achieved because (a) it took place (allegedly) in summer 1976, (b) its value is very limited as I certainly would not hope to have to resort to reports made by young boys who; (i) could not be bothered to report the incident in 1976, (ii) probably have very strong imagination”.

In the case cited by Nigel Watson it is quite obvious the alleged ‘investigator’ had a few credibility problems of his own. Firstly, only one of the boys had seen the “stick man” but then we have a quote from the letter: “we saw a ‘stick man’” which seems to suggest that there was more than one observer of the figure. Just what exactly were these “phantoms” –light phenomena?

If the witnesses were youngsters then it was probably not easy for them at that time to find out to who they should report these things. It is even possible that if they told their parents they might have been told not to say anything for fear of ridicule or worse. The ‘investigator’ seems to have put a lot of work into “why I cannot be bothered” to even talk to the witnesses.

The Anders case was 1977 so could it be that these boys saw a similar entity but there was associated UFO activity?

Autumn 1964 Karslake, Cornwall -Missing Time?

Final one for today based on cases uncovered by John Hanson. Karslake was a row of houses and over the years the tenants were moved on and the area is today a camping ground. Many families from the St Austell area can apparently trace their heritage back to the 24 houses that made up Karslake Row. The first china clay to open in 30 years, back in 2012, at Higher Moor, near Roche, is situated near where Karslake stood. So it was a sparsely populated area in 1964

John Hanson Haunted Skies vol. 2 pp204-206

Joan Vincent had served in Local Government in various positions as well as Borough Councillor. It was only 40 years later, now being retired, that she broke her silence and told Hanson the following sighting of her and husband Roy:

Above: retired Councillor Joan Vincent

“We read about some students from Fowey College, who reported having seen ‘flying saucers’ over Carloggas Downs, and decided to go out and have a look for ourselves. After driving for a short time, we stopped at 5.00pm in Karslake, where we scanned the surrounding skies, hoping to see something. Ten or fifteen minutes later, the whole of the open countryside was enveloped in brilliant light. Startled, we stood there, trying to identify the source of this light, and realised it was coming from a field behind a hedge, about 50yds away from our position.

“We walked over and peered behind the hedge, and were flabbergasted to see a large dome, with an upper surface that appeared to be translucent like glass, with a lower solid body, grey or green in colour, about 6ft in length and 3ft in height.

“Unfortunately, as our view was restricted by another hedge, we were unable to determine whether the craft was actually resting on the ground, although it appeared that way.

“We could see what looked like a large cabinet, with dials inset around the outside with what looked like portholes.

“At this stage, I felt frightened and asked Roy to take us home. We decided to keep quiet, knowing we would be the subject of ridicule”.

Which would seem to be a standard UFO sighting until we learn that Joan found:

“a small lump on her right leg, out of which –to her horror- grew something resembling a blade of grass, that could only be cut off using scissors.

Above; the object sighted.

“Despite seeking medical advice over the years, the condition remained undiagnosed until it stopped growing, leaving a small scar….She confirmed she had found some marks on her leg identical in size and depth to other marks and scars brought to our notice by people who believe such ‘scoop marks’ are evidence of alien surgery carried out following ‘abduction’”

Which beggars the question of whether there was any missing time.

Joan-and-Roy-Vincent-at-the-scene-of-their-close-encounter

20th July 1966 Isle of Wight -What Happened on the Isle of Wight

I have made it very clear that after over four decades of research and investigation I do not believe UFO abduction incidents are as common as popular Ufology wants us to believe. It is a pop culture phenomenon that is a good financial earner for many unscrupulous people.

There are, however, cases where there is evidence that "something" happened that was neither altered state or misidentification based. John Hanson has, with his Haunted Skies series unearthed a number of previously unknown cases. There are cases that were reported on at the time but as the (despite what debunkers claim) Betty and Barney Hill case was little known.

There are problems in shouting out "You may have been abducted!" and telling someone they need to undergo hypnotic regression; if they have undergone an experience that is suppressed in their memory and , perhaps, had the odd dream but decide decades later to undergo hypnosis -tainted memory. We have had three or more decades of TV, newspaper, magazine articles about the subject that can seep into accounts.

The other factor, which is why I decided not to suggest (non hypnotic) ways to recover partial memories is this: If the person involved underwent what would be a world view shattering experience and they have suppressed the memory and led normal lives why press them to try to find out what happened? Why open up a whole can of worms just to see what happened because then they will need to live with that and although I can talk to these people to help in some way what might be unearthed could well require years of therapy. I am not a qualified psychologist and I am not interested in just collecting accounts to earn money from them.

Time and again I have made it clear that these are human being not cash cows

reference: John Hanson Haunted Skies Vol. 3 pp 65-66

Isle of Wight couple, Miss Angela L. Cotton, and her boyfriend, at the time, John, were seated in a car on the Blackgang side of the Landslip car park, at 21:30 hours on the 20^th July, 1966. Angela had the odd sense that something or someone was close by and watching them and looking out of the window, they both saw a yellow glow over towards the hills that was blocking their view of the sea.

Blackgang Chine, The Undercliff 1913

Both were curious and so they wound down the car window and were almost immediately aware of a vibrating sound, apparently coming from the direction where the glow was situated. John decided they should return home and so they set off along the country lane that led onto the main road. It was now that something unusual took place. According to Angela:

“Suddenly, ‘John’ doubled over the steering wheel, clutching his stomach. He gripped his right arm on the inside of the elbow joint and his foot began to slip off the accelerator. His face went white, almost blue. I told him to put his foot back and I would steer the car to the main road, which I did. After arriving home, ‘John’, told me he felt as if his stomach had been gripped in a vice and rolled up his right sleeve. On the inside of the elbow joint, there was a mark, like a bruise, about the size of a penny, showing numerous holes, like the punctures made by a test vaccine. The next day, he told he had similar marks on his stomach. By the weekend, these marks had gone.”

The following day the couple drove back to the Blackgang side of the Landslip and noticed what looked like a furrow on the side of the hill, almost as if the earth had been scooped out of the ground. They made their way there on foot and they examined the area. Angela noted “It looked as if something had been rubbing against the earth to produce the effect, like a large wheel, some six feet in partial radius. The earth around the edges of this furrow was very dry and the grass around the edges was not charred, but brown, as if heat had been applied. I don’t know what the ‘glow’ was.

“It certainly wasn’t the beam of St Catherine’s Lighthouse, or the sunset. I can’t explain what happened”.

John traced Angela now living in the United States in 2007 and spoke to her about the 1966 incident. She told John:

“I have never forgotten the incident you mentioned, as it is one of the few moments in my life for which I could ‘kick myself’ for not having the courage to walk to the edge of Sugar Lump Hill, (as it was known then), and look down at the source of the light seen. If I had seen what was causing the light, I would have perhaps known what caused the scuff marks on the side of the hill that we viewed, the following evening, from the opposite side of the Landslip.

In answer to John’s questions about the discovery of the mysterious strange marks found on her boyfriend’s stomach, she replied, “They looked like weal marks. I have no idea what caused them, although I do wonder if some form of hysteria could have induced them to occur, rather than through physical assault.”

Blackgang Cliffs c 1960

It would be odd to just see a light and feel the vibrations and decide to drive away and then get some form of psychosomatic reaction. Of course Ufologists will ask the questions about time to ascertain whether there was any missing time or deeper encounter. But this case was reported back in 1966 and the UFO world was so much more different than today It is probably likely that John was ill, perhaps the “weals” were psychosomatic or an allergic reaction to something –perhaps a food or other severe allergy.

Fred Smith, of the Isle of Wight UFO Society –at that time literally a national UFO reporting centre- is John’s source along with the IWUFOS publication UFOLOG. If John Hanson can track down a UFO witness from 1966 it leaves no excuses when it comes to looking into old cases for evidence.

In a way John and Angela were lucky because in 2018 they would probably be told that they might have been abducted. There is another case from the 1960s that was reported on –is still referred to- but appears never to have been thoroughly investigated: Felixstowe.

UK 2nd June, 1964 Leam Lane, Gateshead

Another interesting case brought to light by John Hanson and if known at all it was forgotten by British Ufology as a "silly season" story -as most CE3K/AE reports were (unless there was publicity in it)

Source: John Hanson Haunted Skies vol. 2 pp 180-181

Harry Lord, April, 1964

At around 1730 hrs, David Wilson (14) decided to walk down to Leam Lane Farm to collect some straw for his rabbits. When he got there he observed a group of about ten children standing some 20 yards away from a hay stack. He then saw:

“Six or eight small human beings on top of the stack; they were about two and a half feet tall and dressed in bright green suits. They appeared to be digging into the haystack, as if searching for something. Their hands seemed like lighted electric light bulbs”.

David then went home and told his parents what he had seen and then decided to go back but was stopped by the farmer. However, in conversation with another child he was told:

“She had seen a circular silvery object take off from the ground in a spinning motion giving off an orange glow”.

Lesley Otley contacted the local press who told him that they had heard none of this but got the names of those involved (!) and contacted them. On the 9^th June, 1964, the Newcastle Journal published the story: “Spacemen of Felling –Flying Saucers and Green Invaders” have split the whole neighbourhood”. Included was a quote from local head master M. Coates, of Roman Road Junior School, who denied calling a special assembly of the children to discuss the ‘little men’ and warning them to keep away from the farm. It was all “silly rumours”.

On 6^th June, several members of a UFO group decided to visit the area. This should have been done before even considering talking to reporters and allowing rumours to spread. The ufologists spent time speaking to residents and children about the incident.

One child admitted to having seen the ‘little green men’ and told them that “The leader of the men was dressed in black and carried a baton with pink stripes” Another girl reported that this leader was sat on the roof of a barn watching them. Invariably there were the silly sounding stories of this leader being seen “riding on the back of a cow”.

There was also a rumour that an aircraft had dropped something accidentally and airmen were out searching –police later were said to have carried something from the field.

According to the farmer:

“The claims are a load of nonsense, if anything had landed I would have known about it. I have a dog kept in the yard, he would have warned me if anyone had been prowling around the farm”.

But it was not seen or mentioned by Wilson and certainly a dog on guard would bark at ten children in the yard surely?

“The investigators concluded that whilst there was no reason to doubt the valoidity of the reports concerning the strange noises and flashes , they felt that under the circumstances one should treat reports of ‘little green men’ with some misgivings, taking into consideration the problems involved with accepting evidence verbatim from young children whose behaviour may have been influenced by fear or panic following the wave of uncontrolled excitement which spread through out the community, after the sightings became public knowledge”.

Green clothing AND black. What noises and flashes and did no one think to at least put together some sort of sketch of what these entities looked like? As was found with the youngsters at Broadhaven School in 1977; there can be slight variations in accounts but also a lot of consistencies. The local UFO group should have been contacted before the press but I hope someone has more details!

5 July 1972 -MAUREEN PUDDY

I have, since 1975, met a number of people who have been with other people, sometimes as a passenger in a car, who have observed entities appear in front of them. Solid looking entities so clearly seen that veins etc are noted. The other person(s) present see nothing and are sometimes questioned by the experiencer as to how they cannot see "it".

This is not a mental disorder. These people are not crazy but are perfectly normal with the exception that their brains somehow create alternative realities in which they can see, feel and even smell something that is not physically real and in some cases there may be physiological after effects.

This I have termed "Ruth Syndrome" after a very well known book detailing one such (non UFO case study). It is a little too complex to explain here which is why I did so in UFO Contact? and cited instances that are repeatedly used in Ufology/online blogs as well as some never before reported on.

Interestingly, I believe that Maureen Puddy's case fits perfectly but FSR were not interested in such a "debunking" theory (Quite. They 'knew' it was all demonic by that point) and I received no responses from Australian UFO organisations -in fact getting any type of response from Australian Ufologists is near impossible.

The following (links included so that the Reader can check for themselves if necessary) gives a good summary of the events and there is an indicator of what might have sparked off the syndrome in this case.

But I repeat: this is not a mental disorder

5 July 1972 -MAUREEN PUDDY

https://hauntedauckland.com/site/maureen-puddy-case/

Above: Maureen Puddy beside her car

In this case, the word ‘abduction’ is a misnomer identifying a wrongfulness to an event beyond the experiencer’s understanding. The interview offers a description of two UFO sightings and incidents of voice hearing (disembodied) phenomena.

Maureen Puddy’s first UFO sighting occurred on July 5, 1972. The 27-year-old woman was coming home from the hospital after visiting her little boy. She noticed that “the road lit up in a blue iridescent glow” and at first thought the light was from the helicopter that had taken her son to the hospital. After stopping her car, she saw an “enormous flying saucer” approximately four times wider than the road. She said that the only noise was a “low hum.” Puddy saw no flashing lights or windows on the object as it hovered above the trees. She returned to her car and the flying saucer followed her for eight miles until she reached a populated area. The object then changed direction, reversing without swerving. There was a streak of light and it was “gone in a flash.”

She immediately went to the Rosebud police station to make an official report and the following day she phoned the air force. She was mailed a questionnaire that inspired her to comment, “You need to be a pilot to understand some of the questions.”

Puddy’s second sighting occurred on July 25 in the same vicinity and at around the same time of day. When the road lit up again, Puddy said, “I knew what it was straightaway, put my foot on the accelerator and off I went.” After traveling half a mile, her engine completely cut off and she found that she had no control of the car although the headlights were still on full beam. The car glided to a stop. She next described having the feeling of receiving a message that she couldn’t understand: “I don’t speak any foreign languages and I felt that I was receiving this message in a foreign language.” Then, the message was translated into English. “Not English like we speak — beautifully spoken English . . . I wouldn’t say that I could clearly know that it was male or female, it was just a voice stating a message.” She recalled the message as: “‘All your tests will be negative.’ Then there was a pause and it said, ‘Tell the media. Do not panic. We mean no harm.’ Then there was a long pause. And then it said, ‘You now have control.’ The car started up . . .”

After the second sighting, Puddy went again to the Rosebud police station and again insisted on making an official report. She also stated that she eventually filled out another air force questionnaire. The day following the second sighting, she contacted a radio and TV station.

Answering the unidentified interviewer’s questions, Puddy said that there had been no earlier similar experiences and she had no previous interest in UFOs. The interviewer then recalled that she’d mentioned briefly some experience during the interim between the two sightings and asked her about it.

On the Monday night before the second sighting, Puddy recounted hearing someone calling her name: “. . . the whole night long I was kept awake by this voice repeatedly calling my name ‘Maureen’ over and over again.” Her son was in the hospital, her five-year-old daughter was sound asleep and there was nobody in the backyard. Nor had her husband heard the voice. When the interviewer asked Puddy if she thought the voice might’ve been in her mind, she replied, “I think it might’ve.”

I previously mentioned Maureen Puddy’s case in my article reviewing Flying Saucer Pilgrimage (1957) by Bryant and Helen Reeve. Details of the case are presented in the article “The Close Encounter of Maureen Puddy by Judith Magee” at the website of the Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS). Magee wrote about the case in articles published in Flying Saucer Review in 1972 and 1981.

The VUFORS article was last updated in October 1998 and revealed that Puddy’s contact experience hadn’t concluded at the time of the interview heard on the Faded Discs archive CD. The article reported that Puddy’s son had been taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne by helicopter after an accident at school when a cupboard had fallen on him and broken his leg.

The article “UFO over the Mooraduc Road” was included in the book Encounter Cases from Flying Saucer Review (1977) edited by Charles Bowen. In the article, Judith M. Magee reported: “The witness . . . impressed everyone with her sincerity. She has an invalid husband and two children, a boy of seven and a girl of five.”

Magee wrote in the VUFORS website article:

Naturally, we questioned Maureen regarding her experience in the car. What did the messages mean? She said she had not had any recent tests done, but some about six months ago proved negative. There was no use telling her not to be afraid, she was terrified! As for telling the media: she ‘phoned three of the four TV stations. One was mildly interested since they were showing “Chariots of the Gods.” Two made light of her news, so she did not bother to contact the fourth. I heard through a radio talk-back program, which in desperation, she had contacted, because the UFO-nauts had said to contact the media and she did not want to see them again!!

After a telephone conversation with Puddy, Magee arranged for her to address a VUFORS meeting where the standing room only audience was described as having been kept spellbound. As the article continued, Magee chronicled herself witnessing with another VUFORS member an experience of Puddy’s that occurred about six months later and was estimated by Magee as “purely psychic.”

One Wednesday, I received a ‘phone call from a rather agitated Maureen Puddy, who said she had been trying to contact VUFORS. Her story goes: For some days she had been hearing a voice calling to her to “return to the meeting place.” Believing she heard someone calling her name at the front door, she went to open it and her husband, who was an invalid in a wheel-chair, asked who it was, but there was no-one there! When she went shopping, she heard “Maureen, Maureen, return to the meeting place,” and she looked around to find there was no one near. She felt she had to go to the meeting place but she was too scared to go alone, so I told her that Paul Norman and I would be available when she wished to go.

With very little gentle persuasion she agreed to go that Wednesday evening. . . . We were early and it was not yet dark so we could see Maureen’s Holden station wagon when she arrived. She got out of her car and ran towards us saying she nearly “went off the road back there.” I suggested she tell me about it as we drove to the meeting place. Before going further I should perhaps add, that as I entered her car, I had the odd feeling that something was amiss, I was experiencing a tingling sensation (like that of a mild electric shock), which passed off quite quickly. Maureen then told me that in the centre of the front seat, between where the two of us sat, had appeared an entity completely clad in a type of gold foil suit. As she turned to look in his direction, she was so startled she almost ran off the road.

It was quite obvious she was quite shocked by the eventful drive. By this time we had reached the meeting place which was somewhat hidden from passing traffic by a few trees. We drew to a stop and Paul came to sit in the back seat of the station wagon while I stayed in the front with Maureen. We were talking about the latest incident along the road, when suddenly, she grabbed my arm and pointed across her car, exclaiming: “There he is! Can’t you see him?” and she shook my arm saying that I must be able to — I tried to explain to her that it was like closed circuit television — from him to her. She said he was coming closer to the car, in fact, so close that if I put my arm out I could possibly touch him. He was now standing almost beside the front headlight, so I asked Paul to take a little walk around the car. As he came to where the entity was standing, the entity moved back to allow Paul to pass between him and the car. At this point the entity beckoned to Maureen to follow him, but she adamantly declared that she would not. I told her I’d go with her and to gently ease her out the car door, but she hung onto the steering wheel and would not budge. The entity then became impatient when she would not follow and she became a trifle upset. He apparently disappeared behind bushes and she suddenly commenced describing the interior of the UFO.

She told us that the entity was standing there pointing to a large “mushroom” like object in the centre of a large circular room. The centre object, which was taller than an average person, was a little like jelly, moving all the time; there were lines like those of Roman numerals around the lower portion. The top of the “mushroom” had lines on it and the whole thing seemed fixed to the floor. She was apparently looking around the room and became very agitated at this point, crying, “I can’t get out! There are no doors or windows. I can’t get out!” I put my arm around her shoulders in an attempt to calm her, and could feel tears on my hand. She was really upset and as I clearly visualized what Maureen was describing, I decided to direct my thoughts to the entity; nothing to lose and maybe something to gain — as I was very concerned about Maureen’s state. I felt she may have had a nervous collapse or even a stroke. I silently requested he take pity on the poor girl and suddenly she said, “he wants me to close my eyes.” I replied that she should do so and almost immediately I felt her relax as if in a trance.

Again she began to describe the interior of the object and once again became agitated when she could see no way out of the vehicle. After a brief period she “came back to us” and we switched on the car’s interior lights and asked if she would care for a cup of tea from our thermos flask. I had just handed Maureen her cup when she said, “Oh, I’m back in there again,” and repeated the description, but this time somewhat more calmly, before stating, “he’s gone. This time he’s really gone. I can tell. It feels different.” She now seemed quite normal, so we went on with our supper, discussing the “mushroom” and trying to identify it. I asked if it could have been a gyroscope, but Maureen was not apparently familiar with that term so “compass” was suggested. She picked up a little gadget from the dashboard of her car and to my amazement it was exactly what I had envisaged from her description of the “mushroom.” A small compass on a suction cup. I have not seen one before or since. We did not dare let her drive home alone, nor did she wish it, in case of a return visit from our ‘friend,’ or nerves on her part. I drove in her car with her and Paul followed in his car. I believe it was between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. when we arrived at her home which was quite some distance away. We did not take particular note of the time, but it was fairly late.

In her article about the case, Judith Magee noted some of her own unanswered questions, including: “Was I also able to communicate with the entity? Did he really receive my thoughts regarding her agitated state?”

One of the things I, myself, find revealing about these incidents chronicled in Puddy’s case concerns one of the declarations made by the voice in particular: “All of your tests will be negative.” The issue of tests and testing would impress me as being important when considering some incidents of interaction where ‘unexplained phenomena’ are a factor although it is apparent that more are involved with revealing/teaching. Furthermore, the customary expressions ‘auditory hallucination’ or ‘verbal hallucination’ seem to me to be obvious misnomers in connection to many incidents of ‘hearing voices’ and this is supported by what is recorded about the Maureen Puddy case.

Puddy’s comment that she contacted the media to avoid yet another UFO encounter in this case seems a sensible response; however, the usual association of voice hearing with schizophrenia and psychosis in news reports has become cliché to the extent that the perpetrator of a crime may use this excuse in an attempt for sympathy.

A recent article about the shooter in the Washington Navy Yard attack is representative of how reporters may focus on circumstances concerning voice hearing although another NBC News article about the shooter quoted a friend who said the shooter “felt a lot of discrimination and racism with white people especially . . . he felt slighted as a veteran . . . .”

Mark Russell Bell http://metaphysicalarticles.blogspot.co.nz

The Close Encounter of Maureen Puddy
by Judith Magee

These encounters occurred in 1972, but were never written up in our publications until the 1983 "Review". Maureen addressed one of our quarterly meetings in 1995 and was attentively accepted. It has been said by some 'researchers', who have never even met her, that her case was an 'abduction', but to Paul Norman and myself with whom she spoke at length, it would have been more like a form of mind control or hypnosis. Maureen had three odd experiences, all in 1972 and documented faithfully by VUFORS, but unfortunately not always by others.

Her story starts with a visit to the Royal Childrens' Hospital in Melbourne, where her son had been taken after an accident at school when a cupboard had fallen on him and broken his leg. He had been taken to the hospital by the "Angel of Mercy" Helicopter Air Ambulance Service.

While driving home from a visit to the boy on the 5th July, 1972, she called in at her mother's home for a cup of tea and a chat, leaving there at about 9.15 p.m., taking the shortcut along the Mooraduc Road from Frankston.

On this occasion, she saw a blue light reflected down over the car and thought it was the helicopter flying overhead, and may be trying to get a message to her, although how they could tell her car in the dark had not occurred to her, so thought she had better stop and see what they wanted. She had not bargained on what confronted her. A large circular object, like two saucers placed together, with one upside down - the usual "saucer" shape. The object was possibly, in her estimating, two telephone poles high, and would have spanned the strip of road 24 feet wide, also taking in the 'nature strip' on either side of the road, making the 'saucer' approximately 100 feet across.

Having already alighted from the car, she leaned back against it, took a long look at the object and wondered what it was she was seeing. The object's surface was smooth with no joins, welds, seams or rivets, no doors, windows or portholes and no wheels. The huge object was radiating a brilliant blue light all around - an intense glow - there was no movement, no wobbling or rotating, but a faint humming could be heard.

She must have noted all these things while wondering what sort of aircraft it was and before fear took over; at which time she quickly got back into her car and drove off as fast as she could, only to find the object was maintaining its position just above and behind the car. No matter how fast she travelled, the object seemed to remain at the same distance.

Aware that the blue light was no longer with her, and seeing a very bright light streaking off in the opposite direction, Mrs. Puddy realised the chase must be over. It had followed her for about eight miles!

The witness reported her sighting to the Police at Dromana, some family members and also some friends, who considered it all a bit of a joke, so she decided to say no more about it............. until about three weeks later.

Then on Tuesday 25th July, 1972, after having visited her son again, she followed a similar routine, a 'cuppa' with her mother enroute home, and left at almost the same time, about 9.15 p.m.

Maureen arrived at the Mooraduc Road, travelled on a short distance of about one mile, when the blue light appeared over her car once more. "Oh no! Not again!" she thought. "This time I'm not going to stop". She grabbed the steering wheel more determinedly and put her foot flat to the floor, but the car just drifted to a stop on the side of the road. No matter what she did the Holden would not reply to her demands. She was wondering "where do I go from here". Terrified, she gripped the wheel and looked out the windscreen to see the object hanging silently in the air above her car, the countryside bathed in blue light. Then a voice spoke to her, not audibly but in her head she said, as if words had been put into a computer and come out in the most beautifully modulated voice and perfect English she had ever heard. During this time she experienced a most unusual sensation. She said that 'if you could be in a vacuum' then she had been - Perfectly silent and still.

The message was: -
"Don't be afraid ... we mean you no harm…..your tests will be negative ... tell the Media (longer pause) you are now in control".

At that moment the car started up again as if she had turned the key. She sat there for a moment or two, then drove off as fast as she could.

She stopped at the same police station only to find it closed, then went to the next, still on her way home. She told the officer, "I want to make a report of a sighting of a flying saucer", "Oh yes, Madam", came the reply. She insisted, in fear and frustration, so the policeman humoured her and she had it recorded.

Next morning she 'phoned Laverton R.A.A.F. Station to ask if they could offer any explanation of what she had seen, to which they replied that it could not have been an aircraft or balloon as neither would have been in the area at the time; but don't say anything as it could cause panic. They would send her a questionnaire to complete, but when later asked about this told me, "you'd have to be an astronaut to understand it", and I believe she did not bother to return it.

Naturally, we questioned Maureen regarding her experience in the car. What did the messages mean? She said she had not had any recent tests done, but some about six months ago proved negative. There was no use telling her not to be afraid, she was terrified! As for telling the media: she 'phoned three of the four T.V. stations. One was mildly interested since they were showing "Chariots of the Gods". Two made light of her news, so she did not bother to contact the fourth. I heard through a radio talk-back program, which in desperation, she had contacted, because the UFO-nauts had said to contact the media and she did not want to see them again!!

At this stage I had not actually met Maureen, only spoken to her on the phone - for one hour - but when I invited her to address one of our meetings at the National Mutual Theatrette, she agreed, and kept the full-house spell-bound for about two hours. The hall was crowded, there were even people in the lobby listening through the speaker system - thoroughly fascinated!

During the question period that night, Mrs. Puddy was really 'put through her paces'. "Did she think what she saw was a psychic phenomenon?" "Did she suffer any burns or after effects?" To both these questions she answered "No". "Did she think there were any other witnesses?" She thought there must have been one at least, because as she was approaching a railway crossing, she saw a man with a torch, leading a cow up one of the side roads. Surely the UFO must have passed very close to him, but would have been going in the same direction. Later the man's wife contacted her and also a lady living on a ridge, not far from the highway, - both had seen the light!

The third experience, which was purely psychic, occurred about six months later.

One Wednesday, I received a 'phone call from a rather agitated Maureen Puddy, who said she had been trying contact VUFORS. Her story goes:

For some days she had been hearing a voice calling to her to "return to the meeting place". Believing she heard someone calling her name at the front door, she went to open it and her husband, who was an invalid in a wheel-chair, asked who it was, but there was no-one there! When she went shopping, she heard "Maureen, Maureen, return to the meeting place", and she looked around to find there was no one near. She felt she had to go to the meeting place but she was too scared to go alone, so I told her that Paul Norman and I would be available when she wished to go. With very little gentle persuasion she agreed to go that Wednesday evening.

Paul fuelled his car while I prepared a hot drink and some supper, for we didn't know whether or not we would be just sitting for most of the night and we would require some 'fuel' to keep us warm even though it was supposed to be summer.

I need not have been so apprehensive because the UFO-nauts had our evening all worked out for us. I had, over the 'phone to Maureen, described Paul's car and told her where we would meet her, opposite the electricity sub-station, where the road widens, at about 8.30 ~ 9 p.m. We were early and it was not yet dark so we could see Maureen's Holden station wagon when she arrived. She got out of her car and ran towards us saying she nearly "went off the road back there". I suggested she tell me about it as we drove to the meeting place.

Before going further I should perhaps add, that as I entered her car, I had the odd feeling that something was amiss, I was experiencing a tingling sensation (like that of a mild electric shock), which passed off quite quickly. Maureen then told me that in the centre of the front seat, between where the two of us sat, had appeared an entity completely clad in a type of gold foil suit. As she turned to look in his direction, she was so startled she almost ran off the road, It was quite obvious she was quite shocked by the eventful drive...

By this time we had reached the 'meeting place which was somewhat hidden from passing traffic by a few trees. We drew to a stop and Paul came to sit in the back seat of the station wagon while I stayed in the front with Maureen.

We were talking about the latest incident along the road, when suddenly, she grabbed my arm and pointed across her car, exclaiming: "There he is! Can't you see him?" and she shook my arm saying that I must be able to - I tried to explain to her that it was like closed circuit television - from him to her.

She said he was coming closer to the car, in fact, so close that if I put my arm out I could possibly touch him. He was now standing almost beside the front headlight, so I asked Paul to take a little walk around the car. As he came to where the entity was standing, the entity moved back to allow Paul to pass between him and the car. At this point the entity beckoned to Maureen to follow him, but she adamantly declared that she would not. I told her I'd go with her and tried to gently ease her out the car door, but she hung onto the steering wheel and would not budge.

The entity then became impatient when she would not follow and she became a trifle upset, He apparently disappeared behind bushes and she suddenly commenced describing the interior of the UFO. She told us that the entity was standing there pointing to a large "mushroom" like object in the centre of a large circular room. The centre object, which was taller than an average person, was a little like jelly, moving all the time; there were lines like those of Roman numerals around the lower portion. The top of the "mushroom" had lines on it and the whole thing seemed fixed to the floor. She was apparently looking around the room and became very agitated at this point, crying, "I can't get out! There are no doors or windows. I can't get out!" I put my arm around her shoulders in an attempt to calm her, and could feel tears on my hand. She was really upset and as I clearly visualised what Maureen was describing, I decided to direct my thoughts to the entity; nothing to lose and maybe something to gain - as I was very concerned about Maureen's state, I felt she may have had a nervous collapse or even a stroke. I silently requested he take pity on the poor girl and suddenly she said, "he wants me to close my eyes". I replied that she should do so and almost immediately I felt her relax as if in a trance.

Again she began to describe the interior of the object and once again became agitated when she could see no way out of the vehicle. After a brief period she "came back to us" and we switched on the car's interior lights and asked if she would care for a cup of tea from our thermos flask. I had just handed Maureen her cup when she said, "Oh, I'm back in there again", and repeated the description, but this time somewhat more calmly, before stating, "he's gone. This time he's really gone. I can tell. It feels different".

She now seemed quite normal, so we went on with our supper, discussing the "mushroom" and trying to identify it. I asked if it could have been a gyroscope, but Maureen was not apparently familiar with that term so "compass" was suggested. She picked off a little gadget from the dashboard of her car and to my amazement it was exactly what I had envisaged from her description of the "mushroom. A small compass on a suction cup. I had not seen one before or since.

We did not dare let her drive home alone, nor did she wish it, in case of a return visit from our 'friend', or nerves on her part. I drove in her car with her and Paul followed in his car. I believe it was between 10.30 and 11.00p.m. when we arrived at her home which was quite some distance away. We did not take particular note of the time, but it was fairly late.

Some thoughts on the third Puddy incident: -

1. Was I also able to communicate with the entity? Did he really receive my thoughts regarding her agitated state? If so, what thoughts can they receive from more important and 'delicate' situations than that particular one'? Can they transmit to us?
2. Have you ever watched a "fun" hypnotist at work? "When I snap my fingers, you will go into a deeper trance" etc. Was the second meeting (July 25th 1972) about which Maureen stated that while she was sitting in her car, just prior to the voice speaking to her, "that if you could be in a vacuum, then I have been in one" - such an incident? There was no sound, nothing moved, all was calm and quiet, then the voice delivered the message. Was this third incident due to the 'snapping of the fingers' when they urged her to act?

If this is so, how many people can they hypnotize, perhaps even in their sleep, so we react when "they" wish, whenever "they" 'snap' their fingers? I find this a very sobering thought.