Dr wu,
...I meant that did Ilkley become a town as it grew from a village over 31 years.....?..
No, it has been pretty much the same size ever since I have known in. From the early fifties. It had grown a bit, but not much.
Clearly you haven't done any ufo investigating.
What happens usually is someone reports seeing something.
They give a brief description of the area, why they were there etc. And, of course, they describe what they have seen.
And it could all be made up.
So one has to start dissecting the statements to see if it is even possible.
How else can you verify the thing they are reporting.
Ilkley is a dormitory town for Leeds. and is a rather upper class place. lots of expensive houses etc. It does have a very small amount of light industry. but relies on tourism and it's lido for income. there is a small council estate.
It has the well known (in England) 'Cow and Calf Rocks, and a lot of empty moorland. People have been known to die of exposure out there when they got lost in winter.
There is only one road that leads across Ilkley Moor, from Keighley, where I live, and it is not suitable for traffic. A deliberate act by the Ilkley council to deter people from driving across. You can just about get by in a land rover. I have crossed it by motor bike. There is a metaled road from the Keighley right up to the gate at the boundary.
There are a few footpaths.
It is a very old town, continually settled since the bronze age. Known to the Romans as Olicana.
So all this background matters when checking out what someone claims to have happened.
The guy mentions a village with a clock. Does such a clock exist ? Was it working on the day; (a Tuesday).
When and where did he get the pictures developed. Is this feasible. Back in 87 some shops still kept the old opening hours. Those that did would have been closed Tuesday afternoon.
All the details matter.
You could find the place on Google Earth. Just enter Ilkley, Yorkshire, UK.
INT21