So, I decided to see if I could find any evidence to support the claim of 20th Century fatalities around the A15 Sleaford road turning, which Mr Madeley made claim of in his Express article.
First off:
An RAF plane came down there during the Second World War
I've started here, because frankly if there was then there would likely have been a record. Which is how I cam by the Bomber County site, which just so happens to list the aviation incident reports for all of Lincolnshire between 1939 and 1945!
http://www.bcar.org.uk/index
So I've combed through these, with the following caveats:
I was only looking for references to Sleaford, Ruskington and Cranwell. The Sleaford turning on the A15 leads west to RAF Cranwell, and that base was very busy during WW2. I've also ignored any incidents which clearly stated no casualties or happened several miles from the area of the sighting.
Truth be told a fair number of planes came down in the area, but many 7-10 miles away. Just a little too far to be truly plausible.
1939: http://www.bcar.org.uk/1939-incident-logs
30th Sept – Hind – Serial: K5373 – Unit: Abingdon SF
Location: Nr Cranwell
Hit high ground 2 miles north of Cranwell whilst low flying. 2 killed.
It's unclear whether that's *came to ground* 2 miles north or *began experiencing difficulty* 2 miles north. Either would bew north of the turning, but as the crow flies that probably would intersect with the A15 itself.
7th Nov – Hart – Serial: K5884 – Unit: RAFC
Location: Cranwell
Crashed on approach to south airfield at night, hit a cottage.
If this was approaching the airfield from the south it's probably too far West. Also no evidence of casualties. But may have hit a cottage in Cranwell village.
13th Dec – Audax – Serial: K7423 – Unit: RAFC SFTS
Location: Cranwell
Lost height after takeoff for night sortie, 1 killed.
This is probably much closer to the RAF base than the A15. Not implausible, but likely too far West of the road.
1940: http://www.bcar.org.uk/1940-incident-logs
4th Oct – Wallace II & Oxford – Serials K6030 & R5950 – Units: 1SS & 2SFTS
Location: Nr Sleaford
K6030 & R5950 collided midair, crashing near Sleaford.
Now initially that sounds more plausible. As it's closer to Sleaford, maybe even on the east side of the A15 .
But there is no clear statement of injury here. Let alone fatality. So, probably less likely.
1941: http://www.bcar.org.uk/1941-incident-logs
15th October – Oxford – Serials: P1080 & X6937 – Units: RAFC
Location: Nr Cranwell
Planes collided 0.5 miles west of the airfield
So probably the furthest West yet. And again no casualties.
1942: http://www.bcar.org.uk/1942-incident-logs
6th July – Havoc I – Serial AX914 – Unit: 51 OTU
Location: Cranwell Village
Crashed in the village, not recorded in the OTU losses book.
Now again, no confirmation of casualties. But what interests me here is that Sleaford turning leads directly into Cranwell village. So if there had been (and record keeping has been sketchy here - not recording the loss of the plane) That's actually relatively close to the site. Arguably yes, it's the wrong side of the road. But we shouldn't entirely write it off.
1945: http://www.bcar.org.uk/1945-incident-logs
2nd March – 2 Lancaster IIIs – Serials ND572 & ME473 – Units N0.57 sqn & No.207 sqn
Location: Ruskington Fen
Two planes collided during an affiliation exercise.
Again, there is no specific suggestion of a loss of life here. But at least it is on the east (Ruskington) side of the road. Almost all other incidents happen (funnily enough) closer to RAF Cranwell.
4th March – Halifax III – Serial NA680 – Unit: No.347 Sqn
Location: Nr Cranwell
Plane lost while returning from mission to Kamen. Shot down during homebound leg by an intruder, and crashed near RAF Cranwell.
5 of the crew baled out, but 2 were KIA. The flight engineer was wounded and could not bale out with them. Cne P. Laucou stayed with the plane to attempt a forced-landing. It was unsuccessful. He and the flight engineer lost their lives.
This too is probably too far west of the road. But I include it as it is arguably the most traumatic incident on offer here. 2 dead, 5 survivors, a lot of people involved.
So we're not short of incidents i the area at this time. But the one thing which is clear is that not one single incident can be conclusively pinned down fields in the direct vicinity of the stretch between the Ruskington turning (east) and Sleaford turning (west) on the A15.
Furthermore, there is nothing in the testimonies of those who claim to have seen a figure on this stretch of road which would tie them to air disaster. We've had descriptions of waistcoats, robes, hoods, but nothing which would seem in any tangible way like aviation uniform.
I just don't think there is a truly viable connection here between a plane crash somewhere nearby and this figure seen by people over a number of decades.
I honestly suspect that the plane crash Madeley is talking of happened somewhere at distance and a researcher on the show made a huge jump in logic to tie the two together.
EDIT: Looking more closely at the map of the area I have to admit I missed something...
11th December 1941 – Aircraft type: Spitfire & Oxford – Serials: AD291 & T1052 – Unit: 412 sqn & RAFC
Location: Nr Roxholm Hall
Two planes in a mid air collision. Both pilots died. One (presumably) from the crash the other because he was at too low an altitude for his parachute to open fully in time.
Roxholm Hall today is a care home. It's located less than a mile east of the Turning by which Kevin Whelan had his experience.
Now I don't know how close to road it actually was. I don't know how far the Hall's grounds reached in WW2 or where it actually crashed. But less than a mile is credible enough a distance.
An aviation... ghost of some kind still seems unlikely from other people's testimony. A pilot would likely be dressed as a pilot. But it would appear that the notion of an RAF plane coming down in the vicinity is not implausible.