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The Broad Haven Triangle / Ripperston Farm Case

graylien said:
It's a shame they didn't include a photograph of one of the suits so we could judge for ourselves how 'alien' it looked.

If those firefighters also travelled around in a glowing silvery cigar-shaped aircraft, that would wrap things up nicely.

Some kind of fire-fighting Zeppelin, perhaps?
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Indeed. In 1979 C3PO and an Imperial Stormtrooper visited a small Devon village -well my stepbrother and I entered the carnival in hastily made Star Wars fancy dress, and what's more I have a photo to prove it. Where is the evidence for the assertions of these would-be hoaxers? Not even a single yellowing photo on a pub wall or in a dusty album?

Having worked in village pubs in the past, what I do know is that there is a great deal of local historical revisionism that takes place amongst the regulars, and plenty an old soak happy to take credit for past happenings if spurred on by the suggestions of others. Yes, many aspects of this flap were exaggerated, not least by investigators, but I'm not convinced by this claim.
 
I was quite excited today to have located my copy of 'The Welsh Triangle' by Peter Paget - a book which entertained and also deliciously scared the heck out of my young self in 1980 or thereabouts.

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Disappointingly, I now suspect that the author may be a bit of a fraudster, having tried to sit through such tedious presentations as the following - and from a bit of internet 'research'.

Shades of Jay Anson / Charles Berlitz etc...



 
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Andy_X said:
I was quite excited today to have located my copy of 'The Welsh Triangle' by Peter Paget - a book which entertained and also deliciously scared the heck out of my young self in 1980 or thereabouts.

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Disappointingly, I now suspect that the author may be a bit of a fraudster, having tried to sit through such tedious presentations as the following - and from a bit of internet 'research'.

Shades of Jay Anson / Charles Berlitz etc...



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Personally, I think a case of extreme confirmation bias, something a lot of such ETH proponents suffer from :)

The Dyfed Enigma by Pugh and Randall was rather more subjective, and in my opinion closer to the truth.

The Uninvited (not sure of author) was a great read but unfortunately at least one entire chapter was fabricated for dramatic effect (onboard the UFO) and thus its more of a novel than an investigation

But yes, I was 9 when this story broke and it scared me rigid, too!
 
Yes indeed; the luminous 'spacemen' (partly explained by local prankster) and so on were wonderfully worrying at that age and I still find the flap a fascinating one.

Don't know the two other books you mention - I'll certainly try to check 'em out. In the YT lecture I posted P.Paget alleges that all unsold copies of 'The Welsh Triangle' were pulped by order of shadowy government spooks. Unfortunately I ran out of patience before getting to the bit where he reveals *shock horror* their sinister anti-Paget motives.

As for the scenario and tabloid hysteria in general, I find it hard to dismiss the apparent sincerity of the Coombes family (what would they have to gain by making stuff up?), but of course people do such things, or are simply innocently mislead and mistaken.
 
Interestingly, Pugh and Randell report the Coombes family had previously experienced paranormal activity of the poltergeist variety, so maybe an unwitting window for... whatever

My money is on a few solid events that were widely exaggerated by the media, locals and investigators and perhaps crudely copied by a hoaxer or two. Personally, I veer towards the paranormal as opposed to ETH UFOs.

Incidentally, I read somewhere that of the schoolchildren, only about four actually saw the object, but being so young the teacher/s allowed all of the kids to draw the sighting, hence the (no doubt imaginary) Spock-eared alien and dicrepencies in object shape
 
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Re the Broad Haven kids with their drawings, yes this terrified me too as a youngster, vividly recall watching a report on the news.

However, when investigated it transpired that only a small number of the boys had actually seen the object in question. Thus, when the headmaster asked the whole class to draw what they “saw” we got Spock and his multidinous array of contemporaray flying saucers.

When interviewed many years later, the boys who saw the object stood by their story. That said, there is zero evidence that what they saw was any kind of extraterrestrial carafe, in fact it was on the ground throughout
 
Thought I'd revive this one as my first post here (Hi all), as I was there (for a bit).
I was in St Davids in Summer 77, and I remember there was a lot of talk about the" lights in the sky". Reported in the local papers I presume.
I went to RAF Brawdy a lot to watch the planes take off.
Uninvited I always thought was about 50% fiction, Space men inside Stack Rocks? Really?
I did have a time slip incident that Summer though, and even had the honour of having it published in "It happened to me" in FT a couple of years ago.
Didn't the MIB turn up at some point too? You never know...
Cheers
Chris Warr.
 
Re the Broad Haven event.

I do recall a documentary on this where some member(s) of the school staff walked down to the water treatment pant and were told by the operator there that there had been no vehicle there.

INT21.
 
INT21,

I believe the documentary you're referring to was from a Channel 5 series called, 'Britain's Closest Encounters'. It's probably available on YouTube should anyone want to view it. It's quite informative and, if I remember correctly, treats the whole mystery even-handedly.

Talking of documentaries, I'm trying to track down a BBC Radio 4 documentary on this case called 'Gosling in a Flap'. It was aired in 1996 and presented by Ray Gosling. I've tried the BBC but they haven't been much help. I don't suppose anyone on here has any suggestions? Or indeed has a dusty old cassette tape of this lurking in their attic somewhere?

thanks

Rusty
 
RustyShackleford,

Welcome aboard.

Thanks for that information.

I do have the whole series stored on DVD.

Sorry that I can't help with the Ray Gosling item. If you do find anything out, be sure to pass it on.

INT21
 
Thanks INT21.

In all honesty, I'd be surprised if there is indeed anyone on this board who could help with the Gosling documentary, but you never know!
 
..Talking of documentaries, I'm trying to track down a BBC Radio 4 documentary on this case called 'Gosling in a Flap'. It was aired in 1996 and presented by Ray Gosling. ..

I could be wrong, but wasn't that case from 1997 ?

You might try contacting our JayceeDove (AKA Jenny Randles). She may be able to help.
 
Thanks INT21, I'll give Jenny a try.

I'm not sure if we've got some wires crossed here, but the Broad Haven case, or the main incidents at least, occurred in 1977. The Ray Gosling documentary was made many years later. I'm not sure why the BBC decided to do the documentary in 1996, maybe the production team thought the title too good a pun to turn down!
 
I'll check into it. Maybe i was mixing up a different case from the same area.
 
... the Welsh UFO flap of 1976-78, in which there were multiple witness accounts of giant silver-suited 'spacemen' and aerial craft. I was 9 years old when those schoolchildren of my age saw the landed UFO near their school:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-38723643

"There were no alien invasions or tales of abduction, yet a UFO sighting by a group of Pembrokeshire school children remains one of the most famous cases in Wales. It was 40 years ago when a class of pupils at Broad Haven Primary School said they spotted a UFO in a field near their playground. It was one of a wave of sightings in the area in 1977 - dubbed the Dyfed Triangle."

Thus it was responsible for my now lifelong interest in UFOs. Unfortunately the witnesses were interviewed by certain individuals who were in it for financial gain and biased towards the ETH hypothesis. Jenny Randles later exposed some of the published claims to be rather doubtful. There have also been some individuals who have since come forward for their 15 minutes of fame and claim to have hoaxed the event but with no evidence to support their assertions. However, despite all this there was definitely something very strange going on that included teleporting cows and poltergeist activity in addition to 'spacemen' and their craft. What is most telling is that all of the witnesses at the heart of the events have never recanted on the evidence they gave.
 
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The Broad Haven flap has a definite John Keel quality to it - everything in there from, as you said, teleporting cows to a hoaxer, plus a distinct sense of brooding malevolence. I often wonder if the unusual English character of that bit of Wales played a part in it, culturally speaking.

I seem to remember a lot of the sightings of 'craft' were on or close to the ground, which does suggest a few potential stimuli...
 
45 years ago today a group of primary school children saw something unexplained in a field adjacent to their playground... and the Broad Haven triangle was born.

Many years later and we still don't know what it was they saw...
 
RustyShackleford said:
45 years ago today a group of primary school children saw something unexplained in a field adjacent to their playground... and the Broad Haven triangle was born.

Many years later and we still don't know what it was they saw...
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I was 8 years old and watched the children being interviewed on the news. It had a huge impact on me and my siblings and we were all a bit afraid...!

What we now know is that only a handful of the children actually saw the object, however the following week head teacher allowed all the children to draw what they had 'seen' and the end result was some of the more outlandish drawings by children who relied solely on their imagination and what their classmates had told them. In particular, there wasn't a humanoid creature with 'Spock' ears seen by the object, that was a pure invention.

Interestingly, at no point was the object airborne, so it was in fact an Unidentified Land Object. So who decided it was a spaceship, the children or the self-styled investigators who turned up later...? The children who actually witnessed the object have stood by their story ever since, however it has to be remembered that there was a NATO airbase close by.
 
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WeirdExeter said:
I was 8 years old and watched the children being interviewed on the news. It had a huge impact on me and my siblings and we were all a bit afraid...!

What we now know is that only a handful of the children actually saw the object, however the following week head teacher allowed all the children to draw what they had 'seen' and the end result was some of the more outlandish drawings by children who relied solely on their imagination and what their classmates had told them. In particular, there wasn't a humanoid creature with 'Spock' ears seen by the object.

Interestingly, at no point was the object airborne, so it was in fact an Unidentified Land Object. So who decided it was a spaceship, the children or the self-styled investigators who turned up later...? The children who actually witnessed the object have stood by their story ever since, however it has to be remembered that there was a NATO airbase close by.
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These are all good points - particularly that the object was consistently described as on the ground or close to it. Coincidentally the same is true of the Ruwa case in Zimbabwe, which suggests they have a similar (earthly) cause - i.e. a vehicle.
 
Strangely enough there was also a multiple witness sighting at a school in North Wales the same year, at Rhosybol in Anglesey. The site just linked to also has a piece on the multiple witness occupant sighting at Llanerchymedd in 1978, which has a very Dyfed Triangle feel to it (despite being in North Wales)
 
BS3 said:
Strangely enough there was also a multiple witness sighting at a school in North Wales the same year, at Rhosybol in Anglesey. The site just linked to also has a piece on the multiple witness occupant sighting at Llanerchymedd in 1978, which has a very Dyfed Triangle feel to it (despite being in North Wales)
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Interesting read, thank you for posting.This is a replica of the model the children made, with the now adult witnesses posing alongside. It is intriguing and clearly something unusual, but given the speed it was travelling I feel claiming it as an alien space craft is a bit of a stretch:
 

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Llanerchymedd, despite the multiple witnesses etc (contemporary reports from both FSR and BUFORA here) really does feel like the witnesses saw something military, or perhaps an exercise involving RAF Search and Rescue or something like that.

The description of one of the entities waving its arms over its head, in the international (or intergalactic?) gesture for "over here mate", suggests a helicopter picking some people up; some of the descriptions given of the lights (silent, slowly descending) also suggest a flare, perhaps deployed as a location signal.

RAF Valley emphatically denied that they ever held "off-base exercises", but along with the possible RAF inspiration of several of the Broad Haven events I can't help but wonder if there was in fact a programme of off-base exercises in the period, which may have fed into this Welsh 'flap'.
 
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BS3 said:
Llanerchymedd, despite the multiple witnesses etc (contemporary reports from both FSR and BUFORA here) really does feel like the witnesses saw something military, or perhaps an exercise involving RAF Search and Rescue or something like that.

The description of one of the entities waving its arms over its head, in the international (or intergalactic?) gesture for "over here mate", suggests a helicopter picking some people up; some of the descriptions given of the lights (silent, slowly descending) also suggest a flare, perhaps deployed as a location signal.

RAF Valley emphatically denied that they ever held "off-base exercises", but along with the possible RAF inspiration of several of the Broad Haven events I can't help but wonder if there was in fact a programme of off-base exercises in the period, which may have fed into this Welsh 'flap'.
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I agree. The height of the Cold War and a stones throw from the Brecon Beacons where British special forces train. I feel at least some of the cases are misidentified NATO goings-on.
 
I chanced upon this balanced, referenced and well-researched blog on the 'Welsh Triangle'. It includes archive footage, photographs and illustrations. Importantly it asks some rlevant questions about Pauline Coombs and her previous paranormal experiences. It also details her own mother's ufo experience that occurred in the same area:

https://www.babiafi.co.uk/2019/06/the-broad-haven-triangle.html

"In July Pauline began her annual six month job at turkey packing factory and things began to settle down to a large degree. This has lead sceptics to suggest that Pauline invented much of the story to add some drama and excitement to her life. They point out that this was not Pauline's first experience with strange happenings. While living in a caravan Pauline saw an image of the virgin Mary in the window. It appeared at 10:30pm and remained for half an hour each night. Sometimes it took on the appearance of Jesus with outstretched arms. The local Roman Catholic Priest brought his Sunday School class to see it. When Pauline was in hospital having a baby, Billy burned the caravan and moved his family to another one.

Others see this as evidence that the events at Ripperston Farm were less paranormal and more supernatural. Many of the strange happenings around the farm have parallels with recorded poltergeist activity, for example. Either way, the strange happenings at the farm persisted. Billy's 158 cows now refused to enter these fields, and their milk yield was down somewhere in the region of 15% by October."
 
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Have to say this blog has reignited my interest in these events. I think it is easy to forget just how much high strangeness was going on and instead focus only on the controversial sightings of the silver-suited humanoids. For example, this multiple witness account is typical of the many from that period:

"In May 1978, for instance, a red ball-like UFO frightened holiday makers at St Brides Haven, about a mile from Ripperston Farm. Flying low along the coast towards Stack Rocks, the sight had people running from the water and deserting the beach in panic."

https://www.babiafi.co.uk/2019/06/the-broad-haven-triangle.html

Apparently there is a quite active geological fault line in this region, so was there a mass outbreak of Earth light activity? Did this then create 'UFO hysteria' and the rest followed? The poltergeist activity at Ripperstone Farm is fascinating and including locked and bolted farm gates somehow being opened to allow cattle out and then locked again. The spaceman that appeared at their sitting room window was 'glowing' and visible not for mere seconds or even minutes but apparently two whole hours (!), which suggests something paranormal rather than a physical humanoid visiting from another planet
 
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While looking for Broad Haven stuff I came across the following forum post, which reproduces a list of Pembrokeshire sightings during 1977 with witness drawings (I assume it was from a BUFORA journal or similar):

https://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1308338/pg2#pid26434281

A couple of familiar cases in there, including the school sighting. Particularly bizarre is the odd experience of Cyril John (7/4/77 and Figure 11), which seems very much like a waking dream until combined with the report apparently made by someone else on the same street on the same date (Figure 12).
 
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