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The Ella Hewett Incident (Trawler's Fireball Sighting; 1957)

RaM

RaM

Justified & Ancient
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A report from a Fleetwood trawler from 1957 60 years ago.



Strange Happenings
Strange things happen at sea and perhaps one of the strangest ever was reported in 1957 by the skipper of Ella Hewett.

While on passage to Iceland – off Scotland – the white bridge of the 600-ton trawler turned pink.

Skipper Fred Sutton reported his crew had seen a blinding flash in the sky during the night.

At the same time from other coastal areas reports were made of a huge flaming object flashing across the sky and vanishing in an explosion over the Isle of Man.

Many theories were put forward – but the mystery remained.
 
notdej said:
most theories were a comet i bet- where's the mystery?
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They thought it a mystery in 1957 of course now we think we know everything or at least think we do.
 
RaM said:
They thought it a mystery in 1957 of course now we think we know everything or at least think we do.
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if you feel it is a mystery then enjoy
 
This 2009 account:

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/three-ufos-3458199?service=responsive

... doesn't treat the Ella Hewett Bridge's color change as a mystery at all:

... As this took place, a Fleetwood trawler skipper named Fred Sutton couldn’t believe his ears when the man on watch said he had seen an intense flash which he presumed to be lightning.

The watch was at the wheel of the 600-ton Ella Hewett trawler, which was steaming past the Isle of Man, bound for Iceland, when the sphere of golden flames exploded. The flash from the object was so intense, it vaporised the new coat of white paint on the front of the vessel’s bridge, leaving only the red lead undercoat underneath visible.
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Pictures of the Ella Hewett (and a summary of its 1962 demise ... ) can be found at:

http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/category/steamers-picture/page/57/
 
This newspaper account puts a whole different spin on the story, because it claims the bridge's color changed twice ...

One interpretation is that the 'pink' color reflected (pun intended ... ) the white bridge's appearance in the light emitted from the aerial explosion, and nothing more permanent ...

Skipper Detects Flash, Change In Bridge Color
London, Nov. 30 m
The owners of the British trawler Ella Hewett said the bridge of the vessel, cruising north of England, turned from white to red Friday and back to white Saturday. The firm, Howard Trawlers Company, said the ship's veteran skipper radioed that there was a flash in the sky over the vessel Friday and its bridge turned red, Saturday, the company said, it was its original white. The skipper of the vessel, 57-year-old Fred Sutton, is a 20-year veteran of the line. The company spokesman, W. Wilkinson, described him as "a most dependable man on whose word we have implicit trust." Wilkinson said he had no explanation for the reported color change.
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The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Sunday, December 1, 1957, Page 3.

http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/107774451/

EDIT to add: The following California newspaper article also ran the white-red-white version of the story on the same day ...

Independent Press-Telegram, Long Beach, California, Sunday, December 1, 1957, Page 28.

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/18200780/
 
ramonmercado said:
Maybe Rynner served on board the Ella Hewett.
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Well stranger things have happened at sea,
the stuff they painted trawlers with in the 50s was pretty good stuff
it did not usually change color suddenly just by having a light flash at it,
and for it to change back if it did seems strange, at least to me, I wounder
if the paint did not change but the crews eyes were affected.
 
I wrote about the Ella Hewett case in my book about the mysteries of the Isle of Man a few years ago.

Supernatural Isle of Man (Hale, 2003 - Recently republished as a more illustrated paperback for the island tourist industry)

You might be interested to know the vessel was wrecked on 1962 in a 'suspicious' accident when it struck the wreck of the HMS Drake. The investigation report is accessible on line.

Superficially this sighting seems to be a fireball meteor given the large range over which it was seen and this also infers that it would have been miles high in the atmosphere where it seems unlikely to have been able to cause physical effects on the boat. Though this was denied at the time. They might have been denying that it was Sputnik burning up - which was an early speculation (it wasn't).

Some very interesting UFO related things went on in November 1957 of which this is one. The Levelland, Texas multiple car stops and the Cynthia Appleton case in Birmingham and simultaneous UFO sightings at the site of the White Sands nuclear site in the US and the site of the latest British test at Maralinga in Australia - witnessed by RAF personnel clearing the site.

I have just been writing about this for my next FT column.

Some elements of the Ella Hewett crew testimony of how it illuminated the deck and exploded are interesting. The object was seen from people on the island too.

There was a not dissimilar incident on 1 September 1978 witnessed by a farmer on Galloway - so not far away across the Irish Sea. His cows stopped giving milk after the experience and his hair alleged turned colour overnight.

So whilst most likely it was a fireball it is still pretty interesting.

NOTE: Subsequent posts relating to the September 1978 cluster of sightings have been transplanted to their own thread:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...htings-llanerchymedd-galloway-drummore.65077/
 
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