On the 20th anniversary of the infamous ‘Fife incident’ UFO sighting, a renowned UFologist tells Michael Alexander why he believes alien visitors are almost certainly real – and could be among us!
Real or imagined, of all the UFO incidents said to have occurred in Scotland in recent decades, few of them have stirred up as much controversy as the so-called ‘Fife incident’ which was reported 20 years ago today.
On September 23, 1996, two adults, a teenager and a 10-year-old driving near Newton of Falkland claimed they saw not only a large black triangular shaped ‘craft’ but numerous small grey ‘beings’ in front of some woods.
The controversial case made international headlines and after being investigated by several of the UK’s leading UFO experts, UFologists say it remains one of the world’s biggest ‘unsolved’ UFO mysteries.
But The Courier can reveal that there may have been a much more down-to-earth explanation for what was seen that night.
Speaking publicly about the incident for the first time, local cabinet maker Tam Wright, 73 – Newton’s longest residing resident – believes that what witnesses actually saw was simply several pea harvesters and farm workers operating in the field with their lights shining skyward.
Mr Wright, who didn’t know the witnesses, said: “The pea harvesters were quite weird looking things and were working through the night at that time. I’m not a disbeliever in UFOs – I know too many sensible people who say they’ve seen something – but it seems a bit odd to me that the ‘aliens’ chose to visit those fields the night the pea harvesters were working!”
Renowned amateur UFO investigator Malcolm Robinson has extensively researched the Newton of Falkland case, and having interviewed two of the four witnesses in the immediate aftermath, he remains convinced they were “sincere” in their descriptions.
Yet despite being a self-confessed UFO sceptic, the 59 year-old East Sussex-based former newspaper advertising executive remains convinced that 20 years on, the Falkland witnesses did experienced something other-worldly.
After 37 years of paranormal research – including lead investigation work into the so-called 1992 ‘Bonnybridge Triangle’ sightings in Stirlingshire – he is now convinced that non-human potentially alien intelligence is with us on Earth and probably has been for hundreds if not thousands of years.
“Newton of Falkland is a frustrating one,” he says, “because we only had that one night with the witnesses before they subsequently left the area. But on that first night we did investigate with the mother and the son, and we were convinced of their sincerity. They certainly convinced me.”
Malcolm was always interested in strange phenomena as a small boy growing up in Tullibody, Clackmannanshire. He read extensively, but as he grew older felt there was no validity to the claims of ghosts and poltergeists.
In 1979 he decided to start his own group – Strange Phenomena Investigations. His main aim was to disprove and show “what a lot of nonsense” they were. Yet as he learned more, he came “off the fence” and started doing lectures and more media work.
Back in 1992 he became one of the main investigators for the so-called ‘Bonnybridge Triangle’ multiple UFO sightings.
Working with local councillor Billy Buchanan, he concluded 95% of the sightings reported over the Stirlingshire town had identifiable solutions.
The others, however, were less clear cut, and they petitioned Downing Street for answers Their call for a government inquiry was turned down because the “objects did not pose a threat to the security of the UK”.
It was against this backdrop that he became involved in the Falkland investigation.
“As the story goes they were just normal people living in a rural area,” he explains.
“They went out to buy a jar of coffee in Freuchie. It was dark. They were on this B road. They encountered a large black triangular object in the sky – 200 feet above the surface of the road.
“It then projected to circular beams of white light down onto the road surface. They stopped the car and were amazed by this. They flicked the car lights and the object flicked its lights as well and screamed off into the sky. They got their jar of coffee.
“On the way back a similar object was seen in the sky again. It was moving so fast the boy screamed out ‘it’s going to crash’. They went back to their house and told the friend’s daughter. They were very sceptical, went to the trees and saw red blue and green lights shining up. They knew the area as they had lived there all their lives. They parked the car, saw a blue mist in front of the trees.
“Once the blue mist dissipated they were left looking at hundreds of grey creatures 3.5 to four feet tall. They had black almond shaped eyes and pear shaped heads. They were busy moving these canisters back to a larger structured objects nestling in the woods.
“Standing adjacent were these taller creatures as if they were overlooking what was going on.
“Then rushing toward their car, they saw a couple of giant soap bubbles with these smaller creatures getting blown across the field towards their car.
“Just as they were about to leave, the daughter screamed ‘there’s one standing outside the car.’ They screamed away and the whole area was illuminated by a flash of blue light.
“The story goes there were several sightings on the nights after that.
“We were very perplexed by this as very rarely do you get a sighting where you have so many entities involved. This is probably the only one in Scotland.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85s1Af1ik-U
Malcolm said he remains deeply sceptical about many things. But his investigations over the years had thrown up more questions than answers.
“I honestly believe the evidence clearly shows we are dealing with a non-human intelligence – something that’s probably been with us for hundreds if not thousands of years,” says Malcolm.
“I don’t believe they had any input on humans with the building of the Pyramids and all that nonsense.
“But I do believe they have been here. They have been seen throughout recorded history. They have been seen in Renaissance paintings etc.
“But it begs the question, why are they here? It’s a difficult one to answer.
“I have changed my mind over the years. I’m still bloody sceptical.
“But the evidence for me clearly shows we are dealing with something big here. Put it in context – we laughed at Marconi – that’ll never work.
“We laughed at John Logie Baird – that’ll never work.
“We laughed at the Wright Brothers – that thing will never fly. Because something looks and sounds ridiculous we shouldn’t shy away from it and turn away.
“The subject gets a lot of ridicule but there’s something there for sure. And I think more people take it seriously now than they did say 10 or 15 years ago.”
- Malcolm Robinson is holding a major Strange Phenomena Investigations conference at Falkland Town Hall on July 8 next year.
