Flap Over Broad Haven UFO Encounters

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In 1977, Broad Haven, Wales, saw residents and schoolchildren report unexplained UFO and alien encounters, igniting controversy, writes RICK HALE

UFOs are everywhere these days. Not a day goes by where you don’t open your news feed and discover some seemingly normal people with nothing to gain are encountering the otherworldly. 

Or, some other former military personnel turned whistle-blower and admits, “Yep, they are among us and the governments of the world know it.”

Some of us involved in this, shall we say niche field of inquiry, are by no means surprised. 

However, what I do find surprising is that the tide is turning and nasty words like “nutter” or “mad person” are no longer used to describe folks who claim to see such things.

Believe it or not, they are now being taken seriously. And authorities are stepping up the inquiries.

Sadly, this wasn’t always the case and the events that engulfed the good people of Broad Haven, Dyfed, Wales in 1977, is a perfect example of how people were once treated.

The Broad Haven Flap

According to Ufology any time a large number of extra-terrestrial encounters occur in a single geographical region, it’s known as a flap.

Typically these flaps begin simply, a few lights in the sky and then progresses over time to more dramatic incidences. 

At least, that’s how it normally goes, but not in the tiny, rural town of Broad Haven in Pembrokeshire.

That particular flap was non-stop drama from the word jump. And it all began right in front of the impressionable eyes of school children.

The Flap Begins 

The encounters began on a cold February day in 1977 in the schoolyard of the Broad Haven Primary School.

A group of children were enjoying their recess when the unimaginable descended from the sky.

The children watched in stunned disbelief as a large, disc shaped object landed in a nearby field. 

But it’s what came next that sent them into a frenzy that caused them to retreat to the safety of their school. And straight to their headmaster’s office. 

When the children filed in, they all reported the strange craft that landed near the school.

And they reported seeing a tall, lanky creature clad in a silver jumpsuit walk out of the craft. According to them the creature was easily 7 feet tall.

The response they received from both their teacher and the headmaster, were exactly what you would expect.

The school officials dismissed what they were saying as nothing more than pure fantasy. And if they didn’t stop this silliness trouble would soon follow.

Following their teacher’s stern admonition, the children went about their lessons as if nothing ever happened. 

Of course, that was until the end of the school day when the heat was turned up.

The Police Get Involved

When the students got home, they immediately reported what they had seen to their friends and family.

And just like their teacher and headmaster, their story was met with scepticism. 

So, seeing as how nobody would believe them, the children took their concern to the police and begged them to investigate. 

With an active police investigation into the matter open, the school was forced to take them a little bit more seriously.

The headmaster had each child draw what they claimed to see and was awestruck by the consistency of their stories.

Apparently the aliens were listening, because after this, the situation only got more bizarre.  And in some episodes, frightening. 

That Insufferable Buzz

Reports of sightings of unconventional aircraft and their occupants started to flood into the local police stations night and day.

One elderly woman was woken up by an Insufferable buzzing noise that didn’t sound natural.

When she got out of bed, she immediately went to make sure her stove wasn’t on and leaking gas into her home. What she discovered to be the source of the buzz had nothing to do with household appliances. 

She looked out the window and was stunned to see an oval shaped craft land in her garden.

Her horror was intensified when a door slid open and two nightmarish creatures emerged from the craft.

Ripperston Farm

A similar incident was reported by the owners of Ripperston Farm within days of the elderly woman’s sighting.

As the owners watched television, they suddenly became very aware they were being watched.

When they looked out the window behind them, a silver suited creature with a jet black face was staring in the window. Presumably taking an interest in what the couple were watching.

Later, when the police looked into the frightening episode, they discovered a single rosebush that was charred black by an unknown heat source.

A Frightening Chase

The Coombes family fared no differently from their neighbours when the space men decided to terrorize them.

While out for a drive with her mother and two children, Pauline Coombs could see in her rear view mirror a large, brightly lit orb was swiftly gaining on her car.

The bizarre light chased them from several miles, and broke off the chase when the car died. Leaving the family stranded on the side of the road. No doubt in shock over the malicious experience. 

Sceptics and the MOD

As with any mass sighting sceptics were quick to denounce the events that occurred in Broad Haven.

One sceptic announced that what the children saw at the initial encounter was nothing more than a sewage lorry and farm equipment that got stuck in a swamp.

A claim more fantastical sounding than UFOs and little green, oh excuse me, little grey men.

Even the MOD got into the denunciation by claiming it was just them. I ask this, why would they be testing aircraft on their own people? 

The events that terrified the good people of Broad Haven, Wales, has come to be known as the Broad Haven Triangle.

Strange lights are still glimpsed every once in a while but nothing like what made 1977 such a year.

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