There was an alleged UFO incident on Ilkley Moor on 1 December 1987.[1] A retired police officer claimed that he was abducted by aliens while on a morning walk and briefly held on their craft before being returned to the moor.[2] The man took a photograph of the moor which he said shows one of the aliens that abducted him.[2]
The photograph subsequently became a news story in the UK.[1] It has been cited as one of the strongest pieces of evidence that we have that extra-terrestrials have visited Earth.[1] [3] It has also been described as “incredibly blurry”.[4] Skeptics have dismissed the incident as a hoax, saying that the photograph shows something else, such as a man or a cardboard cut-out.[2] [5]
Ilkley Moor is an area of moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England.[1] It is well-known as the inspiration for the song On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at.[1] It is also known for its carved rocks, particularly the Swastika Stone.[1] There have been many UFO sightings on the moor.[2] [3] [4] Sceptics have suggested that this is because of the nearby proximity of Menwith Hill airforce base and Leeds Bradford Airport.[2] [4] [5]
Philip Spencer (a pseudonym[6] [7]) had moved from London to remote West Yorkshire with his wife and child in order to be closer to his wife’s family following his retirement from the police force.[8] On the morning of 1 December 1987 Spencer began walking across Ilkley Moor to visit his father-in-law in East Morton.[8] He had taken a camera with him as well as a compass, in case there was fog.[2]
According to Spencer, he was walking up a small hill when he noticed an odd-looking figure just up the trail ahead of him.[2] It was dark green and about four feet tall[2] with an oversized head and long, thin arms.[9] The creature made a gesture at Spencer, which he took to be a gesture telling him to stay away, but he took out his camera and took a picture of it.[2] [9] The creature then ran away and Spencer followed it.[9] He lost the creature in the fog but then saw a craft rise from the moor and disappear into the sky.[8] He described the craft as being of a whitish colour and consisted of two saucer shaped parts that were attached, with one being on top of the other.[8] There was also a loud hum.[8] He did not take a photograph of the craft.[2] [5]
Rather than continue with his planned route, Spencer headed to another town that was about a half hour away.[9] When he arrived he discovered that it was about two hours later in the day than he expected it to be.[9] Additionally, the compass that he had taken with him was pointed in the opposite direction than it should have.[8]
In the days following the alleged incident Spencer made contact with UFO researchers Jenny Randles and Peter Hough.[9] Hough claimed to have been “extremely sceptical” at first but later came to believe Spencer.[6] Spencer handed over the copyright of the photo to Hough.[10] Although the story quickly made the news Spencer insisted on keeping his anonymity.[6] [9] Various write-ups of the case have made it clear that Spencer did not make any money from the story.[5]
As well as examining the site, Hough sent the photograph to a number of experts.[2] A wildlife photographer who examined the photograph said that it was not from any known animal.[5] Experts from the Kodak laboratory in Hemel Hempstead said that they could not detect any evidence of tampering.[5] Bruce Maccabee, a US Navy optics expert and ufologist, concluded that the photograph was “too grainy for proper testing”.[8] [5]
According to ufologist Nick Redfern, Spencer was hassled by the Ministry of Defence a few days after the incident on the moor.[11] He says that they opened a file on Spencer and sent two Men in black to his home to intimidate him into silence.[11]
While the photograph was being examined Spencer claimed that he experienced strange dreams.[2] Following Hough’s advice he attended a session of regressive hypnotherapy.[8] This was carried out by Jim Singleton on 16 March 1988.[8] Under hypnosis Spencer’s original account of the incident changed.[10] Singleton has called it a “genuine recall”.[6]
Spencer now recalled that upon seeing the creature on the hill he was instantly paralysed.[2] He was then lifted up a few feet and pulled into the craft.[2] When he entered the craft a voice told him to be calm.[2] [8] A group of green aliens then performed medical experiments on him, inserting items into his nose and mouth.[2] [8] He was given a tour of the craft [2] [10] and shown a film.[2] The film showed apocalyptic imagery, including nuclear explosions, famines and floods.[2] Spencer was then shown a second film.[2] He has never revealed the contents of the second film, saying that the aliens who abducted him do not want humanity to know.[2]
Following this Spencer was returned to Ilkley Moor, where he then took the famous photograph.[2] He claimed that the alien was actually waving goodbye to him, not telling him to stay away, as in his original account.[2]
The Ilkley Moor incident generated headlines in the UK at the time and remains one of the country’s most famous UFO sightings.[2] Nick Pope, a journalist who previously worked at the ‘UFO desk’ of the Ministry of Defence included this event in a 2011 list of "Top 10 UFO incidents in the UK".[12] It has been cited as one of the most persuasive UFO incidents to ever occur.[1] [3]
Skeptics have claimed that the whole incident is a hoax.[2] They have said that the photograph is so blurry that it is far from proof of any alien visitors to Earth.[5] They have argued that the “alien” in the photograph could easily be a man or a cardboard cut-out.[5] Sceptics have also asked why Spencer did not take a photograph of the craft, noting that such a photograph would be more difficult to fake.[2] [5] Sceptics have also dismissed the supposed physical evidence of the broken compass, saying that it is easy to manually wreck compasses.[5]
