Famous UFO sightings in Broad Haven celebrated 40 years on – but was it all a clever prank?
The picturesque Welsh village was gripped with paranormal fever in 1977
IT’S one of the most notorious mass UFO sightings in the UK.
But as alien enthusiasts commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Broad Haven Triangle, some sceptics have questioned whether the extra-terrestrial activity was all just one big hoax.
The picturesque Welsh village was gripped with paranormal fever in 1977 after several people saw lit up objects hovering in the sky, a being in a metallic space suit and ghostly figures amongst the trees.
Among the witnesses were 14 children from Broad Haven Primary School who claim an other-worldly craft landed in their playing field.
David Davies was 10 at the time and heard reports of pupils seeing flying saucers throughout the day.
He described seeing a silver "cigar-shaped" craft with a "dome covering the middle third".
"My sighting only lasted a couple of seconds. It popped up and then went back behind a tree,” he told BBC Wales.
The teachers didn't believe the youngsters so the headmaster split them up and asked them to draw what they saw.
There were slight variations, but what they drew was basically the same.
Two months later, Rosa Granville, who ran the Haven Fort Hotel in nearby Little Haven, described seeing an object which looked like an "upside-down saucer" and two "faceless humanoid" creatures with pointed heads.
"There was light coming from it and flames of all colours. Then [the creatures] came out of these flames, that's what I don't understand," she said.
A number of theories have been put forward to explain the sightings.
Flt Lt Cowan, an officer from RAF Brawdy, examined the site but could find no evidence of a landing.
In his report, he mentioned the possibility that a "local prankster was at work".
The description of aliens "fitted exactly the type of protection suit that would have been issued in the event of a fire at one of the local oil refineries".
A businessman called Glyn Edwards confessed in 1996 that he used to wander around the area in a silver suit as a prank.
Critics have speculated that the children may have confused a sewage tank for a UFO.
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Despite all the suspicion surrounding the sightings, a conference is being held to mark the 40th anniversary of the event.
Organiser Emyln Williams said the case sparked "worldwide interest".
Asked if he thought it was genuine, he said: "One child can lie, but can a whole class?
"Over 40 years at least one of them might have come forward to say they made it up - but they haven't."
Meanwhile, author Neil Spring has written a book based on the Broad Haven sightings.
His research uncovered a secret investigation by the military police.
"Whilst the government was telling the public they had no records of any unusual activity in the area, privately, officials were so concerned about the UFO sightings in Broad Haven that they asked the military police to conduct a 'discreet' investigation," he said.
Neil says while some of the sightings may be the work of jokers, strange disturbances are said to have happened in the area.
"My research showed that there were strange occurrences in Broad Haven long before the incident at the school and for a long times afterwards," he said.
"So you can take the children out of the story and you'll still have the story."
Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists suggest gaps in International Space Station footage prove a NASA UFO cover-up.