Editorial
Welcome to what I hope will be the first of many “What’s Out There? Newsletters. Our venture into Substack has gotten off to a shaky start, seven months into 2023, and this is our first proper newsletter. We managed to pop up a couple of articles but wanted to give you so much more.
When we started this venture into Substack, we hoped to bring you some regular monthly content. But, sadly, The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and our real-world lives have done their utmost to throw as many obstacles into our path as possible.
I’ve finally managed to sit down, open the laptop and commit to typing a few words.
So here it is, issue number one of “What’s Out There”. We hope you enjoy reading it.
Nigel & Juliette
They Came From Outer Space
Local U.F.O. tales.
Our last podcast episode, yes, I know it was a while back, saw us delve into the murky world of U.F.O.s. We took a journey back to talk about some of the earlier sightings that made the headlines and set the scene for the explosion of sightings in the 1950s and 60s.
The episode in question. Click on the link to listen
Have we inadvertently kicked off a trend? As U.F.O.s or U.A.P.s are suddenly all the rage again!
To continue this theme, we thought sharing a selection of Norfolk U.F.O. tales you may or may not have heard about would be interesting.
Our first tale includes some classic U.F.O. encounter experiences. These experiences are present in many closer encounter stories.
Let us set the scene for you; Docking is a pretty village in the North Western corner of Norfolk. The village is only 3-4 miles from the coast. It is one of the highest villages in Norfolk at 82.7 metres (272 feet) above sea level. It's the location for our first close encounter of the second kind!
It was 12.24 am on June 19th 1969, and 28-year-old Robin Peck, a radio and television engineer, was on his way home in his Thames van. He had just driven through Bircham and was heading towards Docking when the lights on his van began to dim. After a few moments, the lights had dimmed so much that Peck could not see, so he stopped driving and pulled over to the side of the road. As he did so, the engine cut out. Mr peck turned the ignition key off, then on again but could get no ignition light or response from the engine. Finally, suspecting a fault with his van battery, he exited the van and opened the bonnet.
It was at that moment he experienced the feeling that the air around him was full of static, so strong that it felt like his hair was standing on end. He looked up and noticed a large object in the sky. This object was hovering about 100 to 150 feet above some nearby trees. It looked like an inverted mushroom roughly the size of a small row of cottages; it was a pale blue surrounded by an orange glow. Once again, he felt the heavy static electricity in the air. Peck said he felt like he was standing under a very powerful radio transmitter. The object made no sound; it just hung in the air for at least a minute before heading towards Kings Lynn, leaving a hazy blue trail behind it.
Peck returned to his van and sat there, shaken and terrified by the experience. Then, acting on reflex, he turned the ignition key of his van and found out, much to his surprise, that the electrics now functioned perfectly, the engine started, and the headlights came back on.
Peck had noticed during the encounter his luminous wristwatch had glowed intensely. But, looking at his watch in the safety of his van, it appeared to be completely normal again.
Peck felt he had to report the incident to the local Norfolk police force, who forwarded his report to the Ministry of Defence. The police report described him as a very level-headed individual who seemed genuinely frightened of his experience. In fact, Peck's encounter was not the only one forwarded by Norfolk police to the Ministry of Defence from this area.
The police linked Peck's ePeck'snce with another one in close vicinity on the following evening, June 20th, just before midnight.
17-year-old Arthur Hendry, a trainee carpenter/joiner, was getting ready to cycle home when he heard a strange whistling noise above him; looking up, he could see nothing there. Then, the noise grew louder and intensified to a powerful throbbing. Hendry said it felt like every muscle in his body had locked, and he could not move or release his grip on the cycle. It felt like he had received a severe electrical shock, and electricity had passed through his entire body. The whole thing only lasted a few seconds but had been terrifying for poor Hendry.
MoD scientists suggested that the two men may have experienced a rare atmospheric condition known as ball lightning. However, checks by the Meteorological Office found that the skies over Norfolk were clear of thunderstorms on the 19th and 20th of June. Unable to explain the unusual electromagnetic effects reported in these two cases, the encounters were labelled U.F.O. sightings, and the file was closed.
Did you notice the classic encounter experiences?
Interference with vehicle operating systems is a common occurrence in many U.F.O. encounters. As is the feeling of static electricity in the air. Imagine yourself being Robert Peck going through that whole encounter. It's scary stuff!
Our next tale takes us over to Hainford. This quiet rural village is close to Norwich International Airport and the A140 road. It is 7 miles from the city of Norwich.
The story comes from the pages of “The Lantern”, the Borderline Science Investigation Group newsletter. Based in Lowestoft, the B.S.I.G. operated from 1971 into the early 1980s and had the reputation of being the number one organisation when it came to investigating unexplained phenomena in East Anglia. Sadly, the B.S.I.G. is no longer active, but the group has left an incredible newsletter archive that you can access here Lantern Archive.
This sighting took place in 1971. It’s August 27th around 9 pm. Mr Arthur is driving along the A140 Cromer Road on his way home to New Hainford. He had just passed Norwich airport and was about a mile from home when he noticed a domed disc-shaped object hovering over the fields on his right. The object had a bright orange glow around it. Mr Arthur, curious, stopped his car to get a better look. Upon doing so, the object started to move rapidly towards his stationary car at an angle. The orange glow faded as the dome approached the vehicle, and Mr Arthur said he could see five or six red flashing lights around the dome's bottom that looked like navigation lights.
An artistic impression of the object. The dome was rotating in an anti-clockwise direction.
At one point, the object disappeared behind some trees and reappeared again with the same strange orange glow. The last Mr Arthur saw of the object was when it descended behind the trees again, its bright light illuminating the area around.
Mr Arthur said, in all, the experience lasted for around 15 minutes. Throughout the entire experience, there was complete silence. Mr Arthur remembered this and said, “I could not hear any sound from the object. It was quite eerie.”
Once he got home, Mr Arthur telephoned the Eastern Evening News office to report his strange experience. Whilst on the telephone, his mother reported seeing something peculiar rise from the trees at the bottom of their garden, around 400 yards away, a bright orange object!
The B.S.I.G. read Mr Arthur’s report in the Evening News and contacted him to discuss the sighting. Various suggestions were offered to try and explain the sighting, but Mr Arthur was unwilling to accept any of them as he was pretty sure about what he had seen. Checks were made with Norwich Airport, the U.S.A.A.F. and the R.A.F. to see if any aircraft were nearby during the sighting. Confirmation came back from all three that there were no aircraft in that area at that time.
The B.S.I.G. decided a full report was in order. Rather than quote their findings ad verbum, I thought you might prefer to read the original report from The Lantern newsletter here, Lantern Winter 1973-74.
Using the map from The Lantern as a reference, I put together a version of our own to highlight the locations related to the sighting.
The following October Mrs Moore of Motum Road, Norwich, reported a strange object in the sky to the B.S.I.G.
They sent an investigator to visit her and collected the following information. Mrs Moore reported seeing a bright orange object descending slowly. It disappeared behind some trees in the skyline and then reappeared, flashing red.
The object was too far away for Mrs Moore to make out any details. However, the date and time of this sighting corresponded precisely with that of the Hainford sighting, and during the interview, it seemed more and more possible that it was the same object.
Mrs Moore lost sight of the object as it disappeared behind the houses on the skyline. A compass bearing was taken at this spot, which, when it was plotted on a map of the area, the line crossed almost exactly over the site where Mr Arthur had seen his object. Could this possibly be an independent witness for the New Hainford event?
Hainford was the site for another U.F.O. sighting in 1975, and if you want to read about this sighting, head over to the Lantern Archive and fill your boots. Lantern Winter 1976.
Paranormal Database-July Events
Back Out There
We have rebooted our “Ghost Airfields” series and have been visiting several locations to film and investigate. Here are a few images to whet your appetite.




If you have not seen our first two episodes, you can find them on Amazon Prime video by searching for “Ghost Airfields”. Alternatively, you can watch both episodes on our YouTube channel. The links are below. If you visit our YouTube channel, please take the time to subscribe, and if you enjoy the episodes, click on the thumbs up. This really does help us get our content out to more people. Thank you ❤️
Station 142 Episode One
Return to Station 142 Episode Two


We will talk a lot more about the series in our next newsletter.
New Podcast Episode
Yes, we do have something planned, and it’s slightly different this time. We went down to the woods, and it was not exactly a teddy bear’s picnic!!
We have a few stories to tell about this particular adventure, so make sure you listen in when the episode finally airs. We will reveal it all in the next newsletter!
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