UFO Sighting Over Stoodley Pike?
From Archie R
Wednesday, 5 August 2020
Hello folks, I was wondering if anyone saw what I saw from the perspective of Duke's Cut (off Kebs Road) on Monday 3rd August 2020 circa 4:55 PM.
Looking over towards Stoodley Pike, I noticed a bright, white light streak up into the clouds on a diagonal trajectory from behind the monument. It rose from the distant hilltops (maybe 2-3 miles behind the monument) in the Cragg Vale/Ripponden direction(?).
Therefore the sighting was about 5 miles away from where I was standing. I estimate, that as the crow flies, I was about two miles away from Stoodley Pike.
The sighting lasted no more than one second as the speed of the "object" was tremendous. It disappeared into a bank of clouds and I saw no more of it. Has anyone seen anything similar? I have no idea what it was but wonder if anyone else saw it.
Thanks.
From K Winterton
Wednesday, 5 August 2020
Could it be part of the Perseid Meteor Shower?
I saw a meteorite from Todmorden railway station about 7 years ago (confirmed when I saw it on the news the following morning) that I initially thought was one of those wretched Chinese lanterns that can cause so much damage, though i had noticed it had an unusual green tinge. Oddly this didn't seem to be moving all that fast, but tracking sightings across the country, it was exactly the right time for where I was.
From Paul Weatherhead
Thursday, 6 August 2020
I was interested to read Archie's UFO sighting over Stoodley Pike, though I agree with K. Winterton's view that the most likely explanation is a meteor.
I'm working on an updated an expanded edition of my book Weird Calderdale which examines UFOs in the Calder Valley along with other legends, murders, mysteries and folklore.
Surprisingly, Tod's UFO connection goes way back. In the footnotes to a poem about Stoodley Pike by local 19th century poet William Law, we are told the Pike was built on the site of a stone circle or cairn housing the "tomb of one unknown" and that strange lights were often seen flickering above the ancient grave.
In 1909 a "mysterious flying thing" was seen over Tod and people claimed to be able to see figures in this phantom airship... which promptly vanished in a puff of wind. It turned out to be cloud (according to the Todmorden Advertiser)!
In 1916 mystery airships visited Walsden for several nights in a row.
Of course, policeman Alan Godfrey's sensational witnessing of a UFO on Burnley Road in 1980 followed by an abduction by an alien named Joseph, his robots and a dog is well known.
Less remembered is the 1982 flap where over 100 people in Tod witnessed "disco lights in the sky" for three consecutive nights followed by an enormous mystery explosion that shook the valley.
I'd be very interested in hearing about any memories people have about some of the above incidents, especially any of the 100s of people who witnessed the 1982 flap.
paulweatherhead@yahoo.co.uk
From K. Winterton
Thursday, 6 August 2020
The meteor I saw was this one.
There were more interesting reports about it at the time, which I can't find now.
I kept an eye on the reports about it at the time, and I put one in myself. No-one else from Todmorden or Calderdale had officially reported seeing it, but several people saw it from Huddersfield.
I don't know what to think about all the local UFO reports. One New Year's Eve about 10 years ago I was partway up a hillside in Walsden, to watch as fireworks were set off along the valley at midnight, when a number of lights floated over. I quickly realised they were Chinese lanterns, but it still felt very eerie, which makes me think humans (and maybe animals in general) are predisposed to feel weird about unexpected lights in the sky. This could lead to exaggerated reports with no intention to deceive.
Having said that, I saw two objects one evening in Lancaster, in daylight, that I can't explain. This was about 20 to 25 years ago.