Giving as source Bennett 1939 from the witnesses", British "skeptical" ufologist Peter Rogerson listed as a report of "entity" encounter in his INTCAT ufology catalogue a case dated November 5, 1932, at night, in Long Marston, U-K.:
"Tom Horner and Arthur Wright were driving between York and Wetherby near Long Marston on this damp, misty night, when a bus approached from the other side. The two sets of headlights illuminated three men on the road, about 20-30m away, forcing the vehicles to slow. When the bus passed and the two men dimmed their car lights they realised that the three men were nowhere to be seen and a search was fruitless. They men appeared to be wearing large hats, plum coloured things like cloaks and leggings."
By researching the ghost stories literature, I was able to learn more about this and to offer a simple explanation.
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[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:
November 5 1932. Night.LONG MARSTON (NORTH RIDING OF YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND) Tom Horner and Arthur Wright were driving between York and Wetherby near Long Marston on this damp, misty night, when a bus approached from the other side. The two sets of headlights illuminated three men on the road, about 20-30m away, forcing the vehicles to slow. When the bus passed and the two men dimmed their car lights they realised that the three men were nowhere to be seen and a search was fruitless. They men appeared to be wearing large hats, plum coloured things like cloaks and leggings. Bennett 1939 from the witnesses |
Peter Rogerson explains that such stories prove that human imagination and misinterpretations existed in all times. He also charges that "ETH propoments" use such stories as if they were early reports of UFO ccupnats. I found no ufologist who did this for this story, although I agree that it is done by some "ETH propnents" in other cases.
This story has obviously no relation with UFOs or UFO occupants at first sight, in my opinion. Tom Horner and Arthur Wright saw men. The strangeness of the affaire is close to zero. For example, there is little wonder that the three men could not be found later, as we learn that this occurred in the "damp, misty night". The apparently weird clothes may be related to some party or local folklore exhibit.
Wetherby is in West Yorkshire, York is in Yorkshire-and-Humber, Long Marston is in Warwickshire, Marston Moor is in North Yorkshire.
I was first unable to identify the source given only as "Bennett 1939". I wondered: is it some ghost stories book? It was by looking in this direction that I found the following:
This appeared in the book "Military Ghosts", by Alan C. Wood, in Amberley Publishing Limited, U-K., 2010:
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In November 1932, two men - Arthur Wright and a friend - were driving in a car across Marston Moor, when they had to slow their speed due to a dense fog. Suddenly, ahead of them, they saw in the car headlights a group of men dressed in Cavalier uniform, directly in their path The driver had to stop his car, and he and his passenger got out of the car to remonstrate with the group for standing in the roadway in a dense fog, but when they got out there was nothing - no Cavalier-dressed soldiers in sight. The road was empty. |
Then I found on the "The Spookie Isles" website by Kai Roberts, a U-K. folklore and forteana buff, an article he published saying that in the book "Apparitions and Haunted Houses: A Survey of the Evidence", Sir Ernest Bennett catalogued that two friends driving across Marston Moor one evening in November 1932 observed "three men... wearing large soft hats, dark plum-coloured cloaks and leggings". They were later told their description matches the uniform worn by Cavaliers during the English Civil Wars. The figures were walking along the road some twenty to thirty yards in front of the car, but when the vehicle slowed down to pass them, they had vanished. Both passengers witnessed the apparitions and after they disappeared stopped the car to search for the curiously attired gentlemen; however, they found no sign of anybody and there was no hedge or wall over which they could've vaulted. It is said that the countryside surroundings the roads across Marston Moor is relatively flat pasture which does not provide much opportunity for concealment.
(See https://www.spookyisles.com/2014/05/do-ghosts-still-haunt-the-battlefield-of-marston-moor)
Thus, firtsly, "Bennett 1939 from the witnesses" stands for "Apparitions and Haunted Houses: A Survey of the Evidence", a ghost story book by Sir Ernest Bennett, published in 1939.
Secondly, when I thought the three men's clothes had to do with some party of folklore manifestation, I was probably on the right track. I learn that their clothes matched those of "Cavaliers during the English Civil Wars" and that they were is precisely in the vicinity of of a 1944 battlefield involving such cavaliers...
So, these men were likely there for some revival celebration of the battle. Anyway, it is obvious I think that this has nothing to do with UFO occupants!
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Low strangeness, probably men in costune for 1644 battle celebration, not UFO-related.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
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| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | August 19, 2018 | Creation, [pr1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | August 19, 2018 | First published. |
