In the 2000s, the Fortean Times magazine had on their website a section "It happened to me" where people could submit their stories.
A woman whose anonymity was preserved, first-named Jemma, from South Australia, reported there that in 1947, when she was almost a 4-year-old, during "the year of a great wave of UFOs", she lived in the suburbs of Adelaide.
One summer morning around eleven o'clock, she was outside in the driveway of the home; which was facing an angle at the corner of the street.
She noticed a strange figure in the driveway of the house across from hers. It was a black figure, about six-feet-tall, with no visible arms, who seemed to be pear-shaped, with a large, round, and faceless head. Instead of a face, it had a glass face striated like a motorbike headlight. She made that comparison because her uncle had a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Jemma says she compared the strange thing to a bird "because it had no arms and it also had thin black legs." She did not see any wings, and she is certain there was no beak. She explains that she mentioned a "bird" because she was trying to make sense of it.
She thought it was both strange and fascinating. The thing was at the same distance from the door of the house opposite, that the distance she from the door of her own home, she said at first, but then she said that the thing was closer to the door that she was.
She took a step forward, and the thing did the same. At each step she made, the thing did the same. She started to be scared because it was "looking at her" with its glass face. Suddenly, she panicked and went to the back door to call her mum. Before she arrived at the door, her mother came running. Jemma stammered about the big black "bird" at the front of the house, the mother went there to check but there was nothing. The mother went to the opposite house, but only the daughter of this house was there, playing the piano.
Jemma could not make sense of this thing until many years later, while reading a UFO magazine and finding an article about Dr. John Mack, who described an "extraterrestrial robot" that one of his abducted patients had seen. The patient described exactly the same thing Jemma sais she saw, including the "window" as a face that the patient also described as a headlight glass. She had felt relieved after that, realizing she was not crazy and did not imagine it.
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[Ref. ft1:] "FORTEAN TIMES" WEB FORUM:
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The Weird glass faced thing Jemma, South Australia In 1947 when I was nearly 4, (it was the year of a big UFO flap) living in suburban Adelaide. One morning about 11am in summertime, I was outside in our driveway which faced at an angle onto the street corner. All the driveways on the corner faced that way instead of straight out. I noticed a strange figure in the driveway of the house opposite us. It was a tall (6ft??) figure all in black. It had no arms that I could see and seemed to be pear shaped with a big round head. There was no face, only a glass face striated like a motor bike headlight. I noticed this because my uncle had a Harley Davidson bike. I thought it was both queer and fascinating. It was the same distance from that gate opposite as I was from my gate. I took a step towards it and it responded with a step. With each step I took, it copied. It was getting closer to the gate than I was though. I began to get scared as it just stared at me with it's glass face. All of a sudden I was overtaken with fear and went screaming round to the back door for Mum. Before I got to the door she was running out. I blurted out about the big black "bird" opposite and she went to look but there was nothing there. She even went over there but only the daughter of the house was at home playing her piano. I'd likened it to a bird because it had no arms and it also had black thin legs. No wings that I could see and certainly no beak. I wanted to make sense of it I suppose. Well I never did till years later when I was reading an UFO magazine and was amazed upon reading an article about Dr John Mack. He described an "alien robot" that one of his abductee patients had seen. It had described exactly the same thing that I saw. Even to the glass face that the patient described as a headlight too. I felt exonerated after that. Knowing I wasn't mad and hadn't imagined it. |
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
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15. Location. Adelaide, South Australia Date: Summer 1947 Time: 1100A The 4-year old witness was outside in the driveway of her house, which faced at an angle onto the street corner. All the driveways on the corner faced that way instead of straight out. She suddenly noticed a strange figure in the driveway of the house opposite to hers. It was about 6ft tall and was all in black. It had no arms that she could see and seemed to be pear-shaped with a large round head and long thin black legs. There was no face, only a glass-like face striated like a motorbike headlight. She thought that it was both queer and fascinating. It was at the same distance from that gate opposite as the witness was from her gate. The witness took a step towards it and it responded with a step. With each step the witness took, it seemed to copy the witness. But it seemed to be getting closer to the gate than the witness. The witness began to feel apprehensive at it stared at her with it's glass face. All of the sudden the witness was overtaken by fear and ran screaming into the house. Her mother went out to look around but did not see anything, the bizarre creature had vanished. HC addendum Source: Fortean Times, "It happened to me" Type: E |
The entity described is relatively atypical, but, as Jemma notes, not entirely unique either. A precision is missing: was the large part of the pear-shape at the top or at the bottom?
One would have liked to investigate this case, since the mother, potentially, could confirm part of the story.
Unfortunately, we can only keep a cool head as - while nothing solid comes to demonstrate an invention - it is only a story filed anonymously on the web, so without any guarantee of credibility.
It should also be noted, on the case's negative sides, that the witness was less than four years old at the time of the alleged recitation; which is really very young.
A final note: the Summer in Asutralia occurs in the northern hemisphere's winter. However, for easier search, in the cases lists where I link this file, I put the case among all the "Summer 1947" cases.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data | Severe | October 9, 1947 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Anonymous web report only. | Help needed. | Opened. |
Extraterrestrial visitors.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | October 9, 1947 | Creation, [ft1], [ar1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 9, 1947 | First published. |
