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URECAT - UFO Related Entities Catalog

URECAT is a formal catalog of UFO related entities sightings reports with the goal of providing quality information for accurate studies of the topic. Additional information, corrections and reviews are welcome at patrick.gross@inbox.com, please state if you wish to be credited for your contribution or not. The main page of the URECAT catalog is here.

July 1947, Poole, £dorset, U-K., Margaret Mortimore:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

A "ghost story" of 1947, narrated by the alleged witness, one Margaret Mortimore, by a letter she sent to the Fate US magazine in November 1957, appeared in at least two "ghost stories" books in 2002 and 2009. Then it was introduced by British "skeptical" ufologist Peter Rogerson in his ufology catalog INTCAT of "encounters wih entities".

According to Rogerson, the witness letter told that in July 1947 at dusk, she was on a train going from Wareham to Poole, Dorset, U-K., when she became aware of a dark figure in the otherwise deserted and poorly lit carriage.

When the figure got up, Margaret saw that it was a woman dressed in black from head to toe, in "flowing robes", This woman looked at Margaret, revealing "a white face and staring eyes, which seemed to exude malice." The woman gestured at Margaret who jumped out of the moving train, apparently unharmed because the train came into the station.

We learn that "There was no sign of the figure on the platform."

Basic information table:

Case number: URECAT-001748
Date of event: July 1947
Earliest report of event: November 1957
Delay of report: 10 years.
Witness reported via: Wrote letter to FATE Magazine.
First alleged record by: Witness letter to FATE Magazine.
First certain record by: Witness letter to FATE Magazine.
First alleged record type: Witness letter to sensation magazine.
First certain record type: Witness letter to sensation magazine.
This file created on: October 10, 2018
This file last updated on: October 10, 2018
Country of event: U-K.
State/Department: Dorset
Type of location: In the train from Wareham to Poole arriving at the Poole station.
Lighting conditions: Inside wagon, poor lighting.
UFO observed: No
UFO arrival observed: N/A
UFO departure observed: N/A
UFO/Entity Relation: None.
Witnesses numbers: 1
Witnesses ages: Not reported. Young adult, adult or aged.
Witnesses types: Not reported. Woman.
Photograph(s): No.
Witnesses drawing: No.
Witnesses-approved drawing: No.
Number of entities: 1
Type of entities: Human
Entities height: Not reported.
Entities outfit type: Flowing robes.
Entities outfit color: Black.
Entities skin color: Not reported.
Entities body: Not reported. Woman.
Entities head: face pale, white.
Entities eyes: Staring, seemed to exude malice.
Entities mouth: Not reported.
Entities nose: Not reported.
Entities feet: Not reported.
Entities arms: Not reported.
Entities fingers: Not reported.
Entities fingers number: Not reported.
Entities hair: Not reported.
Entities voice: None heard.
Entities actions: Was there, gave mean look and gestured at witness.
Entities/witness interactions: Gave mean look and gestured at witness.
Witness(es) reactions: Observed, fled.
Witness(es) feelings: Frightened.
Witness(es) interpretation: Not reported.
Explanation category: No strangeness, not UFO-related.
Explanation certainty: High.

Narratives:

[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:

July 1947. Dusk.

POOLE (DORSET : ENGLAND)

Margaret Mortimore was on a train going from Wareham to Poole when she became aware of a dark figure in the otherwise deserted and poorly lit carriage. When the figure got up, Margaret saw that it was a woman dressed from head to toe in black, flowing robes, who looked at her to reveal a white face and staring eyes, which seemed to exude malice. The woman gestured at Margaret who felt impelled to jump out of the moving train, but was saved as the train came into the station. There was no sign of the figure on the platform.

Guttridge 2009 p62 citing an a [sic] letter from Margaret Mortimore in an unspecified issue of Fate.

Evans 2002 p125 citing Fate November 1957 p55.

Points to consider:

As he very often did, British ufologist Peter Rogerson [pr1] included in his INTCAT catalogue a story that obviously is not about UFOs, not about UFO occupants, not about aliens, but rather a "ghost stories" type report.

Rogerson did this, not because in his mind this would be a "UFO occupant" report, but because he intended to show that "imagination" and "invention" have always existed - which nobody should doubt - so that UFO occupants reports must be invented or imagined - which reasoning I cannot share.

This was actually only a letter from the alleged witness to the sensation magazine FATE in 1957. It later appeared in the "ghost stories" books indicated by Rogerson.

I see no strangeness in the story. A woman was apparently so frightened by another, weird-looking woman, that she panicked and got off the train they were in. The weird woman is not that weird, actually. There is nothing "paranormal" about her. It is likely to me that Mrs. Mortimore was frightened by a woman who misbehaved, giving her a mean look and dressed in a weird manner, possibly a woman with some psychosis or psychological disorder. It seems to me that this story does not really show imagination or invention, just some possibly unjustified fright, of a possibly too much impressionable woman (we know nothing about her). The indication that the weird woman was not on the platform after the witness went down the train has nothing really strange: she probably just stayed in the wagon. So, to me, this is not even a "good" ghost story".

List of issues:

Id: Topic: Severity: Date noted: Raised by: Noted by: Description: Proposal: Status:
-

Evaluation:

No strangeness, not UFO-related.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

Document history:

Authoring

Main Author: Patrick Gross
Contributors: None
Reviewers: None
Editor: Patrick Gross

Changes history

Version: Created/Changed By: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross October 10, 2018 Creation, [pr1].
1.0 Patrick Gross October 10, 2018 First published.

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This page was last updated on October 10, 2018.