Alleged UFO crashes

The day the aliens came

By Nathan Morley

Is the mystery of an unexplained crash in the Troodos in 1973 about to be solved?

A BRITISH UFO researcher may hold a vital clue that could help prove a flying saucer crashed into the Troodos mountains 35 years ago. Gary Heseltine, the editor of the popular UFO Monthly magazine, has taken possession of several items of unidentified debris collected by a former British soldier who claims to have witnessed a UFO fall to earth in 1973.

In his detailed account, Corporal Tom Clarke, who was part of a six man British Army unit on a late night patrol recalled what happened when spotted strange lights in the sky.

"We were all awoken at about 2am by a brilliant bluish dazzling bright light in the sky, what happened next is hard to explain. There was not an explosion, but we were all hit by a shockwave and fell flat to the ground. The light just disappeared or went out," Clarke recalled.

The team of dazed soldiers quickly found the crash site which was located some 200 metres down the mountain and additional military personal were called in to investigate.

The soldiers were ordered to collect debris and place it into black plastic bags; Corporal Clarke managed to conceal some small pieces of golden tinted foil from amongst the wreckage which is now in the hands of UFO Magazine.

"After what seemed like hours a halt was called and we were all lined up and told that under no circumstances were we to talk about what we had been doing and that we were forbidden to take anything from the site under threat of Court Martial."

"We were then all taken from the area by helicopter and flown to Alexander Barracks in Dhekelia where we were interviewed separately. I was asked to describe exactly what I had seen and was warned again not to discuss with anyone the events that had occurred." Soon afterwards all six men who witnessed the crash were posted to different foreign locations and nothing more was heard about events of that night in 1973 -- until now.

Gary Heseltine is convinced that Clarke has given a credible and genuine account of the mysterious events of 1973.

"You have to appreciate for someone to come and contact a person like me they have to be quite serious and determined to discover more about their experience. Mr Clarke has kept records, photos and gave me a very clear precise account of what happened, I doubt very much this is a fantasy or made up," he told the Sunday Mail.

"I have the artefacts Mr Clarke collected from the crash site and am now looking at having them examined by experts to determine what they are or where they are from. From everything that has been described I would have to label this a UFO event. Something obviously crashed and by the response of the military it was something highly secret," he added.

Unsurprisingly, in a statement to the Sunday Mail, a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defence claimed they had no knowledge of any UFO crash in Cyprus.

"The MoD examines reports solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised military activity. Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported," he said. The MoD remained 'open-minded' about aliens, he added.

However, Paphos based UFO expert John Knowles, who has enjoyed two UFO encounters himself, told the Sunday Mail that he would certainly not rule out that a crash could have happened.

"It is feasible that something like this could easily have occurred without anybody noticing it, or it could have been covered up. There is a lot of fear associated with this subject, many authorities are reluctant to admit that there are things that they can't control and I think that's part of any cover up activity."

The Troodos range, which is home to several military communication stations, has been location of dozens of reported "UFO incidents" over the past half century.

Speaking from the UK, famed psychic Uri Geller told the Sunday Mail how he watched in disbelief as a disc-shaped object floated above his head in Troodos before it "zoomed off at incredible speed" in 1961.

"Actually I had two UFO experiences whilst I was living in Cyprus, the first in 1959 and then again a few years later," he said. "I have never really spoke about this openly, but I saw a UFO when I was up in the Troodos and once whilst I was walking my dog on a beach near Kyrenia. On both occasions I saw flying objects, they were not planes or helicopters and I saw them both times in broad daylight."

Geller told the Sunday Mail he would never forget what he saw in the skies above Cyprus, despite the fact the incidents happened over 40-years ago.

"On both occasions the craft did an amazingly fast zig-zag, then the shot off at a speed no human craft could ever achieve." One theory as to why the alleged Troodos incident is now only seeing the light of day is because UFOs were of extreme military interest during the Soviet era and it's believed that the USA, UK and USSR were all actively seeking to capture an alien craft.

It has recently been revealed that during the Cold War the Soviet Union's Air Force had standing orders to intercept and shoot down any detected UFO in Soviet airspace.

The Kremlin was apparently sure that the United States had recovered some advanced alien technology from the Roswell crash site in the 1940s. Whether alien activity or natural phenomena, reports of UFOs have flooded in this summer from all across the island.

If aliens are choosing Cyprus as a holiday destination, it appears it is becoming more popular, as the number if sightings has dramatically shot up.

In the past year alone dozens of accounts of local UFO activity have appeared on local forums and message boards and even Uri Geller admits he is aware of the increased activity in this region.

"Recently the most extraordinary UFO's were filmed for 20 minutes outside Istanbul [is a probable hoax], and if you think geographically it's pretty close to Cyprus. I know there have been lots of sightings in that arena lately. If people see a UFO they really should report it."

THE CYPRUS UFO CRASH OF 1973 — ONE MAN'S ACCOUNT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT IN THE TROODOS MOUNTAINS

Several months ago whilst doing a BBC Radio Leeds show a man rang in telling me about an incident in Cyprus. He said he'd once sent me an email about it.

At the time I had vague memories of the email but that when I'd tried to return an email to him the message couldn't be sent for some reason.

Sadly the initial email he'd sent me hadn't provided me with any other contact details so I was unable to take the matter further.

However there was now another opportunity to pursue this man's claim. He told me he had been in the army for 24 years (1965-1989) and may have been involved in a potential UFO incident in Cyprus in 1973.

Now armed with full contact details I began a correspondence with him that eventually led me to visit his home. There I examined his service papers and I have no reason to doubt the following account of the incident that took place during an army exercise high in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus.

CYPRUS 1973

"I was selected to be a member of an eight man patrol consisting of six soldiers, one sergeant and one officer.

We were given an area, in and around the mountain area of the island and we where to mount a watch and report operation. One thing from the outset and we all thought strange was the orange man never made contact with us, because know matter where you went on Cyprus it didn't take long for one of these individuals to find you and set up a stall to sell you fresh squeezed orange juice, or sliced oranges to eat.

We had all settled in for the night in location. Everyone mentioned how clear the night was and on the millions of stars and things that could be seen. Sentries were posted, and the rest of us hunkered down for whatever sleep we could get. We were all awoken at about 2am by a brilliant, but not dazzling bluish bright light. At first we all thought it must be a helicopter looking for us or something else. What happened next is hard to explain. There was no explosion but we were all hit by what I can only describe as a shock wave that knocked us all flat to the floor! The light just disappeared or went out. We all took up a defensive position, believing we were under attack, and I remember being very afraid. We all must have laid there for what seemed like hours, in total silence, waiting to see what was going to happen next, we could see nothing. The first sound I heard was the sergeant on the radio reporting what had happened and asking for instructions on what to do. The officer with us took over the radio and after a short while he and the sergeant briefed us and told us that he and the sergeant were to go forward and carry out a recce of the area where we believed an accident of some kind had taken place. We were all told that we were to stay in situ whilst they went out and had a look.

After about an hour the two arrived back, they said there had been what looked like a crash of some kind and they had radioed the information to base before coming back to us and that we were to stay put as recovery and manpower was on its way and we were to help in securing the area and retrieving any wreckage.

Helicopters arrived and people in black clothing where seen getting out and unloading stores from them. We were only allowed on the site when all the large pieces had been lifted off the area under slung loads, our job, then we were told to comb the area for anything we thought might belong to the crash site and if anything was found it was to be placed in what looked like large industrial waste bins.

I picked up a piece of what like coke to me but on one side it had what looked like gold tiles covering it. After placing the object in the bin I noticed that two pieces of this gold substance had stuck to my hands and one piece had lodged behind the buckle of my webbing belt. I managed to put all three pieces into the map pocket of my combat jacket. After what seemed like hours a halt was called and we were all lined up and told that under no circumstances were we to talk about what we had been doing and that we were forbidden to take anything from the site under threat of Courts Martial and that we were all to be searched and that we had to give a declaration to the fact that we had not removed anything.

We were then all taken from the area by helicopter and flown to Alex Barracks in Dheklie where we were all taken to the cookhouse. What looked like voting booths had been set up to one side. We were then all interviewed separately. I was asked to describe exactly what I had seen and done and was warned again not to discuss with anyone the events that had occurred. After our individual interviews we were all gathered together and told that we were never to divulge anything we had seen or done that day because if we did as serving members of the armed forces we could be tried for treason and shot! All six of us were then split into different troops and platoons.

I never saw our Platoon Commander or the Sergeant again, they did not return to the UK with our unit. After a week or so all six of the remaining members of the patrol were posted far and wide. The unit was moved from Ripon to a brand new barracks in Catterick.

The unit is now disbanded and the new barracks at Catterick are no more. I use my computer at home and am in regular contact with many old comrades from many of the units I served in. A comprehensive list of all the units of my old Corps are display but not 60 Unit. To date I have never been able to make contact with anyone who served in this unit from my time with it. This is a shortened version of events which led me to having these three pieces I recovered from the site. There maybe a simple explanation why all that happened did but I will leave it at that.

This is the first time I have talked about these events all those years ago and the first time anyone has seen the items I have. I don't think I believe in flying saucers or little green men from Mars but I do have an open mind."

EDITORIAL COMMENT

When I visited his home we discussed his account in more detail.

The people who arrived at the crash site wore black overalls with no insignia whatsoever. He has never had any contact with any of the others on the exercise. All six were posted within a week even though none were due a posting. The blue light did not make any noise whatsoever despite being in view for 7-8 minutes. There was no arrival and no departure of the light. One second it was there another it was gone.

The shock wave was extremely powerful and again there was no noise. At no point did they ever hear an explosion on the mountain that would account for the crash debris.

The helicopters that arrived to pick up the debris had no markings whatsoever. On arrival in the UK he was posted to Northern Ireland within a week when not due another posting. From everything that has been described I would have to label this a UFO event. Something obviously crashed and by the response of the military it was something highly secret.

Questions - Just what was the object recovered? Why were there no markings on the helicopters? Why no insignia on the overalls of the people sent to recover the debris? What was the blue light? Why was there no sound to it? What caused the shockwave that knocked them off their feet?

In 24 years in the army (Royal Corp of Transport) and after being involved in countless military exercises this event was unlike anything else he has ever known before or since.

I think that Tom may have been unwittingly involved in a UFO Retrieval operation. Tom is open to that possibility. As for the three pieces he recovered. I plan to submit them for analysis. I'll let you know the results in a later issue. Thank you Tom for coming forward I am extremely grateful. GH