More UFOs Over Warminster

Having first read More UFOs Over Warminster (1979) several years ago, what first caught my attention when I recently again studied the book was a recognition of the similarity of one of the photographs (below) featured therein with a photo taken by Daniel Fry shown in a previous blog article.  The photos also correspond with characteristics of the UFO seen in the 1965 Gordon Faulkner photo selected for the cover of The Warminster Mystery.  All claims that the photo is a hoax have been repudiated by Faulkner.

Detail of photo showing UFO.

"In 1966 this UFO was photographed lurking over the rooftops (Austin Reed)"

More UFOs Over Warminster continued to offer Arthur Shuttlewood's analysis of experiences that he compared to providing "pieces from a giant jigsaw puzzle of alien brand."  He reminded in the first chapter that in addition to the aerial phenomena, his fellow hillside observers were "aware of unseen 'presences' at ground level."  He also commented:

Heat, weird humming, stopping of an engine: these features are consistent with scores of cases similar in nature around Warminster area, and, since, all over the world.  Do these disturbing happenings denote hostility, or merely a means of shocking fresh 'victims' into realization that otherworldly forces are at work in our atmosphere, whether we choose to welcome them or not?

Throughout Shuttlewood's books, the latter interpretation is deemed the necessary conclusion.  He followed this question with other observations based upon what he had witnessed and researched.

Propulsion media?  Data concerning unusual magnetic fields can be attributed to; ionization, colour, sound spiral vortex, latent energy in the atmosphere, as well as many other things all based on nature, so perhaps it is natural forces we should be studying more minutely for essential clues.  Telepathy should also come under sympathetic survey.  Experiments are being carried out already in this field; crews of long range atom-powered submarines are being taught rudiments of telepathic communication, which would have been scorned in pre-war days.

Science has long abandoned use of the word 'ether' in describing properties of space, only to discover, gradually, that it was not perhaps the simple dream in the minds of William Crookes and his contemporaries in the last century.


Recorded in many historical documents apart from the Bible, Talmud, Koran and Sanskrit writings, becoming more prolific in number since the last war in all major countries of the world, UFOs are factual to a large proportion of a no-longer-gullible public.  Sensibly, these people refuse to be fobbed off with weak official explanations that fall dismally short of truth.

A local botanical "minor mystery" was presented by Shuttlewood.

. . . a local farmer found, one morning in the summer of 1965, that several acres of land he had left fallow near Warminster were 'a mass of weeds.'  They were silvery thistles of a rare type that virtually ceased to flourish in England in the year 1918, proclaimed the experts who excitedly raced to the scene.

After around ten years of reporting about the Warminster UFO events, Shuttlewood commented about apathy concerning the subject among the Warminster public.

In the pre-Christmas issue of the local newspaper our few stalwarts on local hills warmly invited everyone to come along and join us on a sky-watch at Starr Hill on Saturday night, 22 December 1973.  Only one newcomer joined our ranks, a poor response from the critics who refuse to credit that so many witnesses are indeed speaking truth when they claim to have seen these modern wonders in the heavens.

The newcomer was Vivian Lane, who lives in East End Avenue, Warminster.  He joined seven regular watchers at Starr, and was visually rewarded by a convincing show of gracefulness in motion.  The UFO, a golden peardrop in the sky, suddenly erupted over Mortar Clump.  It flew from left to right, west to east, its elegant duck-bobbing movement seen by all for a period of several minutes on its aerial route in the direction of Stonehenge.

Shuttlewood reminded —

Because of singularly odd events on local hills, such as persistent tugs at the back of my jacket, warm belts of air that caress freezing cheeks on wintry nights, lovely perfumes that waft full  at the watchers in reassurance when some experience leaves them tense and occasionally fearful, added to the fact that I modestly claim to have enjoyed an average of two genuine UFO sightings a week over the past fourteen or so years of quiet research study, I am not convinced that the majority  of what we see hail from other physical realms of the universe.  A minority may come from other planets somewhere in this or another galaxy in the vast Milky Way; but most of what I have seen appears to belong to another dimension or level of existence in universal structure.  It strikes me as an age-old force belonging to our environs and surrounds.  A force, an intelligence, that is far older than Man and has inhabited the earth world far longer than he.

He further articulated his metaphysical philosophy that had evolved after experiencing the many strange circumstances detailed throughout his books.

At popular sky-watching sites around Warminster, one tries assiduously to remain unbiased when acting as a fulcrum in the centre of a seesaw of contention about UFOs, their place of origin and their prime purpose in our native air space.  Listening to the 'hard nuts and bolts' devotees who acclaim science as their God and too readily assume that Man on Earth is the supreme epitome of creation in the whole gamut of universal intelligence, versus the equally vociferous fraternity who claim that 'God is the author of all cosmic mysteries,' the honest truth-seeker is often left wondering at the insipid, weakened state of progressive scientific evaluation and upholders of spiritual values alike.

The final answers, surely, must come to persons as individual seekers; to those humble enough to concede that there is a middle way; and a natural universal law which affirms that without challenges of The Unknown to our limited consciousness we should become nothing more than warped physical, mental and emotional cabbages; instead of destined to be a whole (holy) unit in an immeasurable Universe and an integral part of the wholeness (holiness) of the Creative Genius who set everybody and everything — all natural processes, divinely blessed — into motion.

Something that has been noticeable in documented cases involving so-called 'talking poltergeist' cases—including the Centrahoma case that I personally investigated—has been the materialization of coins.  In More UFOs Over Warminster Shuttlewood wrote:

The effect of a visit by UFO can have very odd repercussions.  The Daily Telegraph recorded a strange experience on 25 September 1978: two men investigating the sightings of an unidentified flying object claimed they found coins on the ground which had been bent.  When they emptied their pockets they said they discovered that a further six coins had also similar markings.  Mr. Trevor Aram, 20, and his brother Brian, 32, both tyre fitters of Stamford Street, Awsorth, Notts, reported seeing a large illuminated dome near their home.  They are now seeking the help of scientists to solve the money mystery.

Shuttlewood found laudable the chronicling of UFO sightings by amateur investigatory groups.  He divulged:

Many genuine sightings have never been mentioned and publicly revealed.  Perfectly sane testifiers, not given to prevaricating or making loose-woven statements, have presented me with their valid UFO experiences in the Warminster area alone, insisting they be treated in strict confidences and not be published.  These persons fear the inevitable backlash of widespread ridicule and the character-scourging whip of disfavour, which means proverbial exile from neighbours and workaday colleagues.

In this excerpt from More UFOs Over Warminster, Shuttlewood noted his own experiences that had occurred on the date reported by a correspondent, Miss J. McCormick, of Roydon in Essex.  She wrote to him on May 15, 1977: 

"I felt I had to contact someone who would believe what we saw.  We were staying with my aunt and cousin at Cley Hill cottage, Whitbourne Springs, at Corsley just outside Warminster.  We had gone to bed on Saturday night about 1 am and I was awakened at around 2 am.  May I say at this point I do not know what woke me up.  I went to the bedroom window and at first saw nothing but darkness.  It was absolutely pitch-dark in the garden, although on looking left I could see clearly the outline of Cley Hill itself.

"To the right of the window is the start of the grounds of Longleat.  I noticed, after what must have been ten seconds, a light which was shining from the right — I assumed — on to the garage which was facing right.  I turned to look in the direction from which I thought the light was coming, and noticed a 'heavy mist' patch hanging on its own about thirty-five feet from the bedroom window.  I looked again to ensure I was not seeing things that really were not there; and this time I was assured!  The mist got brighter; not really bright, but bright in comparison with the darkness of the garden.  It lowered slowly and formed into a bell-shaped outline.  The shape was very prominent, although the light was only within the shape itself, and around the edges it appeared to be very 'fuzzy.'  It then intensified into a brilliant white for a split-second, and was gone!

"The effect it had on me was shock!  (I am not a nervous person as a rule).  My fiancé also saw this object about a hundred yards away, on a slope that is within Longleat grounds.  In all, the time must have been no more than five minutes (accounting for the time elapsing between my sighting and that of my fiancé)."

If it is any comfort to Miss McCormick and her young man, we saw some unusual sky incidents on the Saturday night from Upton Scudamore; and many flying streaks of light over Cradle Hill heading from north to south — and it is doubtful whether all could have been classified as satellites.  There were some dozen or more in an hour's sky-watch; and on two occasions, two were zig-zagging simultaneously while passing one another in the sky!  We honestly wrote-off half the quota of sky visions as satellites.

As with other individuals with firsthand experiences encompassing 'unexplained phenomena,' Shuttlewood was faced with considering if other people's testimonials were to be accepted and seriously contemplated.  He observed, "All truth-seekers, especially in the specialist field of serious Ufology, ferret out information that consists of verifiable facts and loose-woven rumors that prove difficult to pin down positively."  On this basis, he related that "a pretty good case" could be made in favor of contact allegations concerning "contact having been made with at least one government."  Shuttlewood mentioned a 'reputable source' to describe a rumored meeting between President Eisenhower and 'top brass' with "small (about four feet tall) humanoid creatures" in spring 1954 at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.  

The account provided what Shuttlewood called "a fairly substantial, albeit circumstantial, case for the biggest and wildest-reaching contact event of all time! . . . Facts about this incident may be termed hearsay; yet I have been assured that every fact can be confirmed should any truth-seeker go to the trouble of personal investigation.  Unfortunately, even case-hardened reporters run into brick walls when it comes to unearthing facts about UFO sighting reports by Service personnel!  So readers must judge for themselves.  Doubtless sceptics will consider the case 'too fantastic to be true'!  For my part (and that of faithful friends not giving to telling lies or fabricating unimaginable stories along the UFO trail) when next I am asked: 'Why do not UFO intelligences contact any governments?'  I must in all conscience reply: 'They have done so.'  (APEN friends will agree with this bold assertion!)"

Although the account involving Eisenhower described by Shuttlewood is manifestly 'hearsay,' it seems obvious that reporting of an authentic contact incident could become distorted by individuals attempting to characterize the event in a way that promotes their own self interests in relation to ensconced political and military agendas; nonetheless, it is intriguing to consider what inspired Eisenhower to declare on January 17, 1961 in his farewell address to the nation:

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

In the concluding chapter of More UFOs Over Warminster, Shuttlewood commented: "After intensive study of and close contact with the UFO mystery over a long period, I am deeply conscious of the tremendous responsibility borne by all who seek to inform on such a still futuristic subject."

This article is continued in "More UFOs Over Warminster (Part 2)".