In this Shropshire UFO casebook UFO researcher Phil Hoyle recalls the case of a UFO on the Long Mynd, Church Stretton in the early 90s
Part 7 – The Long Mynd UFO
Church Stretton, Shropshire still remains one of the highest activity areas for UFO sightings and encounters in the UK with reports going back over 50 years, detailing encounters with UFO crafts and occupants. Why should such high UFO activity be focused on this idyllic little Shropshire town is anybody’s guess but growing evidence might suggest a link to the ancient sites and geological fault lines running from Much Wenlock through Church Stretton into Wales.
The incident reported here took place around 1990 and was related to an encounter with a UFO by Tony Foster, who at the time lived just outside Church Stretton.
Tony had been to a party in Church Stretton and felt he had had one too many drinks to still be legal to drive, so he decided to take an alternative route home away from the main roads. It was about 12.30 to 1 am, the isolated route over the ‘Burway’ is a narrow road that meanders over the Long Mynd hills to the other side of the valley. This route is all open country and very dark with no street lights, just hills, lonely lanes with the odd farmhouse dotted every few miles.
As he was driving on the top of the Long Mynd, Tony saw a glowing light that came down from the sky, then all of a sudden a beam of light shone onto his car and the engine cut out! Tony was very perturbed by this; he was in the middle of nowhere with no other people and no torch! He decided to get out of the car; as he did, he noticed the body of the car felt affected by a very high electrical static charge (which is very commonly reported during these encounters).
The light that was hovering above him, was the size of a house in circumference and about 150 feet above the ground. The light was dazzlingly bright, especially as it was so dark all around him. As he looked at the light, he could just make out other coloured lights that reminded him of rainbows emanating from the middle of the object. After approximately 30 seconds of watching the light hover above him, he got back in the car and desperately tried to restart the engine – the car was dead. Tony looked back up at the light, and then in the blink of an eye, the light was gone – he had never seen anything move so quickly in his life before. A few seconds later, the car started again, and he drove home as quickly as he could.
Who to tell?
The next day, Tony felt he had to tell somebody about the previous night’s experience and called on his old friend David Williams. Tony told David the whole story and asked if he should contact any of the authorities like the police. David advised him not to call the local police, in case questions were asked about him taking this unusual route!
Tony Fosters worked as a car mechanic in Wellington, about 10 days after the encounter he phoned David and asked him to keep some information confidential. He went on to explain that he had contacted someone in Birmingham regarding the encounter. He had spoken to a man who asked for more information, such as where he lived and worked. The man told him that he and a colleague could be at his place of work in about two hours, and would it be convenient to interview him? Being at work, it was not convenient with such short notice, but the man insisted and was rather abrupt, apprehensively, Tony agreed and awaited their arrival.
Two men arrived at his place of work and immediately reaffirmed that he must not discuss the incident with anyone and asked Tony to accompany them to a local pub to discuss the experience in more detail. The three men chatted for a while, it was explained that what Mr Fosters had seen that night was a UFO and they would explain more if he agreed to accompany them to a government building in Birmingham in the next few days. A week or so after the initial meeting, Tony travelled over to Birmingham to meet the two men. A few days after the meeting, Tony called on David again and told him of his visit and what had happened.
Official Secrets Act
David explained how Tony was very excited the next time they met but swore he not ever tell anyone about their conversations. He explained how the two men, dressed in plain clothes, had shown him films and photographs of UFOs and of aliens and even items obtained from them. He had spent the whole day there going through books and other UFO-related material. They also went over his own experience very methodically and noted all the details. He was told he had to sign the Official Secrets Act, regarding his experience and what he had just been shown by the two men.
He was also sharply told not to divulge any of the information, and there would be consequences if he did! They explained to him that many people were having the same type of experiences as he had encountered all over the country and that Church Stretton was not only a hot spot in Shropshire but also in the country.
This whole incident was related to me by David Williams, Tony Fosters best friend as Tony had died some years before in tragic circumstances.
Read more casebooks
Casebook Part 1 – The Witness
Casebook Part 2 – The Triangle Mystery
Casebook Part 3 – UFO abductions
Casebook Part 4 – Crafts and crop circles
Casebook Part 5 – Shropshire Animal Mutilations
Casebook Part 6 – The Cosford Sphere
Casebook Part 7 – The Long Mynd UFO
Casebook Part 8 – The Cigar Shaped UFO
Casebook Part 9 – Real Men In Black
Copyright Phil Hoyle 2012
Shropshire Live is regulated by