FORGOTTEN ENCOUNTERS #2: The Alien on Ilkley Moor (UK, 1987)

Paul Balmer
23 hours ago
4 min read

Updated: 4 hours ago

Welcome back to Forgotten Encounters—the blog series uncovering eerie, unexplained alien and UFO cases that history left behind. These aren’t your household names. These are strange, obscure, and often unsettling stories buried in dusty case files and fading memories.

In today’s encounter, we head to the windswept hills of Yorkshire—specifically Ilkley Moor, where a retired police officer claimed to not only see an alien being in broad daylight but also managed to photograph it.

Whether hoax, hallucination, or genuine extraterrestrial contact, the details of this event continue to mystify decades later.

📍 Location:

Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire, England – a remote and misty stretch of open land famous for its rugged terrain, local folklore, and paranormal legends.

📅 Date:

December 1, 1987

👤 Witness:

Identified only as "Philip Spencer" (a pseudonym used to protect his identity), a former police officer who didn't seek to gain anything from this encounter.

THE ENCOUNTER

Spencer, who had recently moved to the area, set out across Ilkley Moor early in the morning to visit his father-in-law. He took a camera with him, hoping to capture some early morning scenery.

As he walked through the desolate moorland, Spencer noticed a small humanoid figure ahead on the path—short, greenish-grey, and with a disproportionately large head. It appeared to be making a hand gesture, as if trying to wave him away or signal something.

Startled, Spencer raised his camera and snapped a single photograph.

But by the time he lowered the camera, the figure had run off—moving with unnatural speed and agility.

Spencer, a trained observer thanks to his police background, quickly gave chase but lost sight of the being behind a ridge.

As he crested the hill, he saw a silvery, disc-shaped craft rising into the sky. It emitted no sound and quickly vanished into the clouds.

MISSING TIME

At this point, Spencer was alarmed to find his compass behaving erratically, pointing in the wrong direction. Confused and disoriented, he eventually made his way to his destination—but discovered that he had lost nearly two hours of time.

He had no memory of anything occurring during that period.

Convinced something extraordinary had happened, he submitted to hypnotic regression therapy. Under hypnosis, Spencer recounted a terrifying experience.

UNDER HYPNOSIS: The Missing Time Revealed

Disturbed by the two-hour time gap after the encounter, Spencer underwent hypnotic regression in an attempt to recover his lost memories.

Under hypnosis, he recalled being beckoned by the figure and entering a glowing mist. He was then aboard a metallic, curved, silent craft, where several small beings examined him. He described their appearance as short, thin, pale-skinned, with large black eyes and no visible mouths.

Spencer claimed he was paralyzed but not in pain, as the beings conducted what felt like a medical examination. Instruments were used on his eyes and chest, and the procedure felt clinical—detached, but not cruel.

Then came the most chilling part: he was shown a series of vivid mental images—scenes of nuclear war, environmental destruction, and human suffering. He described the message behind the images as a warning, saying,

"They’re watching us destroy ourselves. They won't interfere... only observe."

Though controversial, the consistency of Spencer’s account—and the lack of personal gain—has made the Ilkley Moor case one of the most puzzling abduction stories in the UK’s UFO history.

THE PHOTOGRAPH

Spencer’s story would be easy to dismiss if not for one key piece of evidence: the photo he captured of the figure on the moor.

The Image:

Though blurry and lacking fine detail, the figure in the photo appears to be:

Short and humanoid
With long limbs and an oversized head
Seemingly in motion or mid-gesture

The photo has been analyzed by multiple experts over the years. Notably:

Dr. Bruce Maccabee, an optical physicist and well-known UFO photo analyst, could not definitively prove it was a hoax.
Kodak labs verified that the image was not manipulated post-processing.
Skeptics argue it could be a costumed figure, a wooden cutout, or even a trick of perspective...

and they could be right because this could have been faked, but no conclusive explanation has ever been given.

OFFICIAL RESPONSE

Unlike cases such as Rendlesham Forest, the Ilkley Moor incident never prompted a government investigation, likely due to its isolated nature and the witness’ desire to stay anonymous.

Nonetheless, UFO researchers across the UK took note. The British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) logged the case as "unexplained" and worthy of further study.

WHY YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF THIS

The witness refused to go public beyond using a pseudonym.
The photo wasn’t sensational enough for media hype but too strange to fully dismiss.
It occurred in the shadow of Rendlesham Forest, which dominated British UFO attention in the '80s.

And so, the Ilkley Moor Encounter became a curious footnote in alien lore—often mentioned in passing but rarely explored in full.

Until now.

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Stay curious. Stay questioning. Check out the previous Forgotten Encounters.