FORGOTTEN ENCOUNTERS #4: The Dechmont Woods Incident (Scotland, 1979)

“They tried to drag me away.”

Welcome back to Forgotten Encounters—where we dive into the most chilling, overlooked, and often mind-bending alien encounters that never made international headlines.

Today’s case is a first: a UFO sighting officially investigated as a criminal assault. It happened in Livingston, Scotland, when forestry worker Robert Taylor claimed he was attacked by two strange machines in a quiet woodland clearing.

No lights in the sky. No distant saucer.

This was up close. Personal and physical.

Livingston Post newspaper clipping of the event

📍 Location:

Dechmont Law, Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland

📅 Date:

November 9, 1979

👤 Witness:

Robert “Bob” Taylor, 61 — a forestry worker, war veteran, and well-respected community member with no history of strange claims.

UFO trail map, Dechmont Woods.

THE ENCOUNTER

That morning, Taylor drove out to Dechmont Woods to check on a fenced-off area. He parked his van on a rough dirt path and took his dog with him on foot into the clearing.

Then he saw it.

Hovering silently just above the ground was a metallic, dark grey sphere, about 20 feet across, textured with strange panel-like sections and crosshatch patterns. It appeared otherworldly—not smooth or polished like sci-fi depictions, but industrial and alien.

Before he could react, two smaller spheres—about 3 feet wide, metallic, with multiple spiked extensions—emerged from the larger object. They moved rapidly across the grass, rolling or gliding toward him with an odd suction-like “plop-plop” sound.

He stood frozen in disbelief… until they reached him.

An artist's depiction of the UFO described by Mr. Taylor

PHYSICAL CONTACT AND BLACKOUT

The smaller objects latched onto Taylor’s trousers with the spiked appendages and began to pull him forward. He felt pressure on both legs, like grappling hooks gripping him from below.

“I felt a tugging. Then... nothing.”

Taylor blacked out.

When he came to, the objects—and the sphere—were gone. His dog was barking frantically nearby. His legs were aching, and he noticed that his trousers were torn at both thighs, with straight, deliberate rips that couldn’t be explained by brambles or falling.

He staggered back to his van—but it wouldn’t start. Disoriented and in pain, he walked nearly a mile home, where his wife, terrified by his pale appearance and slurred speech, called for a doctor and the police.

THE POLICE REPORT

Here’s where the case takes a sharp turn into the unusual: the police treated the incident as a potential physical assault.

• Officers visited the scene and found ladder-shaped tracks—parallel, evenly spaced indentations in the soil—matching where Taylor said the object had landed.

• No other vehicles were present.

• Taylor’s trousers were seized as evidence, and their rips were analyzed—suggesting they were caused by a strong upward pulling force, not natural tearing.

• His injuries, though minor, were confirmed by a doctor.

The official report filed with Lothian Police noted:

“This is a case of assault by person or persons unknown.”

It remains the only UFO case in British history investigated as a criminal physical attack.

THE ENCOUNTER’S UNCANNY SPECIFICITY

What makes this case so compelling isn’t just the police involvement—it’s the unusual level of detail and mechanical logic in Taylor’s description.

• The “spiked spheres” aren’t typical of alien lore, yet they resemble advanced robotic probes more than fantastical aliens.

• Taylor didn’t describe seeing creatures—only machines doing a job.

• The craft wasn’t shiny or saucer-shaped. It was utilitarian, more like a tool than a ship.

• He never used the word “alien” and had no interest in UFOs or science fiction prior to the event.

His language was direct and practical, which UFO researchers later said lent credibility to his account. It sounded less like fantasy and more like someone trying to describe the indescribable using the only vocabulary they had.

LIFE AFTER DECHMONT

Taylor never changed his story—not once. He continued working, avoided publicity, and refused to speak to tabloids. Those close to him said the event shook him, but didn’t destroy him.

He passed away in 2007, quietly, having maintained to the very end that what happened in Dechmont Woods was real.

Today, a plaque marks the site of the encounter—a physical reminder of the only UK case where a man claimed to have been attacked by a UFO and the police believed him enough to investigate.

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