The Storyteller: Sightings of UFO's around Torbay

I have a confession to make...I’ve never been that interested in UFO spotting...

Ghost hunting, yes, you can wander around a haunted house, from room to room, with the growing excitement that you might experience something...whilst standing, gazing skywards, has never done it for me. That’s not to say I haven’t had my share of unexpected sightings, whilst looking up, and over the years, I’ve met many people who do enjoy UFO watching, usually after having their own experience, and I have great respect for that. 

The other week, my friend, Christine, lent me a new book, by local author, Robin Coysh, who has been studying reports of UFO sightings over Devon for many years. This is the second volume of his findings, entitled “Devon’s  Mysterious Aerial Phenomenon”. In this edition, he covers sightings of phantom airships; UFOs spotted during wartime, that led to concerns over potential enemy spying activities; and the flying saucer craze of the 1950s, which inspired many people to take an interest in the subject, and the subsequent formation of research groups throughout the country. 

Whilst flicking through the book, I came across references to people, and local incidents, that I was aware of. I’ve even met some of the participants, and been involved in subsequent investigations. I therefore have interesting insight, which I can add to Robin’s research, and I thought it might be worth sharing with my readers, in an article...

The first thing that caught my eye, was a mention of Barton Pines, a property that I have history with. Somewhere allegedly quite haunted, and where I was invited to host a Halloween event for the CHICKS charity, many years ago. We managed to combine a ghost hunt with a buffet and disco, and very successful it was too. I did quite a bit of research, prior to the investigation, and one of the names it threw up was William Whitley, who had inherited the property, through his marriage to the daughter of one, Percy Whitehead, who had built Barton Pines, as it stands now, around the date 1893, as inscribed in block work above some top floor windows.

William was the brother of Herbert Whitley, founder of Paignton Zoo, so their family was quite well known in the local area. In Robin’s book, he mentions that Mrs Whitley had seen a light floating over a bank of trees, bordering their property. We are talking 1915 here, so these sightings of strange lights had to be reported to the authorities, so they could rule out suspicious enemy activity. She actually saw them several times, and, although William was initially sceptical, he ended up seeing them too, so he could corroborate his wife’s story. 

The Whitleys eventually left Barton Pines, and took up residence in Buckland in the Moor, where William commissioned the clock face on the church tower to read My Dear Mother, instead of numerals, to honour his own, who was recently deceased, and the engraving of the Ten Commandments on rocks at the foot of Buckland Beacon...but that’s a whole different side to my research. 

I’ve got friends, who’ve had experiences in that same area, that can corroborate some of Robin’s findings. Dave and Adrian, who joined me in setting up TIP, our paranormal investigation group, used to go drinking at Barton Pines, when it had a bar that was open to non residents. On several occasions, as they were driving out of the car park, they saw a light anomaly, flying low, in the field opposite the entrance, behind a row of trees...drink had nothing to do with this experience, and it wasn’t car headlights! 

Further up the lane, at the crossroads you go over to reach Berry Pomeroy Castle, which I’ve always known as Hangman’s Cross, due to the fact it was used as a place of execution, is a spot where crop circles have appeared over the years. My friend, Maia, often shares the experience of an acquaintance of hers, who was once sitting in his van, in a lay by near the junction, having his lunch, when he spotted a disturbance in the field of corn opposite.

As he watched, a perfect crop circle was laid down in front of his eyes. Now this was a no nonsense sort of guy, who had no interest in this type of activity, nor was prone to flights of fancy. In the book, Robin reports on other people’s experiences with crop circles, that have appeared on a regular basis, in this particular area, which have been well scrutinised and documented. With its closeness to the notoriously haunted castle, this only adds to the overall mystic of the area.

The other entry in Robin’s book, that I have a particular interest in, relates to the former Torbay Motel. I actually had my wedding reception at the nearby Blagdon Inn, and spent my wedding night at the motel, but I digress...again it’s not that far away from my favourite haunted castle...

It talks about a Roy Dutton, and how he was approached, whilst giving a talk about UFOs in Torquay Town Hall, by a Mr and Mrs Booth, who were the then owners of said motel, who wanted to share with him the experience of one of the residents of Beechdown Park, a permanent chalet and caravan park that they also owned, next-door. Roy was intrigued by their story, as it had occurred on their land, and, being fairly local himself, he was keen to meet the witness, one Fred Lewis-Goodwin, especially as they were both retired aeronautical engineers, with a mutual interest in UFOs...

I feel the need to take over from Robin here, as both Roy and Fred, plus friends of theirs, joined my group, and attended several of our meetings. Fred shared with us his experience, telling us about the night he was out walking his dog in the field behind the motel, when, all of a sudden, a large rectangular object appeared out of thin air in front of him, with lights flashing. It hovered, briefly, before shooting off, up the hill, where it seemed to interact with the security lights of a property, dimming and brightening them again, as it passed.

When the two men originally met, Fred shared these details with Roy, giving him the exact date and time of the encounter...8pm on February 11th 1998. Roy just so happened to have a computer programme, that, working on the hypothesis that UFOs were actual craft, flying in a fixed orbit throughout our solar system, he could use to predict when Fred’s sighting was likely to occur again...and, sure enough, in August 2000, Fred had exactly the same experience, only this time he was expecting it.

Fred shared his story with the local press, and even the MOD, but neither showed much interest in it. However, both Fred and Roy were very keen for anyone who was up for it, to join them on a sky watch at the Motel at any time, to see if anything might happen again. Myself, and other group members did so once, but, sadly, with nothing much of interest to report.

However, Fred did eventually get his story in the local papers, and here he is again...this one is for you, Fred and Roy! Both men are sadly no longer with us, Roy died in 2018, whilst Fred passed in 2001, and you will be pleased to know that his little dog was very well cared for, after his death. You will also be intrigued to know that, on the day he passed, several plain white vans turned up outside his home, at Beechdown Park, and the men inside, removed all his computers; equipment; research notes; and files...it would appear that the MOD were more interested in what he had to say, than they were letting on...

Finally, a big thank you to Robin for writing such an insightful book, and for inspiring me to write this piece. 

PS My Summer Season of Ghost Walks begins next week, with a brand new one around Ivybridge on Tuesday 22nd, and Brixham following on every Wednesday until September. For further details, see the poster here for the July dates, or get in touch via email davidtiptrips@gmail.com    

As always, I look forward to meeting any of my readers in the flesh...