They're coming to take you away!

Tell people you've spotted a UFO and the odds are they'll tell you you're nuts. So imagine the response if you go one step further - and report that you've also been abducted by aliens.

Don't laugh, these things happen. Indeed, an organization called BUFORA - the British UFO Research Association - is staging a special conference on the subject next Saturday at Sheffield's Hallam University. Visitors to the event will hear detailed reports and first-hand accounts of several such extra-terrestrial experiences.

Of the thousands of abduction cases reported over the last 50 years, the vast majority, predictably, have come from the US. To date, only 40 people in Britain have emerged with similar stories.

Many people who believe they've had direct encounters with aliens are unwilling to talk about it, possibly for fear of being dismissed as barmy. But a few are prepared to discuss what's happened, in the hope that others may come forward - maybe to back up their stories, maybe to shed further light on the phenomenon.

We meet four people who claim to have come face-to-face with creatures from an unknown world.

GARY WOOD An ambulance mechanic from Edinburgh. He is 32 and single.

WHEN 10.30pm, Monday, August 17, 1992.

WHERE On the A70 in Scotland, between Tarbrax and Balerno.

WHAT HAPPENED? It was a clear night and my friend Colin and I were driving along when we saw this black, shiny object floating in the sky ahead of us, about 20ft above the ground. It was circular, about 35ft wide, with a domed top. It had no lights and made no noise. I accelerated like mad. As I did so, this shimmering curtain descended across the road. As I went into this curtain there was no car and no Colin. Everything was black. I thought that I'd died. Then I was back in the car. There was a huge shunt in the back and we were swerving over the road.

HOW LONG DID IT LAST? It seemed to be about 10-15 seconds, but we found later that about an hour and a half had gone missing.

WHO ABDUCTED YOU? Under hypnosis, I talked about two kinds of creatures. There were about 20 to 30 large ones, about 6ft tall, and half a dozen little ones, about half that height.

WHAT DID THEY LOOK LIKE? The big ones had tight, translucent skin, kind of whitey-grey, and large dark eyes. They looked very frail. They had arms and legs like us but their heads were a lot bigger. The smaller creatures seemed to be doing all the work. They were a different colour, darker. I also saw one brown creature who looked ancient. He was about 4ft tall, with a head shaped like a heart and funny folds of brown skin.

DESCRIBE WHERE THEY TOOK YOU I remember a dark room. My pal Colin, a painter and decorator, went somewhere different. He saw cylinders and chambers, which he felt he was going to be shut into and taken away.

WHAT WAS SAID? One said to me: "I've got a life like you, but different. This happens to us, too. We have our ups and downs." I replied: "What do you want?" He said: "Sanctuary - we're coming." Then I explained to him I was a normal guy and couldn't help.

WHAT DID THEY DO? I was lying down on some kind of platform and something was stuck in my leg. It was painful. At one point I saw a naked young woman sitting on the floor, crying, with her knees up to her chest. It looked as if she was in the same predicament. There was also a pool of gel on the floor and one of the bigger creatures was rising from it. Some of the taller ones were collapsing, as if they had problems coping with the pressure on their bodies.

WERE THEY HOSTILE? I don't think so. If I could have moved I'd have had a go at them. I was terrified at the time.

WERE YOU A BELIEVER BEFORE? No, I was never really interested in aliens or stuff like that. I thought it was rubbish. I was just an average guy, interested in things like cars and money. But my life has been totally torn apart. I have trouble sleeping. I'm deeply concerned, but nobody in authority seems to give a hoot.

ARE YOU BONKERS? No, I'm 100 per cent confident about what I saw. I was abducted separately from Colin, but we've both had similar descriptions. I'd love someone to explain it to me, but nobody can. Everyone just seems to laugh.

ROSALIND REYNOLDS

A pet bedding manufacturer, aged 35, from Little Clacton, Essex.

WHEN Late September, 1982.

WHERE Sudbury, Suffolk, on the A1092 between Long Melford and Haverhill.

WHAT HAPPENED? As my boyfriend Philip and I were driving along, this horseshoe-shaped set of lights appeared, swooped very low over the car, then disappeared over a hedge. It was wider than the road, three or four times longer than the car, and totally silent. It reappeared a few minutes later, swooping, matching our speed. Then the car ground to a halt and this big, white, egg-shaped object stopped alongside us. The next thing I remember we were back in the car, which had started running again and we felt subdued, almost drugged. The craft followed us a bit longer and then shot skywards. We were freaked, but never said a word about it to each other. Afterwards, my weight fell dramatically, I had dreadful nose bleeds, discovered a weeping yellow spot on my back and found this burn mark across my chest. I also had a scar in a private place. I was terrified to go to the doctor. I mean, what the hell do you say?

HOW LONG DID IT LAST?

Our two-and-a-half-hour journey later turned out to have taken five and a half hours.

WHO ABDUCTED YOU?

There was one tall fella and about half a dozen little ones.

WHAT DID THEY LOOK LIKE?

The tall one had bleached blond hair, very messy. The little ones were about 3ft 6in, with big heads, huge eyes, no ears, a slit for a nose, and a slit for a mouth. They had weedy bodies, out of proportion, bluey- grey skin and huge hypnotic black eyes.

DESCRIBE WHERE THEY TOOK YOU

A large room with a pedestal in the middle and I was sitting on the edge of a table. The smell was awful, like rotten eggs.

WHAT WAS SAID?

We talked about the planet, their history and future. I asked lots of questions. They told me about the engines of their crafts. Since that night I've become psychic. I can picture disasters. I wrote to Japan and told them about the Kobe earthquake - they never replied.

WHAT DID THEY DO?

They were poking, prodding and pushing. They had four fingers on each hand, all long and pointy and yukky. It was like a clinical examination - weighing, tagging and examining me. At a later hypnosis session, I leaped out of the chair and shouted: "I don't want any babies." I've no idea why.

WERE THEY HOSTILE?

Just cold, treating me like a laboratory rat.

WERE YOU A BELIEVER BEFORE?

Not at all. All I was interested in was dogs, horses, Country and Western music and CB radio.

ARE YOU BONKERS?

People did think I was cuckoo, and for a while I believed them. Looking at it logically, I realized that I wasn't mad at all, something real had happened.

WHITLEY STRIEBER

An author from San Antonio, Texas, USA. He is 50 and married with one son.

WHEN Midnight, Thursday, December 26, 1985.

WHERE In a holiday cabin in New York state, USA.

WHAT HAPPENED? I woke to an incredible noise and an

electronic voice repeating: "What can we do to help you stop screaming?" It was the most terrifying thing I'd experienced. I thought I was having a nightmare. I kept trying to wake myself, but I was clearly awake already. I think I must have been struggling a lot.

HOW LONG DID IT LAST? It was under 15 minutes, I believe.

WHO ABDUCTED YOU? There were loads of little fellas with huge black slanted eyes and long, thin faces. They looked like bugs, only 50 times the size. There appeared to be two different types. Some willowy, others stocky, and in dark blue uniforms.

DESCRIBE WHERE THEY TOOK YOU I was in a stuffy, dark, round room, like an old locker room, with benches built into the wall and clothes and stuff lying around. There was no evidence of any fancy, high- tech equipment. There was an arched doorway and at one point someone tried to get me to go through it but I wouldn't. I also recall a lot of smells, the chief one being cinnamon.

WHAT WAS SAID? I said: "You have no right to do this to me." But one of them replied: "We do have a right." They spoke English, with no accent.

WHAT DID THEY DO? They seemed to be trying to restrain me and I didn't feel in normal command of my faculties.

WERE THEY HOSTILE? No. They clearly felt they had a right to do what they were doing. They seemed upset by my screaming.

WERE YOU A BELIEVER BEFORE? No. I knew about UFOs and flying saucers but I wasn't interested in them.

ARE YOU BONKERS? I spent six months fooling around with medical stuff. We've tried just about every kind of test known to man to to see if I'd suffered some kind of abnormal brain function. I've also done psychological tests. What's appalling is that my brain turned out to be horribly normal.

LYNDA JONES

A former beauty consultant from south Manchester. She is 53, married with two grown-up children.

WHEN 9pm, Sunday, August 19, 1979.

WHERE The bank of the River Mersey, south Manchester.

WHAT HAPPENED? As I was walking home with my two children, we saw this orangey-pink oval thing, about 60ft across, hurtling towards us. It dropped into a field behind a hill and we ran up to look and saw this object, which was a dull, dark grey colour, hovering about 2ft above the ground. There were no doors or windows, just several lights. It hovered around and then kept disappearing and reappearing. My daughter started screaming hysterically and we ran away.

HOW LONG DID IT LAST? We thought it was seconds, but later discovered an hour of our time couldn't be accounted for.

WHO ABDUCTED YOU? Under hypnosis afterwards, I talked about these six vaguely human creatures, all wearing jumpsuits.

WHAT DID THEY LOOK LIKE? They had a puppet-like look, almost Oriental in appearance. They had short, black hair, yellowy-grey skin and almond-shaped eyes and were all identical.

DESCRIBE WHERE THEY TOOK YOU I don't really know, but there was a sensation of floating and a lot of bright light.

WHAT WAS SAID? I don't recall. WHAT DID THEY DO? All I remember was having pieces of ice put on my legs, and then some sort of examination took place. I'm not saying gynaecologically. The next day the skin around my eyes was burnt and scaly. Soon afterwards my son, who was five, developed a rash and lost lots of weight. Doctors put it down to an unidentified virus.

WERE THEY HOSTILE? No.

WERE YOU A BELIEVER BEFORE? I thought it was all a load of rubbish.

ARE YOU BONKERS? No, three of us saw it. We drew what we'd seen independently. We all came up with the same thing. There's never been any doubt in my mind.

Copyright 1996 MGN LTD
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