Apr 9
Alien Encounters #14 Cover Art by John Bolton
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Alien Encounters #14 Cover Art by John Bolton
Tim Conrad “Luv’s Story” title splash Alien Encounters #4 (1985) Source
Colors by Sam Parsons
The Broadlands Encounter of Frederick S. Briggs (1955)
On a cold February morning in 1955, Frederick S. Briggs set out on his bicycle toward another day of work on the Broadlands estate in Hampshire. A former Army sergeant and a practical man by reputation, Briggs was not someone inclined toward fantasy. Yet what he claimed to witness on 23 February would become one of the most unusual and enduring UFO stories connected to the British aristocracy. His account, preserved through later interviews and writings, describes a moment in which the ordinary rhythm of a workday was interrupted by something wholly outside his frame of reference.
Briggs reported that as he approached a wooded area of the estate, he noticed a metallic object hovering above the ground. It was described as disc‑shaped, smooth, and silent, the kind of craft that would later become iconic in mid‑century UFO lore. He claimed to see a figure inside or near the craft, dressed in a one‑piece suit, humanoid in outline but unfamiliar in presence. Before he could make sense of the scene, the craft emitted a forceful blast of air that knocked him from his bicycle. By the time he recovered, the object had risen and vanished into the sky.
The encounter might have faded into local rumor if not for the identity of Briggs’s employer. Broadlands was the home of Lord Louis Mountbatten, a decorated naval commander, cousin to Prince Philip, and a man with a private but well‑documented interest in UFO phenomena. Briggs reported the incident to his foreman, and the story soon reached Mountbatten himself. According to later accounts, Mountbatten took the report seriously enough to document it and discuss it with those close to him. His personal papers, released decades later, show that he collected UFO reports, corresponded with researchers, and believed the subject deserved open‑minded investigation.
The Briggs encounter became part of a small constellation of stories surrounding Broadlands, a place that would later be associated with other paranormal claims. In the 1950s, Britain was experiencing a wave of saucer sightings, and Briggs’s testimony fit the era’s pattern: a lone witness, a classic disc, a brief moment of contact, and a sudden departure. Yet the involvement of a senior royal figure gave the story an unusual cultural weight. It blurred the line between folklore and official curiosity, between a worker’s strange morning and the private fascinations of the aristocracy.
Over time, the story has been retold in UFO literature, often embellished or reframed, but always anchored to the same core elements: Briggs’s sincerity, the physical jolt that knocked him from his bicycle, and Mountbatten’s willingness to treat the account as something more than a tall tale. Whether interpreted as a genuine encounter, a psychological event, or a mythic narrative shaped by its era, the Briggs story endures because it sits at the crossroads of class, mystery, and mid‑century fascination with the unknown.
Celebrating My Paranormal Journey: Signs from the Universe
Joe Chiodo (Born: 1958, American) Alien Encounters #1 (1985)
The Varginha Creature: Brazil’s Most Enigmatic Encounter Introduction Among the world’s most compelling UFO cases, the 1996 Varginha Incident stands out not for spectacle, but for intimacy. Often dubbed “Brazil’s Roswell,” it centers on a single, fragile being — not a fleet of ships or a mass sighting, but a creature described with such emotional precision that it feels more folkloric than extraterrestrial. The story unfolds in the city of Varginha, Minas Gerais, where myth, secrecy, and empathy converge.
The Encounter On the morning of January 20, 1996, residents reported seeing a cigar-shaped object moving erratically through the sky, trailing smoke. Firefighters and military units were allegedly dispatched soon after. Later that day, three young women — Lilian, Valquíria, and Kátia — claimed to have seen a strange figure crouched near a wall in a vacant lot.
Their description became iconic: a small, humanoid creature with dark brown, oily skin, large red eyes, and three ridges on its head. It emitted a strong ammonia-like odor and appeared weak, frightened, and passive. This wasn’t a monster — it was a being in distress.
Military Involvement Witnesses reported seeing military trucks, soldiers cordoning off areas, and even a second creature allegedly taken to a hospital. The Brazilian Army denied involvement, but the testimonies — from civilians, hospital staff, and even some officials — suggest a coordinated response. The creature was said to have died shortly after capture, though no physical evidence has ever surfaced.
Interpretations and Theories The Varginha case has inspired a range of interpretations:
Extraterrestrial crash: A damaged craft, a surviving occupant, and a rapid military cover-up.
Misidentified animal or person: Some skeptics suggest a deformed human or a sick animal, though the consistency of the creature’s description challenges this.
Folkloric overlay: Brazil’s rich mythic tradition may have shaped how witnesses interpreted what they saw, blending the unknown with cultural archetypes.
Military experiment: A biological mishap or hazardous-material incident misread as alien.
Each theory attempts to explain the creature’s appearance, the military presence, and the emotional tone of the encounter — but none fully resolves the mystery.
Why It Endures The Varginha Creature is remembered not just for its strangeness, but for its vulnerability. Unlike the cold, clinical aliens of American lore, this being seemed lost, injured, and afraid. It evoked empathy. The cultural context matters too: Brazil’s mythic landscape is populated by beings who dwell in the margins — forest spirits, tricksters, and shapeshifters. The Varginha creature fits this mold, whether real or imagined.
And then there’s the ambiguity. No body. No official explanation. No definitive hoax. The story remains open, breathing, mythic.
Conclusion The Varginha Incident is more than a UFO case. It’s a story about perception, empathy, and the mythic imagination. Whether the creature was real, misidentified, or folkloric, it revealed something profound: when faced with the unknown, we don’t just react — we interpret, we mythologize, we feel.
And that’s why the Varginha Creature endures.
The Kera Incident of 1972: Japan’s Miniature Visitors and the UFO That Wouldn’t Stay Lost A Forgotten Classic of High Strangeness In the pantheon of 20th‑century UFO encounters, the Kera Incident sits in a strange limbo—too bizarre for skeptics, too whimsical for the nuts‑and‑bolts crowd, and too grounded for pure folklore. Yet the story, which unfolded in the autumn of 1972 in Kera, a rural district of Kochi Prefecture, is one of the most richly textured and narratively complete UFO encounters ever recorded.
It involves schoolboys, a tiny metallic craft, a humanoid the size of a doll, repeated sightings, physical evidence, and a series of events so oddly consistent that the case reads like a cross between a Shinto fairy tale and a 1970s science‑fiction serial.
The First Encounter: A Flash in the Rice Fields On the evening of September 3, 1972, a group of boys—Hiroshi Mori, Yasuo Fujimoto, and two friends—were walking near the rice paddies when they noticed a strange light hovering low to the ground. Approaching it, they found a small, metallic object roughly the size of a hatbox, glowing faintly and making a soft buzzing sound.
Descriptions vary slightly, but the consensus shape is:
A silver, domed craft
About 20 cm tall and 30 cm wide
A lattice or mesh-like lower section
A rotating band of light
When one of the boys reached toward it, the object emitted a burst of light and shot upward—only to wobble and crash into the field again, as if malfunctioning.
This is the first moment where the Kera Incident diverges from typical UFO lore. The craft didn’t behave like an omnipotent alien vehicle. It behaved like something fragile, fallible, almost…alive.
The Second Encounter: The Tiny Humanoid A few days later, the boys returned to the site and found the craft again—this time with a small humanoid figure visible inside. They described it as:
10–15 cm tall
Wearing a silver suit
With a large head and dark eyes
Seated or crouched inside the craft
The boys claimed the being moved, reacted, and even seemed to operate controls. This wasn’t a static figurine. It was a pilot.
And then the story gets even stranger.
The Capture: A UFO in a Schoolbag On September 10, the boys encountered the craft yet again—this time apparently inert. They picked it up, examined it, and eventually took it home in a schoolbag.
This is the detail that makes the Kera Incident feel like a relic from a parallel folklore tradition. It’s the kind of thing that happens in Japanese yokai stories: a supernatural being small enough to be captured, studied, and then lost again.
The boys described the craft’s texture as metallic but warm, with intricate patterns etched into its surface. They claimed to have measured it, drawn diagrams, and even attempted to open it.
That night, the craft vanished from the drawer where they had stored it.
The Recurrences: A UFO That Refuses to Leave Over the next several weeks, the boys reported six separate encounters with the same object. Each time, the craft appeared damaged, sluggish, or struggling to fly. It would crash, sputter, or hover unsteadily.
This is the part that fascinates folklorists and UFO researchers alike: the craft behaves less like a vehicle and more like a creature—injured, persistent, and trying to return home.
The Investigation: Adults Enter the Story Eventually, teachers, parents, and local adults became aware of the boys’ claims. Some dismissed it outright. Others examined the boys’ sketches and descriptions and found them surprisingly consistent.
A local newspaper briefly covered the story, but it never gained national traction. Japan in the early 1970s was experiencing a wave of kaiju films, manga, and sci‑fi media, and many assumed the boys were simply playing out a fantasy.
Yet the boys never recanted. Their stories remained stable for decades.
Interpretations: Folklore, Misidentification, or Something Else The Kera Incident sits at a crossroads of interpretive traditions:
Folkloric Echoes Japan’s folklore is rich with small supernatural beings—zashiki-warashi, kodama, and other household or forest spirits. The Kera craft fits eerily well into this lineage: a tiny visitor, captured by children, vanishing mysteriously.
Misidentified Technology Some skeptics propose a toy, a lantern, or a homemade contraption. But none of these explanations account for the repeated sightings, the humanoid figure, or the craft’s detailed structure.
A Genuine Encounter For UFO researchers, the case is compelling because:
Multiple witnesses were involved
The encounters were repeated
Physical interaction occurred
The boys’ accounts remained consistent
It’s rare to see a UFO case with this combination of whimsy and physicality.
Why the Kera Incident Matters The Kera Incident is a reminder that not all UFO stories fit the mold of giant saucers and military encounters. Some are intimate, strange, almost tender. They feel like moments where the boundary between the mundane and the mythic thins just enough for something impossible to slip through.
It’s also a case that resonates beautifully with your mythic archive, Ivan. The tiny craft, the wounded persistence, the folkloric echoes—it’s practically begging to be canonized as a relic.
The Jessie Roestenberg Encounter: A 1954 Close Encounter in Staffordshire Introduction In the quiet village of Ranton, Staffordshire, on October 21, 1954, a young mother named Jessie Roestenberg reported one of the most vivid and emotionally resonant UFO sightings in British history. Her account—featuring a hovering disc, visible humanoid occupants, and a deeply personal reaction—has become a cornerstone of UK UFO lore.
The Witnesses Jessie Roestenberg, 29 at the time, was at home with her two young sons when the event occurred. Her children were the first to react, running outside in fear and lying on the ground. Their terror prompted Jessie to investigate, leading to her own extraordinary experience.
The Craft Hovering above the house was a metallic, disc-shaped object—described as resembling a “Mexican hat.” It was silent, tilted at an angle, and close enough for Jessie to see inside its transparent dome. The craft emitted no heat or sound, but its presence was overwhelming.
The Occupants Inside the dome were two humanoid figures with striking features:
Long, blond hair in page-boy style
Pale, “Nordic” complexions
Transparent helmets
Calm, compassionate expressions
Jessie described them as beautiful and serene, observing her and her children with what she interpreted as concern or empathy. This description predates the popularization of the “Nordic alien” archetype, making it a historically significant detail.
Departure and Aftermath After a brief moment of silent observation, the craft tilted, ascended vertically, and vanished into the sky. Jessie was left shaken but resolute in her belief that the encounter was real. Her children corroborated the sighting, and the emotional impact remained with her for decades.
Legacy and Investigation The case was documented in Gavin Gibbons’ 1956 book The Coming of the Space Ships and later revisited by researchers like Curt Collins. Jessie’s consistent retelling and emotional sincerity have made the encounter one of the most enduring in British UFO history.
Cultural Resonance The Roestenberg case stands out for its:
Close-range visual detail
Multiple witnesses
Early depiction of “Nordic” beings
Emotional authenticity
Placement within the massive 1954 European UFO wave
It remains a touchstone for researchers exploring the psychological, folkloric, and mythic dimensions of UFO encounters.
