The third episode of Encounters explores the experiences of the people in a tiny Welsh village, Broad Haven. Dating back to 1977, the US observed more than 450 sightings of UFOs and strange beings coming out of them. This episode has been well organized and takes us one step closer to believing in the existence of extraterrestrial beings. With a reliance on several pieces of evidence and testimonies that match each other, there is a very slim chance of all the encounters being hoaxes. The documentary, under the direction of Yon Motskin, has bowled us over with its weird facts and interviews with people who have witnessed something that is beyond our belief. We are yet to explore what the strange world of the aliens holds in store for us. Let us dive right into the incidents for a better understanding of the message that could have been trying to be passed on to us through those sightings.
Spoilers Ahead
What Was the Broad Haven School Sighting?
There were multiple sightings that were witnessed in Broad Haven, but there were three significant sightings that made up the triangle. The first sighting was of the children in a school. As per Dr. Kevin Knuth, the astrophysicist who has been studying such strange phenomenons for quite some time now, there are only 15 scientists globally who are involved. The societal stigma is something that stops others from delving into something as controversial as this. On questioning a former student, Davies, he stated that he was a bookworm as a kid and was reluctant to believe it himself when his classmates were discussing the matter. He only believed in it when he saw it for himself and described it as a silver cigar-shaped object. Shaun Garrison, another former student, was also of the same opinion. The 16 children were made to sit separately by the teachers and draw the object in the sky, and they had all drawn a similar-looking saucer, which was quite improbable if they were lying. However, there were several analyses that stated that the children could have seen the show on BBC known as Forbidden Planet and that could have triggered their imaginations.
The children who had seen the object in the sky had been bullied to a great extent on the basis of the fact that they could have been lying. Dav Davies claimed that he had been bullied and physically assaulted in high school because he was not believed by anyone. There were several other reports that had been registered with the RAF (Royal Air Force) during that time. People often mistook the objects in the sky for something associated with the RAF. Tony Cowan, who was the former Royal Air Force officer, had been in charge and said that many sightings were made during that time, and he was not sure as to what that was. The sightings could not be believed scientifically by many people and many also associated the occurrences with that of the Celtic folktales.
What were the other major sightings?
Francie Granville’s mother, Rosa Granville, claimed to have had an up-front experience of UFO sighting outside Havens Hotel on April 19, 1977. The beings were described as having long arms and legs. Rosa had first spotted the spaceship outside her hotel while she was sleeping. On asking them what they wanted, they had taken off at a great speed, and she had later written to the MP regarding her deep concern about the thing that she had seen. This matter had reached the Ministry of Defense and then the RAF. Francie showed the spot where they had parked and that the place had a burn mark from the saucer. The investigators were later unable to find the ring that the Granvilles had claimed to have spotted. The investigator, Randall Jones Pugh, was of the opinion that the people who had witnessed the craft and the other worldly beings had undergone severe trauma. He had asked Rosa in-depth about their appearances, and she said that they had shiny boiler suits on, pointy heads, and no faces. This had also triggered certain pranksters, and there was a report about a man roaming around in a firefighting suit, which had muddied the waters for the investigators. There were several beliefs and disbeliefs surrounding the occurrences, and it is completely up to the audience to believe the words of the witnesses.
The next sighting was at Coombs Farm in 1977, which made the sightings of Rosa and her daughter somewhat credible. Mark Martson, a member of the Coombs family, had witnessed an extraterrestrial being and described it as being about 7 feet tall, wearing a silver suit, and wearing a motorcycle visor. The family had repeated experiences of similar occurrences, and their cattle, by some mysterious forces, had been teleported to the neighbor’s farm suddenly one night. Billy Coombs had reported that he had seen aliens right outside his window, which were around 8 feet tall, hence barring him from seeing their faces, and the police were informed right after.
Rosa stated that two strange men had come to their door who were identical-looking and were talking in synchrony. They wanted to talk to her mother, and they were looking as if they were made of wax. Coombs had also reported seeing the same strange individuals at the farm at the same time. From this event, it was clear that there was some message that they were trying to convey to them. Both Rosa and Coombs were experiencing the same things at the same time, as they both reported noticing a silver disc emitting an orange light the next afternoon. As per the estimations and understanding of the investigators, it might have been possible that the base of the extraterrestrial beings was the oceans. Their possible parking on the islands off the coast has been compared to that of the Celtic fairies, whose abodes were mostly under the mystical water of the coast.
Final Words
There are multiple possibilities surrounding the presence of the aliens and the sightings. The documentary leaves it up to us whether to believe the sightings claimed by these people or not. As per my opinion, the multiple testimonies of the people cannot be a hoax or only a figment of their imagination. There is some truth associated with the sightings, but the third episode of Encounters seems to have added some exaggeration. The part where Francie states that she has seen two identical people talking in synchrony seems to be fabricated or scripted just for the sake of the show. However, the better part of the documentary seemed credible to me. As per the opinion of Dr. Kevin Knuth, the universe does not revolve around earth or only human beings; there are other beings that we are oblivious to. This episode of Encounters dunks us in the beauty of magic realism and leaves it to us to reflect on the events described in it.
