THE TWILIGHT ZONE?

When I was over at Violette's Board the other day, I came across a thread entitled 'Take me to your leader', which was about the Phoenix lights and led onto some posts about UFOs. I am not a full anorak UFO geek, but I have to admit to having an interest in them, looking at the night sky I also cast around for various objects, but usually they are just satellites and high flying planes. I have interest in lots of weird and wonderful things like that, I don't think we can dismiss these strange things out of hand, if only one per cent of the sightings are true, we should not ridicule, we have no positive proof that UFOs don't exist, after all, its a huge universe out there.

What sparked my interest was an event that happened when I was about eleven years old, when one evening just at sunset my mother and I saw a strange shape high in the sky just hanging there not moving. It was what is now called the traditional cigar shaped object, we watched it for about twenty minutes, saw it then rotate 45 degrees, and 'pouff' it was gone. It was hanging high above the Solway Firth, and I do know that other people saw a strange object that night. I became a UFO enthusiast, reading the good, the bad and the ugly of books about them. Of course, the enthusiasm died down but I still read any article I stumble across about lights in the sky or other mysterious happenings. It really is amazing when seriously talking to people how many eventually confess to 'seeing something strange' in the sky.

This in turn, jogged my memory about a rather unusual photograph that was taken in 1964 in our area at Burgh by Sands, which strangely enough is near the Solway Firth. You may have heard of or seen this photograph before [ I reprint it at the top of this posting] as I do know that at the time it was a worldwide story. A man was taking a photograph of his daughter sitting picking flowers on the marshes. It was a coloured photograph, he saw nothing when he took the photograph, but when it was developed in the background behind his daughter stands a man in a sort of white spacesuit. The photograph [in black and white print] made it into the local paper and then probably being picked up by a stringer went national and then global. Until this day no one has been able to find anything wrong with the photograph, it is not a fake, yet there is no explanation for what is there on it.



It is said that after the photograph was published that the man who had taken it, Jim Templeton,had one of those mysterious visits from two 'men in black', who questioned about whether he saw anyone before he took the photograph, they then drove him to Brugh by Sands, and apparently, became annoyed when he couldn't help them as he hadn't seen anything at the time. It is said that they drove off and left him there to walk the five miles home. The following is allegedly a quote from Jim Templeton at the time that is oft quoted in magazines and websites.

They were very strange, asking peculiar questions about the weather and behaviour of the animals. Although they claimed to be from the government, they never used names and referred to one another just by numbers. I drove out with them to the marshes but they seemed to get upset when I insisted that I had not seen anybody as I took the photograph. They drove away, stranding me alone to walk five miles home.I never heard from them again.

The photograph has never been disproved and from time to time it is mentioned somewhere and I begin to think about it again. It certainly is a fascinating incident. Well look at the photograph at the beginning of the post [I think it should enlarge if you click] and see what you make of it. Some people have said that it is just the back of a man in the white shirt with a white cap on his head, note the right arm and its odd angle. If you want to know more about the whole story, this website gives the best account and includes more detail about the Australian connection and Blue Streak rocket, that was built in this area. It also tells of an interesting incident very near to this time when there was an aborted launch of Bluestreak.

http://www.ufologie.net/htm/solwayfirth64.htm

England beware, four of the Glitter Sisters who were at Thirsk, are contemplating a summer reunion [ when it is warm and we will not be freezing out butts off on a station platform], there may be fifth, but just listen people some where near you a town could be about to be chosen. You have been warned, man the barricades, the girls are coming to town.



Speaking of Glitter Sisters, Robyn has asked me to explain her mishap, seeing she had worrying email from one bright spark who thought she had tried to end it all! She received a package from France which had been opened and examined by Customs, unfortunately, or helpfully, however you want to look at it, the customs had overdone the tape a bit, and she was trying to wrestle with the package and a pair of scissors when ooops! [but she probably said something a bit lustier than that] blood was spurting everywhere. Luckily her younger daughter was with her and was able to drive her to hospital, where after a three hour wait holding up her arm she was given two stitches, the wound is small but very deep. On top of this she has now incubated a head cold. Send plenty of love and hugs her way.

WE CAME, WE SAW, WE CONQUERED

I thought the above quote of Julius Caeser's was apt for the First International Meeting of the Glitter Sisters. The day started for me at 7.20 in the morning on the road to Newcastle, a city sixty miles away. It was cold but the sky was bright blue and the sun was shining. At Newcastle, I had a little time to spare before boarding a train for Northallerton. By this time I had phoned the redoubtable Mrs Nesbitt to say I was en route, she told me that when I changed trains at Northallerton, Sue [who might be called Poppy, she could be really because she has red hair] would meet me at the station and we would jump onto a train for Thirsk [ a journey time of seven minutes would you believe!]on which Mrs N would already be on board.

I spotted Sue immediately, and came out of the waiting room to say 'You have got to be Sue', luckily it was, and we went back to sit in the waiting room trying to keep warm. There was one gentleman in the waiting room reading his paper, well really rustling it nosily, I think by this time we were talking so much the decibels were rising. By the time we turned to Stone Circles and Goddess Dolls, he walked out of the waiting room, such is the power of the Glitter Sisters to clear a room! The train approached, Sue and I waved like maniacs at the carriages, getting some very strange looks, no one waved back, so we got on one end and worked our way through the carriages looking for Mrs. N. Eventually in the last carriage, I could see a head bobbing up and down, I said to Sue 'That's Mrs N'. We all met and hugged, once again causing consternation. Then suddenly we were at Thirsk station, where Anna was waiting for us, she drove us into Thirsk [ for some mad English reason Thirsk station is not where you think it should be, in the centre of Thirsk, no no its way out in the boonies]. Anna had pinched her husband's swish car for the day so we arrived in style. We parked in the Golden Fleece Car Park and went in.



As though it was ready and waiting for us was a large circular table and room for six people. The Goddess of the Glitter Sisters was really looking after us. Talk about King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, more like Queen Violette and her Glitter Sisters of the Round Table. We had just devested ourselves of our many layers of clothes and sat down, when two faces appeared at the inner window. There's Kai abd her sister I shrieked, all decorum forgotten, a love fest ensued, of hugs, clasps and kisses, by now we had a lovely audience of sedate yorkshire ladies drinking their yorkshire tea in the pub on market day. We all sat down round the round table, and strangely enough all laid our hands flat on it touching the next person's hands. We were lucky the table did not levitate, take off and whirl us round the room, I think we would have been escorted off the premises then. Then we started throwing out a pile of little delish and pretty things we had all brought as little treats for each other. It was like Christmas and Birthday's all in one as we opened, oohed and ahhed and spread tissues paper, stickers and glitter all over the table. Occasionally , one of us would break out with, FIRST INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF THE GLITTER SISTERS, and the cameras began to flash at each other.



We realised no staff had approached us, I think they were a little uneasy and were treading with care, who were these mad women, where had they come from, was this the future of the world, they were seeing being trialled in Thirsk? Did we have minders, were we really allowed out alone with this standard of behaviour. We started telling people it was an international meeting, the first one to be held, I mean Sue had come as far as about seven miles away! Finally Lorna, Kai's lovely sister, got up and got us some menus. It was decided it was a celebration and Glitter Sisters definitely did not do salad but much more rib sticking Yorkshire food. We all pointed disapprovingly as Mrs N copped out and ordered the smoked salmon salad, which I have to say was served in this most beautiful bowl patterned with fishes, which we did think of putting it in one of our bags as a souvenir! Alas the waiter was EXTREMELY quick to take it away, do you think he overheard our conversation? The wine flowed and we decided that Glitter Sisters always do puds and desserts, especially as they were to die for, delish.



Then the fun started, the conversation grew in volume and was peppered with a few risque words such as d*****, which was because I told a story of a young lad whose mother lives near me and is the manager of an Anne Summers Shop [ the English girls will get this one] he decided to plant a few of these items amongst my plants and the next door neighbours,[ to go off on a tangent what did we do, that fine summer's morning, report him to his mother, no we lined them up on his patio for all to see when his parents awoke]. Then Mrs N enthralled us with her description of her first job at sweet sixteen, legitimate and professional, involving a razor and wearing a uniform, but obviously a shock to her system, she decided to go to be a teacher instead.



Oh we were flying high by now, and strangely enough once again the bar emptied just us Glitter Sisters left, then for me the best bit. Wow!!!!!!! Ican make Peace Cranes now I had one to one tuition with Kai, it is much easier to follow a person making it instead of printed instructions. Menus were being ripped up everywhere. How we were all shiney, red faced and noisy and just so enjoying ourselves. Then like Cinderellas, it was time to leave the ball, the weather had changed, it was sleeting and windy, our powers were all glittered out, we didn't want to return to our rags, but the party was over. Much hugging and more hugging and even more hugging and Kai and Lorna went on their way and Anna took us back to the statiion.

Thirsk station with every modern amenity, no waiting room just miles of open track with the wind howling and the snow blizzarding as we sang silly songs and tried to huddle at the side of a railway man's hut. Brave Anna waited with us for well over an hour and just as she decided to drive us to Northallerton, the train finally arrived, more hugging etc and thankfully we entered a warm train. Sue and I left Mrs N on the train and got off at Northallerton. There I waited a further hour and a half for a train to Newcastle, at least there was a waiting room, but no coffee shop. Kind Sue waited with me and finally we parted, yes more hugs.



I arrived in Newcastle to hear a train was to depart in two minutes for my nearest town. Never in my life have I got over a bridge to three platforms away in a faster time. Just before the train started I boarded and sank into a comfortable seat and warmth. Suffice to say I slept all the way to my station, which luckily is the terminus. Out of the station into the bitter cold, into a warm car and home. A lovely hot cup of coffee, [with a little nip in it if you know what I mean, Irish Whisky] and then a hot bath and straight to bed, I fell asleep immediately. The 19th of March 2007 should go down in history. How amazing that six women who have never met each in the real world, should be so like old friends, one good thing to ssay thanks to the modern world for.