The Barley Mow car park could well be the first UFO Space Centre in the UK !

The Barley Mow is at the centre of an area which has become famous as the world’s number one hot spot for UFOs. Many sightings have been made in the village and we are more than happy to give you information on the best places to see them.
The first UFO walk took place at Easter 2002 and more will take place in the future.

UFO Sightings in Bonsall

The most famous sighting was that made by Sharon Rowlands on 5th October 2000. She saw what appeared to be a UFO and quickly grabbed her camcorder to film it. The recording captured the craft moving towards her and lasted for six and a half minutes. It is considered one of the best UFO films ever recorded and was recently inspected by NASA.

Sharon was quoted as saying: "I was filming it from around two miles away. It resembled a giant disc with a bite taken out of the bottom. It had yellow, orange and blue lights with intricate markings and a dark circle in the centre. As it hovered over the woods it seemed to expand and get small again .....it came really close at one point and I thought it was going to land in the field."

There have been many sighting similar to this and records of the numbers seen are continually being updated. It is thought that in one 4 month period alone there were over 20 sightings in the Bonsall area, with the total figure over the past 30 years being well over a hundred.

People have travelled from all over the world to learn more about Bonsall UFOs and frequently begin their quest at the Barley Mow Public House. Landlord Alan Webster is pleased to tell them the best places for sightings and give information on what to look for and UFO walks can be organised to take groups to the actual locations. The first UFO walk, held on April 1st 2002 was featured in the BBCs Country File. programme. For more information phone 01629 825685.

Previous landlord Alan Websters story of the night he saw a UFO

It was nearly mid-night when I remembered I hadn’t locked up the hens.

It was late and I was tired and I didn’t fancy having to go out into the cold to shut them in.

I’m a pub landlord and work every night behind the bar. I’d washed the glasses, cleared up and done all the other jobs I have to do at the end of the day - all I wanted to do was go to bed.

I wondered whether to leave them – they go into the shed by themselves so they’re warm and comfortable - its just that they’re not locked in so they’re not safe.

That was the problem – their not being safe. I started thinking about the fox - there’d been one hanging about the village and it was becoming a problem. It had got one of the hens from the house down the road a few nights before - and I’d seen it myself - crossing the road near the pub - so I knew we were part of its territory and on its regular hunting route.

In the end it was easier to just go and do it – then it would be off my mind and I could sleep easy.

The pub sits in a narrow valley between two steep-sided hills and the hen-house is half-way up one the hills - its quite a climb to get there.

It wasn’t a full moon - I don’t think it was even half - but I could see clearly and I could manage the steps without a torch.

I walked up the hill and locked them in. That was that done – it was off my mind - now I could go to bed.

I looked around me - the walk up the hill had warmed me up and it was a nice night - I decided to climb the rest of the way to the top and sit on the bench for a while. It was something I liked to do - and often did.

I’m not sure when I first became aware of it - I was thinking about the day and who’d been in the pub and what I would do tomorrow when I sensed movement.. I looked up and there it was.

It was huge and cigar shaped – like an airship but bigger – and it was moving slowly across the valley towards Matlock. I was amazed.

When you see something unusual – you immediately start to work it out – you look at the shape - the size - the distance – the height – all things like that – then you recognise it and say to yourself – oh yes that’s what it is.

With this - that never happened. I’d never seen an airship in real life but I’d seen them on films and on TV and I had a pretty clear idea of what they looked like. As I watched this thing moving across the sky I knew it wasn’t really an airship – it was too big and the shape wasn’t right. It was also too quiet.

I don’t know if it was the wind or other noises around me but I hadn’t heard it come over and I wasn’t aware of it making any noise all the time I watched it. It was definitely a UFO.

I wasn’t frightened – just amazed and curious. I wanted to rush down and tell the others but I was afraid of missing it. The valley is narrow and the garden was just short of the top of the hill – I knew it would soon be gone and I didn’t want to miss seeing anything so I just watched it trying to work out it height and distance and how it was moving.

It moved slowly and quietly at a height of about 1,000 feet and I could see a white light on the top and bottom. There were also smaller white lights along the side - about half way up the body. People asked me later what colour it was but I don’t remember that. I mostly remember the shape and the way it moved across the sky – they’re the things that stay in my mind.

When it had gone I rushed down the garden to tell the others. My son Harry was on his way up to see me and we met half way up. He had gone outside – seen it - and was rushing to tell me.

We were excited and talked for a while about what it might be - then we went inside. A few days later we read in the paper that lots of other people had seen as well- so we knew it wasn’t something in our imagination. It was something strange and I’d say it was definitely a UFO.

The story of a customer of the pub

I was coming home from work - it was about twenty past ten at night and I was tired.

I turned left at the sign for Bonsall Moor and began the final part of the journey home.

Bonsall Moor is quite remote - not the sort of place you want to travelling across if you are having trouble with your car. It’s just open countryside with a few small farms - most of them clustered together about two thirds of the way across.

I don’t think I had much on my mind - maybe a few thoughts about work and some about who might be in the pub when I got there. I don’t like working late and its nice to unwind with a glass of wine and talk to friends before going home to bed.

I was about a third of the way across the moor - just coming to the top of the second rise - when I first noticed the light.

It was bright and silver and was very still in the sky. I stared at it - amazed.

It was too big to be a plane and there were no flashing lights. It was also too big to be a satellite and too bright to be a planet - It wasn’t anything I recognised.

I tried to get a sense of its size and distance. I’d kept on driving and was now on the part of the road where landscape suddenly opens up and you a wonderful view of the hills and fields. The light seemed to be above the farms in the distance.

I almost ran myself off the road and decided to stop the car and watch it. It was just a silver light - very bright and very round. I went through its size and distance again and knew it wasn’t a plane or anything else I knew - it had to be a UFO.

I felt really excited - I had never seen a UFO before and it seemed a wonderful thing to happen. I thought wow - this is fantastic - what will it do - will it fly past - will it land - has anyone else seen it? All sorts of thoughts went through my head and all sorts of feelings too. I wanted to make the most of the experience and didn’t want to miss seeing anything.

I thought the light would disappear very quickly but it didn’t - it just stayed very still in the sky and I continued to watch it.

I watched for about 5 minutes - it seemed longer but I don’t think it was - it’s just that - sitting alone in the car - time seemed to stand still - and the five minutes seemed more like fifteen or twently.

As I watched my feeling were changing - the excitement was still there but I was becoming more anxious - I started to have some worrying thoughts. What if it did move - what if it came towards me? I’d read stories about aliens abducting people and doing experiments on them and I began to wonder if they were true. I was alone in my car in an isolated area - there were no houses that I could run to and no cars that I could wave down to assist me.

My anxiety increased and I began to have nightmare visions of being taken from my car. I thought about them coming towards me and images of instruments, tests and operations without anaesthetic kept repeating themselves in my brain over and over again. It was very scary.

I thought about my car being found empty and about no one knowing what had happened to me.

It was no longer exciting - I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. I put the car in first gear then stopped. I couldn’t drive home because that would mean going towards the light. I went back into neutral - no longer sure what to do. I did not want to drive away from it because that was a long way round and I was worried that it might be watching me or that if I did start to drive it might be attracted to the movement of the car.

I decided to write a note in case something happened - I didn’t want my disappearance to be an unsolved mystery and I wanted my family to know why I’d disappeared.

I reached down to search my bag - I needed some paper and a pen. I found a pen but couldn’t find any paper and decided to write on the inside cover of my cheque book. - I was sure my possessions would be searched if I went missing and I would leave it with the cover opened back. I lifted my head again getting ready to write and sensed movement - the light was moving away. I refocused my eyes and saw it was moving very fast towards Bonsall. In just a few seconds it was gone.

I sat watching the empty sky wondering if it would circle round and come back.. When I knew for sure it had really gone I felt relieved but also disappointed - I was glad it had gone but I wanted know more about what it looked like and why it was there. I didn’t feel I had seen enough - but at the same time I didn’t want to go through the experience again.