UFO in Yorkshire. Still from eyewitness video
The Anglican priest Lionel Fantorp is a versatile personality. He is the author of 15 popular books, from religious essays for family reading to stories about the Templars and the search for the Holy Grail. In addition, he constantly appears on British radio stations and in television shows with a mystical focus. And if asked, he can give a speech at a gala dinner or at a funeral
In anticipation of the release of his next documentary about the unknown and inexplicable, Fantrop published a study in which he summarized reports of paranormal phenomena in different regions of the UK over the past 24 years. The result of his work has become a kind of "map", which shows where werewolves are most often found, where are ghosts, and in which counties mysterious crop circles spoil farmers' lives.
As it turned out, most often over the past quarter century the British have encountered unidentified flying objects. According to data collected by Phantrop, they were seen at least 109 times. Moreover, the aliens chose Yorkshire as a place for their appearance before the earthlings. Journalists even joke that flying saucers have a stopover in this area. I must say that either for the sake of a catchphrase, or out of distrust of the authorities, Lionel Fantrop also takes into account the reports of those phenomena that were subsequently able to be explained by quite ordinary reasons associated with weather conditions or the movement of aircraft and helicopters.
Earlier, other researchers noticed that most often UFOs come across the eyes of provincial police officers: perhaps because of the vigilance of law enforcement officers, or maybe because of the monotony of their daily work. Descriptions of UFOs vary widely: orange and green lights, balls emitting white and red rays, giant pyramids in the sky, cigar-shaped objects, and "something that resembles a clothes hanger."
The second most popular mysterious phenomenon is ghosts and roadside ghosts. Here the leadership is held by the southern regions - the counties of Kent and Dorset, where aliens hardly fly in (perhaps aliens are afraid of ghosts). It is characteristic that if each specific UFO often appears in front of people only once, then the same ghosts are regularly seen in the same places. And the more popular the story of the ghost, the more often it is encountered by locals and tourists.
The composition of the otherworldly population of the south of Great Britain is very diverse. There are seven police ghosts (almost all of them died in the line of duty), one monk and a dozen ghosts that frighten motorists on the roads. In some villages, locals, even for a special fee, give accommodation to tourists who have come to see a particularly famous ghost, so southerners are directly interested in knowing about unexplained phenomena throughout the UK. In the same area, poltergeists play pranks more often than in the rest of the kingdom. And in Scottish Lanarkshire, where there are actually not very many ghosts, there is the ghost of a one-legged priest.
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Giant dogs and cats came across on the way to residents of different places. But the vast majority of encounters with werewolves occurred in Staffordshire - 20 cases out of 21. True, it is difficult to draw conclusions about whether it is the same werewolf or a whole family of them - eyewitness accounts sometimes coincide word for word. However, Lionel Fanthorpe and his wife Patricia, who has been helping him with his work for more than half a century, hold the view that any reports of the supernatural deserve attention, verification and research. Perhaps the whole point is that colorful stories about the paranormal sell well, regardless of their degree of reliability.
Another fairly common group of supernatural phenomena is “mysterious sounds” that frighten local residents at night. Most often they are heard in abandoned factories and mills. As a rule, these sounds are explained by stories about people tragically killed in these premises. Why residents of the British hinterland visit abandoned mills at night is usually not specified. However, those who want to make sure for themselves that the ominous sounds are not caused simply by the howling of the wind in the pipes, should go to Nottingham.
But Wiltshire is a favorable area for the appearance of mysterious signs in the fields. Although, in general, such circles and other figures are for the most part not a European, but an American phenomenon. Moreover, after every second case, it turns out that this is a joke of local teenagers who have cultivated the soil with agricultural machinery to scare the neighbors.
Finally, Liverpool residents reported a very rare occurrence - the so-called "holes" in time. Having fallen into such a "hole", a person encounters those who lived in these parts many years ago. Presumably, many Beatles fans would pay dearly to stumble upon a young John Lennon on Liverpool street, so maybe the city's residents should be told more about time travel - it could attract tourists.
In general, Lionel Fanthorpe's research contains a wealth of information that can, over time, supplement travel guides. Otherworldly tours of the "old lady of England" counties are a dubious opportunity to actually see a ghost or a flying saucer, but a good reason to get acquainted with the history of these places. There must be a tangible benefit from the "mysterious and unknown".