These pages focus on paranormal and extraordinary events that have taken place in the North West, particularly in the Manchester area. Further on the pages expand to cover the U.K. and then the world. So if you, dear visitor, have had a weird experience that defies logical explanation, and you would like to share it with us, please e-mail your story to the webmaster. Over time and with your input this section will build into a dynamic database of logic defying events and experiences across the North West UK, and eventually across the entire globe via the World Wide Web.

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When "ordinary" folk report UFO sightings, many are sceptical, but it's not as easy to refute such claims when they're made by highly skilled professional people, especially pilots. This report appeared in the Times in January 1996:

Civil Aviation Authority launches investigation into fourth such incident since 1987. A British Airways passenger jet had a close encounter with an unidentified flying object while landing at Manchester Airport, an official report disclosed on Thursday night. The Boeing 737, with 60 people on board, was overtaken at high speed by a wedge-shaped craft as the plane descended through 4000 ft on the final stages of a journey from Milan. Captain Roger Wills reported that the UFO, which was emblazoned with small white lights and possibly a black stripe down its side, flashed silently down the side of the jet so close that his co-pilot, First Officer Mark Stuart, involuntarily ducked as it went by.

There was no sound and no wake but both pilots were so concerned that they filed a formal 'airmiss' report. The Civil Aviation Authority launched an investigation, the fourth such incident since 1987, and after a year-long inquiry concluded this week (Thursday) that they could find no likely explanation. The three previous reported sightings also baffled the CAA experts.
The incident happened at 6.48 pm on January 6 1995 with the aircraft just above the clouds and visibility at least 10 miles. Then air traffic controllers had the following conversation with Flight 5061:

B737: "We just had something go down the right hand side, just above us, very fast."

Manchester: "Well there's nothing seen on radar. Was it an aircraft?"

B737: "Well, it had lights, it went down the starboard side very quick"

Captain Wills and First Officer Stuart are certain that the object was solid and not a balloon, a model aircraft or even a military 'Stealth' aircraft which the captain had seen before and would have recognised. Both pilots should be commended for their courage in submitting a report, the investigators said.

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AF tracks mystery craft over North Sea ... and fighters can't catch it.

24,000mph UFO buzzes Britain - RAF has tracked a UFO 'as big as a battleship' off the coast of Britain, military sources revealed yesterday. They said the massive craft was tracked flying in a zig-zag pattern at 17,000mph over the North Sea. It then accelerated to 24,0000mph and zoomed off towards the Atlantic. The Dutch air force also tracked the UFO, but two F-16 fighters scrambled to intercept. The officials are said to be baffled by the object, spotted by the Ministry of Defence long-range 'It was definitely under control, judging by the various manoeuvres executed,' said a source. 'It appeared to be triangular and was around the size of a battleship (about 900ft long).'

While the 'battleship' UFO is most likely to be an experimental aircraft or a sighting caused by a freak weather effect, UFO watchers believe it is further evidence that the Earth is visited by alien craft.

The popularity of TV series such as the X-Files has rekindled interest in flying saucers and conspiracy theories in recent years. A spokesman for the Fortean Times, the journal devoted to UFOs, psychic phenomena and the paranormal, said:'The vast majority of strange objects seen in the sky have a more down-to-earth explanation. But most UFO investigators would be very interested in seeing these tapes.'

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Ghost Stories

Bramall Hall Britain is often said to be the most haunted country in the world. And it's in houses like the timber-framed manor house Bramall Hall, situated 8 miles south east of Manchester, that reports of ghostly encounters frequently arise. A recent encounter dates from October 1997. A woman visitor, "Debbie", was there with her family, and while they played in the grounds, she decided to have a look at the interior of the house. She had missed the guided tour and decided to walk around on her own. On the first floor she went into "Neville's Room". Suddenly she felt cold and uneasy. She went from there to the "Plaster Room", where she also felt frightened.

Turning round, she was confronted by the foggy shape of a woman less than five feet ten in height. The feet were apparently missing, and the apparition glided for about eight feet before passing through a wall. Debbie panicked and ran into the nearby "Withdrawing Room" only to see the ghost appearing through the wall. Debbie ran downstairs and told the tour guides what had happened. One of them mentioned that a new floor had been put down in the plaster room, which may explain why the ghost had no feet.

This report was passed on to us by Scott McKinnon of Phoenix Paranormal Research (formerly the Stockport Ghost Society), and appeared in a local newspaper article. Phoenix have carried out investigations at the Hall using video and still digital cameras, as well as electromagnetic field detectors and thermometers and report many unusual manifestations.

More information, plus lots of photos, is on the Phoenix Paranormal Investigations website.

Another Bramall Hall spirit is the infamous ghost of the Red Rider, said to appear on New Years Eve. If seen, the owner of the hall is said to die. The hall is now owned by Stockport Borough Council, so does the Red Rider have any bearing on local government elections?

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Ghost stories are often connected to old houses or ruins, but there are also reports of spirits attaching themselves to vehicles. One such vehicle is the ex-Stockport Corporation Crossley, number 321, now residing at the Museum of Transport, Manchester. The bus entered service in the 1952, and its service life extended until 1969, when it was bought by a group of transport enthusiasts in Manchester. Whilst renovating the vehicle in an old warehouse in Manchester, one member of the team was upstairs at the front, and reported being tapped playfully on the shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small boy with a 1950's style sleeveless pullover and short trousers.

More sightings followed, and then they discovered that even while in service, bus crews had been reluctant to take it out, as they thought it was haunted. Perhaps this was the explanation for its unusually low mileage and good state of repair. Further investigations revealed that the bus had been involved in an accident in Reddish during the mid-fifties, in which a small boy was knocked down and killed.

At the museum, reports of mysterious occurrences continue. The 5 year old daughter of a museum volunteer was wandering round the exhibition hall, and came rushing back in a hysterical state, saying she's seen a boy dressed in grey. On another occasion a group of psychic researchers made an unscheduled visit to the museum and one of them was drawn to the bus, saying there was someone on it.

An artist resident in Scotland was commissioned to draw the vehicle from photographs. He had never seen the bus, or heard the stories about the ghost, but felt compelled to draw the face of a small boy in the upstairs front window.

Even now some museum volunteers refuse to drive or get on the "hoodoo" bus. You can see it for yourself and even ride on it during special events at the Museum of Transport, Boyle Street Manchester.

Another report of a ghost on a bus has been reported on the 192 Manchester to Stockport route. Drivers have described seeing a hooded figure, who later disappears. Can anyone shed any light on this?

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