Dechmont Woods (Robert Taylor)
- Date
- 9 Nov 1979
- Place
- Dechmont Law, Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Forestry worker Robert Taylor said that around 10 a.m. on 9 November 1979 he came upon a dome about seven yards across hovering in a clearing on Dechmont Law, and that two smaller spheres like naval mines rolled toward him and pulled at him before he passed out amid a smell like burning brakes. He came home dishevelled, with torn trousers and grazes on his chin and thighs. Police visited the site, found ladder-like marks and holes in the ground and recorded the matter as a common assault, the only UFO report investigated as a crime in Britain; no culprit was found. Proposed explanations include a temporal-lobe epileptic attack and marks left by nearby equipment; none has been established.
What officials concluded
Unresolved
Police recorded a common assault; no one was charged
Strongest ordinary reading
none established; an epileptic episode has been proposed
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- Yes: Other shape
- Yes: Physiological
- Yes: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Robert Taylor incidenten.wikipedia.org
On the map
55.90° N, 3.52° W, plotted at the site
Show on the map