Tales of the Dales: Ilkley Alien
‘The heavy mist was beginning to clear in the early morning light. Across the path, a small figure darted out from behind a rock…… swirling lights, filling the mist’
The Ilkley Moor Alien
This is a reyt weird one!
The story goes that back in the 1980’s ex-policeman Philip Spencer took to Ilkley Moor with his camera to go and capture some of the strange light phenomena which had been reported there. What he hadn’t banked on was a chance encounter with what he believed to be an alien. He even managed to take a snap of the creature, before it ran off.
Obviously, Phil gave chase until the alien disappeared. The next thing he saw was an aircraft rising from the mist, which then disappeared into the sky…….
See?! Weird.
But whether or not you believe that Ilkley Moor is the preferred holiday destination for the little green men, it is genuinely a place that is full of history and mystery (yes, that rhymes.)
Scattered across the moor are hundreds of cup and ring marked rocks, some which are incredibly detailed in their design. On the basis these are THOUSANDS of years old, nobody really knows why they were carved and what their purpose was. Far be it for me to suggest that they have any connection with ET, because they don’t
Ok, they’re far more likely to be some form of waymarking, or even graffiti left by a neolithic farmer bored of waiting for his sheep, but I love that there is SUCH a weird story about Ilkley Moor.
But Ilkley Moor doesn’t stop at aliens. It has tales of fairies, giants and ghosts too! So read them all on our Folklore blog!
A legendary moor with epic tales to tell calls for an excellent walk! Try our White Wells walk which takes you right to the scene of the alien encounter!
Spooky Walks
Since writing this blog in 2021, I have collected so many more stories about folklore, ghosts, witches and horrible history, they’re all contained on our spooky walks page.
Along with the walks themselves!