Parkstone, UK being encounter — September 1977

Ethel Field, a 62-year-old Parkstone resident, reported an encounter while bringing washing in from her garden late one September night in 1977. At approximately 11 p.m. she noticed vibration and humming, initially suggestive of an earthquake. A brilliant object approached from the direction of the sea and moved above neighbouring gardens toward her property. She described a metallic disc about six metres across, with a raised cabin and square windows. Two figures were visible inside, dressed in silver suits with close-fitting helmets projecting over the nose. One appeared to operate a control panel while the other pointed toward her. The brightness made Field shield her eyes with her hands. A downward blue beam appears in the compact catalogue description. The object then accelerated away. About a week later Field reported that the skin on her hands began peeling, which she associated with the encounter. The retrieved accounts do not demonstrate that the object caused the condition. David Haith’s local reporting and later Flying Saucer Review coverage carried the story into UFO catalogues. Her reported observations and subsequent symptoms are preserved separately. The plate depicts the garden encounter and distinctive helmet/window descriptions, with normal hands and no invented alien facial anatomy.