by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear
Rosedale Humanoids and Craft2In 1973, the U.S. experienced a wave of humanoid reports that are documented in the 1976 Center for UFO Studies publication by David Webb appropriately titled “1973 – Year of the Humanoids.” These sorts of reports weren’t unique to the States and just two years before, in 1971, a report came out of Canada that was looked into by William K. Allan, described as the “tireless UFO investigator of Calgary” in the June 1972 Flying Saucer Review Case Histories Supplement 10 where his report was published (page 6 of pdf).
Allan’s report is titled, “Humanoids and Craft Seen at Rosedale.” According to him, it’s based on a transcription of a tape-recorded interview he did with the witness, Miss Esther Clappison of Rosedale, a township about 65 miles ENE of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. He says Clappison stated that on June 9, 1971, at about 8:50 p.m., with a full moon in the sky, a mysterious light coming through the window caught her attention which caused her to go out on the front porch with her dog, George, to investigate.
Rosedale Clappison HouseFrom there, she is said to have seen a rectangular object sitting on the ground at the intersection of two roads. Allan says that after she recovered from a moment of shock, “she remembered she should try to observe details of the object: how big was it, and did it have an instrument panel?” In a footnote, the editor tells the reader that Clappison was a regular listener of Allan’s monthly radio show on CFCN and that in the course of it, “it seems he leaves listeners with no doubts as to the things to look for in the event of a UFO confrontation.”
According to Allan, Clappison saw three “men” – two inside the craft behind a window, and one outside. She said the man inside to the left was, in Allan’s words, “making signs” to the man inside to the right, and trying to get the attention of the man outside. She added that he seemed to be trying to block something with his body that she thought might be an instrument panel. According to Allan, “As for the man, or humanoid, who was outside, the witness considered that he was obviously picking up samples – rock, not ‘dirt,’ because he was picking, not scooping.”
The report from here until Allan’s closing remark consists of a transcript of part of the interview with Clappison where she describes what happened next and answers questions put to her:
Miss Clappison: “I tried to get closer and have a real eyeful, but the old dog wouldn’t let me. Dog just pushed me right back.”
Allan: “Did he bark at all?”
Miss C.: “No, he didn’t, he was scared to death and he wasn’t having me go.”
Allan: “Did he seem to be trembling?”
Miss C.: “Yes, and cowering.”
Rosedale ClappisonsClappison says she went back in the house as “at this stage of the game I wasn’t too fussy about getting that much closer to that thing.” She says she intended to get her brother’s attention, but when she looked out the window, “there wasn’t even the light.” She emphasizes that she isn’t “a drinking woman.”
Allan asks if Clappison can estimate the size of the object and she says “by my diamond willow stick, it was a length and two-thirds of a length; probably ten to thirteen feet.” Allan then says that the “burnt area” where it had been was over 20 feet and adds in parentheses for the reader that the “discrepancy” may have been due “to the craft shifting to burn a larger area, or her estimate may have been of the illuminated opening rather than the exterior dimension of the craft.” He says to Clappison, “You can definitely see, at this late date in October, that the grass is still kind of black, well blackened, and it hasn’t grown.”
Clappison says the window took up the entire back of the object, describes the color of the light as white, and says there was no sound. She describes the humanoids as all being less than five feet tall, dressed in olive to drab green clothing, and says their faces were covered with hoods. She says “their hands were the things that got me” and describes them as being like a “skidoo mitten” with “very prominent thumbs going into points.” She says she “gathered” that this was why the humanoid outside was having trouble picking up rocks. Finally, Allan asks her to describe the instrument panel and she replies, “It went right across the thing and was about like that – 15 inches and straight down, but there seemed to be darker shapes on the down part.”
Rosedale FSR Cover IllustrationAllan closes by telling the reader that the distance from the porch to the “landing spot” is around 200 feet.
Rosedale HumanoidThe cover of the August 1973 FSR Case Histories Supplement 16 is an illustration of what Clappison said she saw based on her testimony. In the article in that issue (page 8 of pdf) headlined “The Rosedale Humanoids: Further Details” it is explained that after reading a report on the case, artist Brian James became so interested in it that he travelled to Rosedale, talked to Clappison, and viewed the alleged landing site. The details are said to have been taken from Canadian UFO Report Vol. 2, No. 5, 1972-73 “with the kind permission” of its editor, John Magor. James initially sent illustrations to that magazine (page 23 of the pdf) where they are presented with only this comment from Magor: “After reading about the case of humanoids at Rosedale, Alberta (vol. 2, no. 4) artist Brian James of Winnipeg, Man., obtained more details from witness Esther Clappison and sent us these striking follow-up drawings of the incident. This talented illustrator has a deep interest in UFO matters and readers may look forward to seeing more of his incisive drawings.” James contributed two illustrations for the very next issue and issues to follow.
In the FSR follow-up article, James’s illustrations are included with a brief recap of the incident.