by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear
In the early 1970s, reports of people experiencing periods of missing time started turning up during investigations. A case (page 12 of the pdf) involving a young couple in England is “Presented by Norman Oliver” in the Vol. 6, No. 1, May/June 1977 BUFORA Journal. Derek Jones is credited as the investigator.
According to the article headlined “Time Lapse Extraordinary,” at 9:30 p.m. in mid-January 1974, while driving on the A 52 near Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, a “student teacher and his fiancée” saw a faint, large green light pass over the road from right to left that they assumed was a helicopter due to its size. It turned and started following the road, staying ahead of the car as if it was “pacing” it.
The witnesses are said to have followed the object and to have continued to do so as it “veered to the left towards Leek,” when they got to the traffic lights at the junction between the A 52 and the A 520. They followed for about three miles, and when they got to the outskirts of Leek, “they realised [sic] what a waste of time it all was unless the UFO landed: so they gave up and turned back!”
According to the article, they went back the way they came until they got about a mile south of Cheddleton Village where they experienced “an overwhelming feeling they were being watched.” “Jeff,” who was driving, pulled over by a hill to their left and the “feeling grew stronger till the hair on their necks ‘stood up.’” They got out of the car and whispered to each other wondering what might be causing this, and Jeff even looked in the boot (trunk in Americanese) and found nothing.
The sky is described as having a 20-30% cloud cover as Jeff looked straight up saw a “black rectangular ‘hole.’” It is said that no noise was to be heard as Jeff whispered to “J” that the object was not a helicopter. According to the article, two lights, one at each end, shone down onto the road. One is described as green and casting “a faint, round light in front of the car, and the other is described as blue and casting its light on the road behind the car. They are then described as coming together over the car as if they had been working to locate it.
According to the article, the couple leapt into the car at this point and drove off at high speed towards the traffic lights at the junction. The object followed and resumed its position in front of the car and then turned left towards Ashbourne. Jeff is said to have “felt compelled” to follow even though both of them were “very scared.” Quoting from the article, “J said she remembered thinking ‘I wonder why I don’t scream.’”
As they turned, they suddenly “found themselves going through a bumpy patch.” This is described as turning out to be a cattle guard located in Ilam, near Dovedale, Derbyshire, 16 miles from where they seemingly just were. After taking “a good ten minutes” figuring out where he was, Jeff checked his watch and saw it was 1:30 a.m., which meant that they were missing about three and a half hours. Jeff is said to have recalled that his first reaction was “What the hell am I doing out here?”
According to the article, Jeff headed to the A 523, made a right turn onto it, and instead of being on what should have been a dark road, they were suddenly in an area full of “street lights, terraced houses, etc.” After driving around for several minutes, they found someone who told them where the police station was. When they got there, they were told they were in Macclesfield, 20 miles from where they had turned onto the A 523.
The time at this point was 3:30 a.m. and Jeff told the police that J’s parents would be concerned because they had expected her to be home around midnight. The police are said to have arranged for a call to be made to them by “a local car in Stoke” to let them know the couple were all right and would be back in an hour.
Information included after the account is that British UFO Research Association R. I. C. Derek Jones and fellow investigator T. Shotten checked with police and confirmed the couple’s story. According to them, “Both witnesses were very scared several days after the event and spoke in lowered voices and with other signs of tension – very convincing . . .” James adds that he was convinced the story was not a hoax and that the witnesses were “emphatic” about not wanting publicity. He says that this is the first time the story has been released.
Oliver adds that the couple has since moved to an unknown location. He says “It seems that here is a case where regressive hypnosis might prove of great help, and we can only hope that – even at this late stage – they will again get in touch.” According to him, James told him that the fuel consumption was consistent with the mileage minus the jumps.
While this case has remained obscure, it has noteworthy similarities to a 1976 case involving three women in Kentucky. Louise Smith, Mona Stafford, and Elaine Thomas reported that on January 6, a UFO took control of their car and pulled them backwards over what seemed to be speed bumps. They then suddenly found themselves eight miles away with about an hour and a half of missing time. In this case, regressive hypnosis was used and an abduction story involving a medical examination came out.