In the 1960s, a small town in Wiltshire, England, became the epicenter of a bizarre and terrifying mystery. Known as The Warminster Thing, a series of unexplained phenomena—from deafening sounds to terrifyingly silent flying objects—left a lasting mark on the community. Local journalist Arthur Shuttlewood documented the events in his book, The Warminster Mystery, providing a chilling account of a town under siege by an unknown force.
The Onslaught of Unseen Forces
The bizarre events began with sound. On Christmas Day, 1964, a "thunderous sound" awoke over 30 troops of the First Welsh Regiment at Nuke Camp in Haytesbury, with one sergeant reporting it sounded as if a huge chimney stack had been ripped from a rooftop. The same morning, a Mrs. Marjorie By was hit with "shockwaves of violent force" and felt "invisible fingers of sound" that left her feeling weak and jelly-legged. The phenomena spread, with Warminster's head postmaster, Roger Rump, reporting that it sounded as though "5,000 tiles" on his roof were being rattled and plopped off by a tremendous force.
The effects were not limited to humans. Animals displayed extreme fear, with dogs hiding and one budgie outright dying of shock. A flock of pigeons plummeted to the earth, and in several gardens, dead mice were found with their bodies burnt and "riddled with small holes." These initial, sound-based events seemed to set the stage for what was to follow.
The Sightings and Encounters
Over time, the "Thing" became a visual presence, appearing as everything from silent, cigar-shaped objects to glowing spheres that behaved like "human eyes" in the sky. Witnesses described a "silent flying train" with glowing "porthole type windows" and a massive craft that would split in two to release smaller, spinning orbs of light. These objects often had physical effects on the environment, causing vehicle engines to seize and creating a pressure so strong witnesses felt their eardrums would burst. One of the most terrifying accounts came from three children playing by a stream who were thrown about by an unseen gale. The youngest, a toddler, was "plucked from the edge of the bank by an unseen force" and deposited safely back on the path.
The human-like encounters were even more unsettling. Annabelle Randall saw two figures wearing "dark balaclavas" and "skin tight suits that were glistening as though wet from the waist down." A retired Royal Air Force captain even witnessed a "frogman" and a naked, blood-covered man who both disappeared after he pulled over to help. There were also several reports of a "man that never was" who was run over by a car but vanished without a trace.
Even journalist Arthur Shuttlewood, a skeptic at first, became a believer after his own terrifying experience. When he tried to photograph a "colossal cigar-shaped object half a mile across" with a "peculiar amber coloured appendage," a shooting pain shot up his arm, and his left eye twitched for eight weeks. He later heard heavy footsteps and a cackle of laughter from an unseen presence that chased him on a hill.
Theories and Explanations
The multitude of theories that emerged from the sightings reflected the fear and confusion of the time. A public meeting was called, drawing 7,000 people from around the world, but it was described as "long and fruitless," with military officials failing to show up. Some residents believed the events were of celestial origin, with one spiritualist claiming the craft were from the Lost Tribes of Israel, flying between Stonehenge and Glastonbury, which she called "the Holy Circle." Others suspected the government was involved, conducting secret experiments given the proximity of the Porton Down military base. There is also a debate as to whether the events were a product of mass hysteria or a more unusual cause, such as the use of sound frequencies to induce hallucinations, as seen in other cases. It was also noted that the four main places of sightings all involved water, leaving open the question of whether this was significant.
Ultimately, the conclusion is that "the thing with the thing is, it's never the same thing," suggesting that a wide variety of unexplained events were simply attributed to the same phenomenon. What started as unexplained sounds developed into visual sightings, leaving behind a complex legacy of fear, speculation, and a mystery that continues to endure.