In a recent copy of Frontier Magazine, an article was published by fellow researcher Bert Janssen about a most remarkable close-encounter on Silbury Hill (Wiltshire, UK). The couple he had interviewed and filmed seemed totally trustworthy. Their body language (clearly visible on the video footage) fully confirmed their story, which - I'm sure - raised many questions in quite a few readers. A continuation...
As a crop circle researcher, I am confronted quite often with bizarre stories. The close-encounter on Silbury Hill was such a story indeed. At first, many readers might think it was just a concoction or maybe a chimera. Or perhaps that couple simply wanted to get some attention... Yet I think there's far more going on. On Bert Janssen's footage one can watch the couple for a few hours. The interview took place in their garden, in a relaxed setting, surrounded by their young children who play and run around, at times distracting their parents from their bizarre story. The entire interaction of this family, their facial expressions and gestures, the occasional silences and the way they spontaneously complement or correct each other from time to time, shows us that this close-encounter was not a fantasy. These people speak frankly and in all honesty about what has occurred to them. They tell the truth in full detail.
After having watched the footage, my first reaction was: "What on earth am I supposed to do with this?" Light beings inside balls of light inside tetrahedrons, beings just like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, running up Silbury Hill… What has become of the world?! As I rewound the footage and watched everything once more, memories started coming back to me. Memories of things I once experienced myself.
In the course of time, I witnessed several balls of light in and near crop circles. I saw UFOs. Unfortunately I never saw light beings, nor Gollum-like creatures. As I'm thinking of Gollum, I suddenly remember another one of Tolkien's creations: the Nazgul, those creepy invisible creatures in black capes flying around on enormous birds of prey, spies of Evil. And I remember my own encounter when I was about five years old. The wingspread of the enormous bird of prey that flew through my village must have been something like 15 meters. It was flown by a small, dwarf-like creature, fully clothed and 'ready for battle'. There was destruction and evil in his eyes. I was the only one who saw them, my sister who was standing beside me didn't see a thing and thought I was playing a fantasy game. But I was terrified and decided to remember every single detail forever, knowing that one day it would turn out to be important...
My encounter was preceded by a sound that swelled as the giant bird approached. It sounded like a heavy drum, like the ones in those old movies with rowing slaves on ancient ships. There was about one full second in-between the beats of the drum in my encounter. After a while, the monstrous bird appeared in my field of vision and I froze with fear.
Tolkien had almost literally included my encounter in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Both the bird of prey and the entity that flew it, and even the swelling sound: in the caves of Middle Earth through which Tolkien's heroes had to go in order to continue their adventureous journey, and where they lost their companion Gandalf the Grey in the battle against Evil. Suddenly and for the first time I wondered if Tolkien had only just put a fantasy on paper or whether maybe he knew more. Had he had his own encounters?
No doubt, Tolkien's fans remember the Nazguls' horrific screams. This too I had heard with my own ears: at the East Field at Alton Barnes, beginning of June 2000. I had arrived in Wiltshire by the end of May with the intention of staying just for a few days. I wanted to visit the crop circles that had already appeared and also Silbury Hill, in which all of a sudden a mysterious hole had appeared which had led to several sightings of balls of lights and even a structured craft. After one week I was standing at the East Field, pondering what to do. Should I stay (many exciting things had happened and I felt more was to come) or should I - according to plan - leave for the Scottish Highlands for a few months? I found it hard to decide, so I sent a request into the cosmos: I asked for a sign. A sign that would be easy for me to interpret...
The very next second, a horrible screech sounded from the East Field. It set my teeth on edge. It was somehow evil, threatening, but at the same time it seemed to be fearful, like an animal that was being mauled. The best way to describe it is that it just wasn't from this world... I shivered and dismissed it with the thought: "That must have been an animal..." Immediately there was a second screech tearing up the peaceful night. However, this one sounded from the other side of the (enormous) field. I shivered again, but - stubborn as I am - I thought to myself: "See? It's an animal. There's two of them: one on each side of the field and they are communicating with each other..." In less than a second (as if it were responding to my thoughts) once again there was this unearthly, mauling screech, this time, however, with Doppler effect: with unbelievable speed, the sound flashed from the right side of the field to the left side of the field. It was as if someone or something were wiping the floor with my rationalising thoughts, and successfully I might add... No animal could move that fast. I could only conclude that this was the sign I had asked for. It was too late to leave, but that night I slept with my doors and windows locked. To me, the sign was very clear: I was no longer welcome. Very early the next morning I left for the Scottish Highlands...
It wasn't until two years later that a Dutch couple told me they once heard the same horrible sound, during a nightwatch in Avebury. They too described it as 'not from this world'...
As I was day-dreaming about this memory, Tolkien started to fascinate me more and more. Who was this man anyway? Where did his inspiration come from? I started searching for more information about this writer and finally saw a documentary about his life. To my great surprise he had lived in Wiltshire for quite some time. He spent many hours sitting on top of Dragon's Hill beside the white horse of Uffington, where – according to himself – he got most of his inspiration! How many crop circles did he see? How many balls of light? And maybe even: how many light beings? Did he hear the same screech? And what about Gollum? Was that creature born from fantasy anyway?
Suddenly I remembered Hazel's story, the one she told me years ago. She had seen a small, dark, thick-set creature, no taller than one meter. It had, however, no feet, so she told me reluctantly, probably afraid of what I might think. It just shoved her by, as if standing on a conveyor-belt. Her partner, Andy Buckley, was standing beside her, but he didn't see a thing...
And then of course there was this story of the British couple on Silbury Hill, fully documented by Bert Janssen. According to the eyewitnesses, that creature really moved just like Tolkien's Gollum. He too was dark, he seemed to be wearing a black cape.
In August 2004, crop circle researchers Annemieke and Willem Witteveen and Bert Janssen were doing a nightwatch from atop Woodborough Hill. It was a beautiful warm and clear night. Suddenly, however, a thick mist appeared coming from the East Field, the stars disappeared and it soon got quite cold. Annemieke noticed that both Bert and Willem fell asleep. Suddenly she got very cold. In front of her a group of small, dark creatures appeared, no taller than one meter and dressed in black capes. They were thick-set and had something malignant about them. They observed the Dutch researcher from a distance of no more than 7 meters. Annemieke got really scared and woke Willem and Bert. She told them she was frightened and wanted to leave, pointing at the creatures. But the men didn't see them, and at that time, neither did Annemieke... She started doubting herself. Had she been drifting in the twilight zone between being asleep and awake? Had it only been a chimera? Bert and Willem fell asleep again and immediately the creatures were back. There were about a dozen of them. Then Annemieke saw something appear on her right-hand side. She looked and saw six beautiful beings of light. They were very tall, something like 3 meters (9 feet). Their appearance almost seemed human, except they had no hair and they were beaming a beautiful, brilliant white light. They appeared in some sort of a triangular formation: 3 at the back, 2 in front of them and 1 more in front. They shoved ('as if standing on a conveyor-belt') towards Annemieke and radiated unconditional love and peace. Annemieke said she felt the light beings were protecting them, keeping the dark creatures at a distance. Just like it had been the case with the British couple on Silbury Hill, but it wasn't until much later that Annemieke heard about that close-encounter...
Now I know that for many people this simply goes way too far. Light beings and Gollum-like creatures simply don't fit into our world view. It's a whole lot easier to call the eyewitnesses crazy fools or liars, than having to adjust one's world view so drastically. I realise that utterly. That's why I have never before publicly spoken about my childhood encounter. And that's why the Silbury Hill couple decided they wanted to have their names changed in the previous Frontier Magazine. That is indeed why most people are very reluctant to talk about their own encounters. I can assure you: many people will think you have lost it. Luckily more and more people don't care about that so much anymore. The number of eye-witnesses is growing, not so much because a whole lot more occurs these days (although that too may indeed be the case), but definitely because people are being encouraged to speak their truth, simply because others do so.
I would not be the least surprised if letters and e-mails start pouring in both in my mailbox and in Frontiers', from people who - for the first time - dare to speak about their own encounters: eyewitnesses who once saw their own Gollums, Nazguls, Hobbits and Circle Makers. Just like Tolkien…?
10 January 2005
