The truth is out there!
A pair of UFO enthusiasts are looking to make contact with a woman who told her story on national radio earlier this year about a mysterious sighting that appeared over Cavan Town more than three decades ago.
Carl Nally and Dermot Butler have co-authored a number of hugely popular books on phenomena such as ‘Unidentified Flying Objects’. They include Conspiracy of Silence, States of Denial, Circle of Deceit - with two more compendium type novels in the offing.
The caller, who spoke on Joe Duffy’s ‘Liveline’ on RTE Radio One said she had seen a “large object” over Cavan Town in August 1987 and the pair are interested in speaking with any other witnesses to the alleged sighting.
“It was Dermot who heard it and we found we hadn’t got information about that on our files, so we’re very interested in finding anything more about the sighting. We can then compare it with other sightings of the same type of craft, or others seen in the area,” explains Mr Nally.
According to data compiled by online resource ‘Psychic World’ earlier this year, Ireland tops the list for the most UFO sightings in Europe with 105, followed by France and Spain. It’s stated that each visit over the Emerald Isle lasts on average 13 minutes, with the majority of the sightings described as being inexplicable bright lights.
The US-based National UFO Reporting Center, meanwhile, records in detail personal accounts, dates and locations, the most recent occurring in Doolin, Co Clare, on May 30 last; and the closest to Cavan being in Mullingar on April 5 where the night before circles were observed in the sky over the Westmeath town for around eight minutes.
Neighbouring Co Meath has several more dating back over a number of years. Among the most interesting was a sighting in the early hours of August 6, 2019, when a person reported seeking a “blue” light “scanning skies with 3D lazers”, which lasted for around 10 mins.
In 2012 a person posted reporting an orange-coloured light cluster in formation, which when shared on social media, was similarly sighted in Navan, Kells and Oldcastle.
Elsewhere that same year in a separate resource there are records of three separate sightings of a UFO over Shantemon Mountain near Castletara.
Before that, on September 30, 1996, a slow-moving object was observed for around half an hour, moving east to west over Carrickmacross before retracing its path again in a way that dispelled suggestions it could be a plane.
Then again in Kells, on August 15, 1977, strange lights and shapes were spotted high above for several hours. At one point, an observer reported seeing a large triangular craft, with a multi-coloured light trail, fly past at high speed.
The region of course has a rich heritage in exploring, and indeed welcoming, paranormal activity, where the late Desmond Leslie of Castle Leslie, Glaslough, was celebrated in such circles for his studies as a ‘ufologist’.
UFO landing strip
A former British pilot amongst other titles earned, he was one of the first proponents of flying saucers and UFOs, co-writing with George Adamaski the bestselling ‘Flying Saucers have Landed’, a book later translated into more than 50 languages. He is also famously said to have approached Monaghan County Council about the prospect of building a UFO landing strip within the grounds of the historic Leslie estate.
“[Mr Leslie] was a wonderful man, a great mind on the subject, and we wrote to him and had arranged to meet prior to his death. Certainly he was a strong believer, and was said to have experienced strange lights and extraterrestrial behaviour in the area,” says Mr Nally, who first became interested in UFOlogy at the age of 16 years when he witnessed circular objects travel at altitude and, without stopping, veer at right angles before heading west.
“There were about 20 of them, and I was fascinated by this because any manoeuvre like that would kill a terrestrial pilot. There is no way they could stop and move at those angles and that speed,” he surmised.
Public interest in UFOs has again been piqued following the recent publication of the Pentagon’s preliminary assessment after reviewing 144 unidentified observations made by military aviators between 2004 and 2021.
Of the reports examined, the task force could only determine an explanation for one - a deflated balloon. The rest remain unexplained.
While Mr Nally says there appears to be “no rhyme or reason” as to where UFO sightings might occur, he actively encourages people who do encounter such experiences to consider as much detail as possible before passing it on to people like him who have spent a life time investigating such matters.
“Navan, Cavan, Kells, we’ve had people report seeing something hovering over fields before shooting off at speed, or lights leaping from one field to another and then the UFO will fly off.
“What’s important for us is to be able to put two sightings together, and match that with as many witness accounts as possible.”
Incidents of animal mutilations is another subject Carl and Dermot are very keen to explore further.
“Bodies across the world deny it but we know it’s happening, animals being found with organs cauterised. Examinations carried out in the UK show in some incidents sexual organs cored out with lazer equipment, and most of the animals are drained completely of blood. No one can explain that. To say it’s scavengers, grey crows, is complete rubbish. The truth will come out sometime.”