The Warminster Thing and Decades of Unexplained Phenomena in England

Warminster in south-west Wiltshire, England.

Known for its historic charm, scenic countryside, mysterious sonic assaults, at least dozens of bizarre objects in the sky, and decades of unexplained phenomena that freaked everyone out in the 1960s.

The events surrounding the "Warminster Thing" sit in a space somewhere between paranormal lore and out-of-this-world sci-fi and even dance around a bit of horror because people claimed they were attacked.

UFOs?

Maybe.

But how many UFO stories have you heard that include bizarre droning sounds that make people vibrate like living tuning forks?

Did you know?

‍While Americans pronounce "UFO" by saying each letter separately (you-eff-oh), the British pronounce "UFO" as a single word (you-foh). Or, at least, they sure did in the 1960s in Warminster.

Like all good mysteries, it left more questions than answers.

Let's look at the Warminster Thing, a mystery to this day that turned a quiet English town into a hotspot for believers, skeptics, and everyone in between.

Where is Warminster?

Warminster is in Wiltshire, England, just down the road from a super famous place and in the middle of a rolling green countryside—which is also—supposedly—absolutely rolling with UFOs.

People have inhabited it since at least Roman times (who knows how long aliens have?), as evidenced by the remains of Roman villas and roads in the area. The town flourished as a market hub during the medieval period, benefiting from its proximity to trade routes and agricultural production.

During the English Civil War, Warminster's location made it a key staging point for troops, and the town witnessed significant military activity, including skirmishes and the movement of supplies. Later, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Warminster became known for its cloth production, contributing to Wiltshire's textile industry before its economy shifted to other sectors.

The name Warminster likely comes from the Old English wara, meaning "those that care for, watch, guard, protect, or defend," combined with mynster, meaning monastery or church. This suggests the town's roots were tied to a religious community, potentially acting as a place of sanctuary or guardianship. The name has evolved over the centuries, appearing as Worgemynstre in the early tenth century and Guerminstre in the Domesday Book.

Now, that super famous place I mentioned above is Stonehenge. Warminster is only about a 25-minute drive from Stonehenge and sits right on the edge of Salisbury Plain, a military training area that's been active for decades. Which, of course, is what many skeptics point to first. "Oh, it's just military testing."

But is it, though?

The area's military has officially denied involvement in events surrounding the Warminster Thing. And, if you believe their very plausible denial of it, then you might as well just throw your hat into the UFO believer ring because what else have you got?

:: puts on "Ancient Aliens" huge hair ::

‍Interestingly, wara also means those who observe or watch, which opens up some fascinating possibilities. Could this watching have referred to something more celestial, such as astronomical observation or the tracking of natural phenomena in the sky? Given Warminster's proximity to ancient sites like Stonehenge, often linked to stargazing and rituals, it's not out of the question that the area was known for sky-watching long before it became a Christian settlement. Perhaps the mynster wasn't just a religious site but a place where early communities sought to understand—or protect themselves from—what they saw above. While we'll never know for sure, the dual meanings of wara leave room for intriguing speculation.

‍:: huge hair off ::

If Warminster was known for watching the skies in ancient times, maybe it's no surprise that people here have been keeping their eyes upward—and their ears tuned—for something extraordinary. Whether it's down to ley lines, military experiments, or visitors from the stars, this quiet town has seen its share of unexplained happenings. And it all began with an incident that rattled Warminster—quite literally—on Christmas Day, 1964.

(As usual, there's a lot of conflicting information about these events, so if you spot anything amiss, let me know.)

Warminster Thing: Timeline of Events

December 25, 1964

In the early hours of Christmas morning, strange phenomena gripped Warminster and its surroundings. At Nook Camp, near the village of Heytesbury, soldiers reported hearing an intense sound described as a massive chimney being ripped apart and scattered; a droning sound accompanied the noise.

Early that same morning, five miles away in Warminster, Mrs. Mildred Head was woken by the sound of giant hailstones battering her roof. The noise transitioned into a loud hum before fading to a faint whisper.

Around the same time, a woman named Marjorie Bye, walking to the Holy Communion Service at Christ Church, heard a crackling sound. She was struck by shockwaves so intense they temporarily immobilized her.

Roger Rump, the Warminster postmaster, also reported an odd humming tone alongside "a terrific clatter" like his roof tiles were being torn off and slammed back into place. The accounts from that morning marked the beginning of what would later be dubbed "The Warminster Thing."

January 1965

Reports of strange phenomena intensified as locals began to talk about their experiences. Arthur Shuttlewood, a journalist for the Warminster Journal, published his first article, Bell Hill Mystery, documenting these early accounts and calling for further reports.

Supposedly, around this time, a resident on Ash Lane reportedly discovered a garden filled with dead pigeons with no visible cause of death. However, decades later, researchers determined the story of the pigeons may have been retroactively embellished, with Arthur Shuttlewood inaccurately dating this event to January.

February 1965

At the Longleat Estate, witnesses reported hearing high-pitched droning noises. A flock of pigeons was allegedly struck mid-flight and found dead in a woodland clearing. While the accounts were documented by Arthur Shuttlewood, later analysis suggested these details were exaggerated or misattributed, as they were first published years after the events.

March 17, 1965

Mrs. Joan Brown reported her family's cat reacting violently to strange sound waves that rattled her home. The cat vomited throughout the day, and other pets in the area, including dogs, displayed signs of panic and distress. These incidents correlated with reports of ongoing acoustic disturbances in the town.

Summer 1965

Reports of UFO sightings in Warminster's skies began to emerge. Among the most notable was a fiery red cigar-shaped craft observed by the vicar of Heytesbury, his wife, and their son over the local churchyard. Additional sightings described glowing orbs that hovered silently, darted rapidly, and displayed advanced maneuvers. These accounts spurred public interest and increased Warminster's visibility as a UFO hotspot.

August 10, 1965

A lorry driver near Colloway Clump encountered a fiery orb streaking toward his vehicle before veering off into the sky. Later that same night, Rachel Atwell was awoken by a loud droning noise and observed a pulsating light hovering approximately 600 feet above the ground. She described an intense sensation of pressure in her head, which ceased when the light disappeared.

August 27, 1965

A public meeting at Warminster Town Hall drew a huge crowd, with locals and visitors gathering to discuss the ongoing reports of "The Thing." Interestingly, UFO sightings surged afterward. Mass hysteria? Or was it because people were suddenly looking up?

September 10, 1965

The Daily Mirror newspaper printed a photo taken by a local factory worker, Gordon Faulkner. Gordon captured what he claimed was a flying saucer.

As the story goes, Gordon took the photo sometime in August and handed it over to Arthur Shuttlewood to do with as he saw fit. Arthur then took it to the newspaper.

While skeptics questioned its authenticity, the photograph became an iconic artifact in the Warminster saga and is well-known worldwide.

Late 1965

By the end of the year, Warminster had firmly established itself as a UFO hotspot. Arthur Shuttlewood organized sky-watching events at Cradle Hill and Cley Hill, drawing locals and tourists eager to witness the unexplained phenomena. Businesses began capitalizing on the surge of interest by offering UFO-themed merchandise and guided tours.

1966

The BBC aired Pie in the Sky, a documentary investigating the mysterious sightings over Warminster. The program featured interviews with witnesses and explored various theories about the origins of the events, increasing national awareness of the phenomenon.

October 1967

Police Constables Roger Willie and Clifford Waycott gave an interview to ITN, recounting their encounter with an unidentified flying object in the night sky over Okehampton. The officers described seeing a star-like object performing erratic maneuvers, which they found unexplainable.

During the interview, they sketched a detailed drawing of the UFO, depicting a symmetrical, pointed shape surrounded by wavy lines. Their testimony, coming from trained observers, added credibility to the growing body of UFO sightings across the UK during this time. See an actual video interview of the constables and their live sketch in Police Officers Describe UFO Encounter (1967).

Early 1970s

Reports of UFO sightings in Warminster began to decline. However, Arthur Shuttlewood continued his work, publishing several books on the subject, including UFOs: Key to the New Age in 1971. His efforts ensured that the Warminster phenomenon became a part of UFO lore. Around this time, simple crop circle formations started appearing in the Wiltshire region and sometimes near Warminster.

1976

The Fountain Centre, a UFO research facility, was established in Warminster. It published The Fountain Journal, a bi-monthly magazine focused on local sightings. However, financial difficulties led to its closure by 1977.

The term "Warminster Thing" was popularized by Arthur Shuttlewood, a journalist for the Warminster Journal, in the mid-1960s. Arthur Shuttlewood used "Thing" to describe various unexplained phenomena reported in the area, including mysterious sounds and unidentified flying objects. The term's ambiguity reflected the uncertainty surrounding the events, capturing the public's imagination while leaving room for interpretation.

1980s

Interest in the Warminster UFO phenomena diminished, with fewer sightings reported and less media coverage. During this period, more elaborate crop circle formations appeared in the Wiltshire countryside, including areas around Warminster. These patterns sparked fresh curiosity and drew tourists and researchers, even as UFO activity became less frequent. By the end of the 1980s, Warminster's connection to unexplained phenomena had become more historical than ongoing. Still, new sightings sometimes cropped up—though never like the reports of mass sightings from the 1960s.

1996

Arthur Shuttlewood, whose reporting rocketed the events into the public eye, passed away. His contributions to UFO literature and his role in promoting Warminster's legacy remain influential.

September 2009

The Weird '09 conference was held in Warminster, attracting UFO enthusiasts and researchers. Notable speakers, including Nick Pope, former UFO investigator for the UK Ministry of Defence, discussed the phenomenon. Sky-watching events at Cradle Hill brought together attendees hoping for a glimpse of unexplained activity.

August 2015

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Warminster Thing, the town hosted conferences, sky-watching events, and other gatherings. A UFO-themed mural was unveiled to celebrate Warminster's unique place in UFO history.

2017

New reports of UFO sightings surfaced, describing unusual lights and objects in the sky. Although these accounts were less frequent than in earlier decades, they rekindled interest in Warminster's mysterious past.

Today

Warminster continues to be recognized for its historical UFO sightings. The town still attracts tourists and researchers and holds occasional local events.

Arthur Shuttlewood

I know what you're doing right about now. Your eyes are narrowing on that name, Arthur Shuttlewood, and you're probably starting to wonder why his name seems to be sprinkled ALL OVER the entire story and nearly every event dealing with the Warminster Thing.

Every great mystery needs its storyteller, and for Warminster, that was Arthur Shuttlewood. A journalist for the Warminster Journal, Shuttlewood claimed he was initially skeptical but soon became one of the Warminster Thing's most vocal believers. He eventually wrote books about UFOs, hosted sky-watching events, and even claimed to have had his own encounters. Was he documenting history, or was he just really good at self-promotion? Depends on who you ask.

Born in Essex, Shuttlewood moved to Warminster in 1940 and worked as a journalist from the early 1950s. By the time the events of Christmas 1964 unfolded, he was considered a seasoned reporter with a sharp skepticism of sensationalism (although, looking back, some say he was a sensationalist himself). Arthur claims in The Warminster Mystery (1967) that it took nine months for him to fully accept that something unexplainable was happening in Warminster. But, even if he was the skeptic he claimed, his contributions to capturing witness accounts and publishing articles about the strange events were invaluable. The world may have never known about the Warminster Thing without his work.

Soon after becoming a believer, Arthur started making claims about his own encounters. He reported seeing unidentified craft himself, including a "cigar-shaped spacecraft" that he described as a "banana boat in the sky" during an encounter on September 28, 1965. He later claimed he had been struck by a beam of light from a UFO, leaving him temporarily paralyzed. (This description reminded me of an old sci-fi horror movie from 1993 called Fire in the Sky.)

But the story doesn't stop there. Arthur Shuttlewood's later years took a strange turn when he began reporting telepathic communications with beings from another world. He claimed to have received over two dozen phone calls from individuals identifying themselves as "natives of the planet Aenstria." These alleged callers, with names like Caellsan, Traellison (Queen of Anastria), Selorik, and Karne (who Arthur claims he eventually met face to face), shared messages warning humanity about environmental destruction, nuclear dangers, and moral decay. One particularly bizarre claim involved an alien who supposedly materialized at Shuttlewood's door within seconds of being challenged to prove its existence.

Excerpts from Arthur Shuttlewood's 1968 book Warnings from Flying Friends​

‍After lunch I was busy transcribing shorthand notes of Lord Bath's speech...then...the telephone in the hall rang insistently. A member of my family answered, a few moments later running in to tell me: "It is one of those people from Aenstria again. He says his name is Karne. He says he must speak to you, as it is very important."
‍~
‍"As outlined in my last book, three persons purporting themselves to be space visitors from a cantel (planet) called Aenstria regularly rang me during a seven-week period in September and October 1965. Traellison was the female queen of the cantel, Caellsan the senior spacecraft commander, Selorik the English interpreter."
‍~
‍"Christ, the Alpha and Omega of our Solar System, will arrive not later than 1975..."

‍​Read more in Arthur Shuttlewood's Encounter with 'Karne' of the Planet 'Aenstria'​

As you might imagine, Shuttlewood's credibility came under scrutiny. Critics accused him of embellishing stories and sensationalizing events to sell books and draw attention. Even early supporters, such as the editors of Flying Saucer Review, began distancing themselves from him, citing inconsistencies and hyperbole in his accounts.

The Warminster Thing: Possible Explanations

So, let's just assume, for the sake of argument, just for a minute, that Arthur Shuttlewood was batshit crazy. (I know you thought about it!) As far as we know, Christ, the Alpha and Omega of our Solar System, did not, in fact, arrive before 1975. But then again...how would we know?

Batshit Crazy

‍Now, that's an interesting phrase! Check out this exploration of theories on where the use of 'batshit' in this way originates.🦇💩

Where exactly is the line between sane and insane? For some, it's belief in UFOs or aliens at all. For others, UFOs and aliens are okay, but believing that aliens have communicated with you is crazy. Still others may think that UFOs, aliens, and alien communication are perfectly sane, yet the Second Coming of Christ is ludicrous—but only if it's related to aliens.🤔

So, if Arthur Shuttlewood was batshit crazy, how, then, do we explain the hundreds (or more) of witness accounts of the strange sounds, sonic attacks, and unidentified flying objects? And, why in the world were the UFOs fairly consistently described as either flying saucers or cigars? Of course, those are two entirely different shapes...

What possible explanations are there? Let's run through the usual suspects.

Military Testing: Sure, the town's near Salisbury Plain, but secret sonic weapons? In the 60s? That seems like a stretch. The Ministry of Defence denies everything, of course.

Ley Lines: You know, those invisible energy lines that supposedly crisscross the Earth? Some people think Warminster's weirdness is tied to its location near Stonehenge because...aliens love a good energy vortex?

Optical Illusions and Weather Conditions: Could those glowing orbs and UFOs be tricks of the light? Atmospheric phenomena like lenticular clouds, St. Elmo's fire, or ball lightning have fooled people before, and temperature inversions can make objects seem to hover or glow in strange ways. Add a misty countryside, and it's easy to see how the imagination might run wild. But can that really explain everything? Doubtful.

Weather Balloons: The classic skeptic fallback—blame the weather balloon. Shiny, floaty, and easy to spot, but can we blame them for fiery cigar-shaped crafts or shockwaves shaking houses? Seems a little too convenient. Unless, of course, I'm just thinking of the wrong kind of weather balloon.

Swamp Gas: Oh, the infamous swamp gas defense—because nothing says alien spacecraft quite like some rotting vegetation having a gassy moment. Sure, methane igniting can cause strange lights, but does Warminster even have swamps? (Spoiler: no. It has wetlands. So, maybe it's wet gas?) And, besides, how does swamp gas explain sonic booms, shockwaves, or glowing cigar-shaped crafts darting through the sky? Unless there's a secret swamp no one's talking about, this theory stinks worse than the gas itself.

Actual Aliens: The sightings, the sounds, the bizarre craft—classic UFO territory. If it's extraterrestrial, though, what were they doing? Tourism? Experiments? Attempting to communicate? Scaring the locals for fun?

Mass Hysteria: The skeptics' favorite. But can mass hysteria really explain flocks of dead birds, paralyzed churchgoers, and reports of pets reacting violently to unexplained sound waves, unexplained pressure waves that rattled homes and disoriented residents, and even photographic evidence like Gordon Faulkner's infamous UFO photo? Well, honestly, it's unclear. Maybe?

The truth is, no one knows.

The most intriguing event might have been the very first reports from Christmas morning 1964—but only if they were collected in a way where one witness account didn't contaminate another or skew under the influence of the interviewer. The sheer variety of experiences—like the droning sound heard by soldiers, the roof-shaking noise reported by Mrs. Head, and the immobilizing shockwaves described by Marjorie Bye—suggests something peculiar occurred before word-of-mouth or media attention could muddy the waters. If those accounts stand uncontaminated—which, unfortunately, we'll never know—they might hold the key to understanding what really happened that morning.

"And you can look back in history, in the 1920s, the local head postmaster collected folklore and legends of the area, and strange stories about ghosts and poltergeists and so on because they didn't know about UFOs then, because they were a modern technology thing. UFOs probably are the ghosts of modern technology. Well, yes, I think there is something, but what, I don't know." —Ken Rogers, UFO Spotter.

Relevant & Related

• Warminster still gets crop circles. Here's a stunning aerial video of one from 2023: Crop Circle | Cley Hill Nr Warminster, Wiltshire | 10/08/23.
• Be sure to visit BUFORA's website to learn more about the British UFO Research Association.
• There's much more to see on Jed Buttress's website, which has various newspaper clippings, photos, and more.
• Watch The Warminster Thing by Bedtime Stories to learn even more.
• If you can track down a copy, Arthur Shuttlewood wrote a book called Warminster Mystery.
• Check out a segment about The Warminster Thing on broadcast news in 1973 over at BBC Archive. Don't pass this one up because there's a part where a skeptical reporter is recording during an actual sighting of the strange objects in the sky and then describes what he saw—but can't explain what it was.
• In a video from 1967, you can see two police officers describe their firsthand experience of seeing the Warminster Thing over at ITN Archive.
• Even more videos are available here (no sound): Watching For The `Thing' At Warminster, Wilts (1966).

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