Broad Haven UFO 'triangle' explained for Encounters episode 1

The Broad Haven Triangle explores the phenomenon of a group of boys who spotted a spacecraft rising from the tress above their playground. Suddenly after the sighting, the Welsh coastal town of Broad Haven was gripped by over 450 reports of UFO and alien encounters.

You may be wanting to know even more about this phenomenon and what happened to those who witnessed the spacecraft.

Read on for more details about the true story of The Broad Haven Triangle in Encounters on Netflix.

What happened in the Broad Haven UFO sightings?

In 1977, a class of pupils at Broad Haven Primary School said they spotted a UFO in a field near their playground. Since then, the small Welsh village has been dubbed the "Bermuda Triangle" of the UK.

None of the teachers believed the children, so the headmaster separated them and got them to draw what they saw. The majority of the produced drawings were of UFOs, some featuring what many assume to be an alien.

The school field spaceship sighting was the first of what one pupil called "some pretty strange" encounters. As all eyes were on the small village of Broad Haven, other locals began reporting close encounters with strange creatures and crafts.

What other sightings have happened in Broad Haven?

Two months after the school sighting, Rosa Granville, who ran the Haven Forth Hotel, told the BBC she saw an object that looked like an "upside-down saucer" and two "faceless humanoid" creatures with pointed heads.

"There was light coming from it and flames of all colours. Then [the creatures] came out of these flames, that's what I don't understand," she told the publication.

The Granvilles said the spaceship had left a scorch mark and a ridge on the ground where it had landed.

X-Files from the government showed Granville had written to her local MP, explaining the sighting had "left me greatly agitated and disturbed and not the least bit delirious of another encounter".

Mark Morston, who appears in the documentary, claimed he came face to face with a figure that stepped out of a spaceship a month or two after the school sighting.

"This thing stepped out of the hedge," he told the Encounters crew.

"It was a good 7ft tall, it had a silver suit with a motorbike visor as a face. I thought, 'That's not a man, no way is that a man.' It started walking towards me and I thought, 'This is not happening.' I was quite scared. It kept walking, so I legged it."

The following day, Mark returned to the scene with his father, where he said they saw a huge footprint in the mud that was "too big to be [from] an ordinary man".

Mark's uncle and aunt later said they saw an 8ft featureless silver figure outside their isolated farmhouse.

What happened after the Broad Haven UFO sightings?

The once quiet village of Broad Haven became a media frenzy, with all eyes on the residents and mysterious sightings.

David Davies, who was 10 at the time, told the BBC that the days that followed were a "wild rollercoaster". He said: "It went crazy with the media and it was difficult to settle down and actually think about what we had seen."

In 2017, a conference was held in Broad Haven to mark 40 years since the sightings.

Organiser Emlyn Williams told the BBC the case sparked "worldwide interest".

When asked if he thought the sighting was genuine, he told the publication: "One child can lie, but can a whole class? Over 40 years, at least one of them might have come forward to say they made it up - but they haven't."

Where is Broad Haven?

Broad Haven is a village and seaside resort in south Pembrokeshire, Wales. Not much is known about the origins of the village, but it has been known as a seaside resort since the 1800s.

An RNLI lifeboat was stationed at Little Haven from 1882 to 1921, and in 1967 the station was reopened with an inshore lifeboat and named Little & Broad Haven, according to Visit Pembrokeshire.

The north end of Broad Haven beach has a number of geological features including natural arches and a Lion Rock. The town also has a number of restaurants and pubs.

Encounters began streaming from Netflix from 27th September 2023. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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