Obscure Occurrences : The Warminster Thing

 The Garrison Town of Warminster is located in the English County of Wiltshire and sits a short distance away from both the Salisbury Plain military training area and the historic site of Stonehenge. Although it appears to be an unremarkable settlement at first glance, this region had played host to far more unsettling events than its neighbouring communities. Initially settled by the Romans, the town had been the site of repeated clashes between the opposing forces during the English Civil War in the 17th Century. Since then, it has served as a focal point for the British army.

(Source: Visit Wiltshire)

 Apart from its military history, the town had also become famous for a series of inexplicable events it hosted from late 1964 to 1965. These events were allegedly caused by “The Warminster Thing”.

Testimony of Mildred Head – The First Encounter

 During the early hours of Christmas of 1964, a localite under the name of Mildred Head found herself awoken by a sudden commotion. The elderly woman had been lying in her bed when her light sleep was disturbed by an inexplicable sound, emanating from the roof above her bedroom. Sitting up, she continued listening to it as its intensity gradually increased. Initially, the noise resembled an unknown person dragging tree branches back and forth on the lining of the roof. However, this scratching soon developed into a thudding, seemingly as if large hailstones were falling on her roof. 

 Bemused, Mildred had risen from her bed and moved over to the windows to see if it was raining outside before finding the skies calm and completely cloudless. The noise above her head had changed once again, but this time to a low hum. The sound continued to increase in volume until she was finally forced to cover her ears. The mysterious sound persisted for a brief period following which it began to slowly dissipate. 

A Sonic Attack

 Later that same morning, Marjorie Bye, another inhabitant of the town, was making her way towards the Christ Church. The woman was running late for the morning’s service and as it was Christmas day, the streets of the town were deserted. While she was a few hundred meters away from the church, she heard a strange sound emanating from the Bell Hill area of the town. 

 The commotion sounded like the distant echoes of cackling laughter and it seemed to be getting closer to where she stood while steadily increasing in volume on its way. Eventually, it reached a point where its effects almost paralysed the woman. Soon afterwards, she was allegedly assaulted by a series of relentless vibrations and shockwaves which seemingly prevented her from physically moving. Desperately willing to move away, she forcefully lurched in the direction of the church following which she was able to break free of the strange phenomena. 

 After Marjorie shared her experience with the church congregation, her encounter made its way around the rest of the town before making its way into the office of The Warminster Journal, a local newspaper. Upon publishing the story, Arthur Shuttlewood, the editor of the newspaper, was contacted by more than thirty other witnesses who claimed to experience something quite similar. 

Arthur Shuttlewood (Source: BBC)

Roger Rump’s Encounter

 Amongst the group was a man named Roger Rump, a postmaster who resided in a house near the church where Marjorie had experienced the scourge. In line with his statement, that same morning, he had been in bed when he heard a daunting clatter emerge from the roof of his house. Quickly, it had escalated to a point where it sounded as if each tile was being lifted individually and then, slammed back by a powerful force. Within minutes the noise had abruptly ceased, only to be replaced by a high pitch humming sound. The strange sound continued for about a minute before dissipating quickly.

Testimony of Army Officers

 More compelling testimonies came from the members of the army, who were stationed near the town of Warminster. One among them was an army sergeant who was posted eight kilometres away from the town. After reading the newspaper article, several of his men had allegedly approached him to share a similar encounter. 

 During the early hours of Christmas day, they had been awoken by a strange deafening sound from the skies above. When the bewildered soldiers had risen from their bunks to see what had caused the eerie noise, they found the base perfectly still and quiet. There were apparently no signs to indicate any unnatural occurrence.

 Shortly afterwards, an army officer from the same base anonymously contacted the newspaper in order to share an inexplicable recent encounter of his. One evening, when darkness had just begun to take over, the army major had been driving back to the base from a formal meeting. When he was nearing a section of woodland called Colloway Clump, the engine and electrics of the car had stopped working for no apparent reason. As he sat in the car making repeated attempts to start the engine, the vehicle chassis began vibrating. The vibrations continued to increase in intensity, violently shaking the car as if an unnatural force had taken hold of it.

 The officer began feeling tremendous pressure on his forehead and it appeared as if a heavy force was pushing him down. Then, an electrical hum with no apparent origin commenced following which it rose to a deafening level. As abruptly as it had begun, the sound quickly ceased. Within a few moments, the engine started and the vehicle’s headlights illuminated the darkness-filled landscape. However, there were no signs that indicated the occurrence of the strange event.

More Witnesses of The Strangeness

 During the opening weeks of 1965, stories of similar encounters came to the forefront. One witness, who lived on the outskirts of the town, claimed to find a whole flock of pigeons lying dead in his garden one morning. Upon inspecting the bodies of the dead birds, he was not able to come up with an explanation for their strange deaths.

 Over the following days, morse sonic attacks were reported but this time, they were accompanied by the sightings of UFOs. On the 10th of August, 1965, a truck driver travelling near Colloway Clump had slowed his vehicle upon detecting a strange sound coming from above him. A few minutes later, a glowing ball of light hurtled out of the sky, rushed head-on towards him and veered away at the last moment before disappearing into the night sky.

 Late in the evening of the same day, Rachel had been woken up from her slumber by a “dreadful droning sound” originating from the outside of her house. Moving over to the window, she saw a strange mass of bright light hovering 600 feet above the ground. As the mysterious object flickered above her, the young woman began experiencing severe pressure on her forehead. In her own words, it felt as if a steel band was being tightened around her forehead. A few moments later, the pressure abruptly ceased and the hovering object disappeared without a trace.

Picture of "The Warminster's Thing" taken by Gordon Faulkner in 1965 (Source: BBC)

 On a summer evening in 1965, different groups made up of 17 people in total had decided to visit Shearwater, a lake located on the southwest of the town. All of a sudden, a large cigar-shaped object rapidly descended from the sky with incredible speed and sound before ascending back up and disappearing. Soon after this incident, sightings of the mystical object stopped. Ever since then, multiple theories about the obscure occurrences in the town have come to the surface. These theories, however, can be narrowed down into two major ones.

Theories

A Sceptical Point of View

 The explanation sceptics suggest is the involvement of the military forces. Considering the fact that sonic weaponry had been normalized in modern warfare, the British army could have been testing an early prototype of these weapons. However, the British Ministry of Defence has always denied its involvement in the events.

  Reports of inexplicable noise and lights have been attributed to nighttime firing drills. The blinding flashes and shockwaves of artillery explosions could be blamed for the mass killing of birds. These events could have resulted in a mass hysteria being caused amongst the locals which in turn could have led some townsmen to see this as an opportunity to increase the town’s revenue. Although this theory seems to be plausible, it is far from conclusive.

UFO Involvement

 Wiltshire and the region surrounding it are considered to be a hotspot of inexplicable events, with many claiming that the area invites strange happenings by itself. Some claim that the region houses a large concentration of ley lines, many of which apparently end at nearby Stonehenge. This factor paves way for speculations about the region's ability to generate invisible forces which act as a beacon for UFOs. However, with no scientific proof to back this theory, it cannot be finalized.

Conclusion

 The mysterious events that took place in Warminster and the surrounding regions have gone on to cement the town’s place in history. The town still attracts a large number of paranormal enthusiasts and, to mark the 50th anniversary of the event, a mural had been painted in the town centre.

(Source: BBC)

 With no further reports about “The Warminster Thing” and no conclusive evidence to explain it, the likelihood of finding an explanation only seems to dwindle down the years which leaves this remarkable case in the pages of history as an unsolved mystery.