Recent updates from NASA and other space bodies on the existence of UFOs have failed to scratch the itch of this reporter, who took matters into his own hands with something of an ET pilgrimage.
To find out more, I headed off to the UK’s very own ” UFO hotspot”, Leicester. The birthplace of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman and living legend David Attenborough plays host to plenty of out-of-this-world sightings.
Strapping myself into a rocket (a Mini with the roof barely attached) and heading down to the launchpad (McDonald’s drive-thru, followed by a long trip on the A15), I hoped a trip to the National Space Centre would reveal all on aliens, including their forehead sizes.
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Bizarrely enough, a recreation of a living room from 1969 – fitted with tributes to 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy – was featured next to the interior designs of a space shuttle. Heading away from the interior décor crimes of my grandparents’ generation, some far more interesting sightings were found.
Leicester-born Attenborough was tipped at the time as the best person to nominate for a meet and greet with the first visitors to our planet. A flannel shirt-wearing journalist who moaned over the lack of coffee on the drive down is, presumably, second place.
Thankfully the only alien encounter of the day was one who could not chat back. The recreated head – which seemed a tad smaller than first expected but featured a forehead residents of Hull will be familiar – with was fitted in nicely alongside other monuments to man’s mission of escaping planet Earth.
Frankly, if the spacesuits necessary for getting off the world are this ugly, I’ll be staying firmly grounded. The embarrassment of having the Union Jack emblazoned on the crotch of your yellow and burgundy space suit does not outweigh meeting your end through the heat death of the universe.
Attempts at finding out the inner secrets of species beyond the stars proved troubling, and all I found was a decapitated alien head. For Britain’s so-called hotspot, second only to Edinburgh according to National Geographic, there was slim sightings of little green men.
Perhaps this is why aliens sightings, though frequent in Leicester, are so scantly confirmed. Speaking to LeicestershireLive earlier this year, Ash Ellis says there is still a stigma surrounding the topic of UFO sightings.
They said: “Despite progress being made in recent years to de-stigmatise the topic, there is still an air of trepidation when approaching the subject as the fear or ridicule is very prevalent.” That there is, and a quick trip around a 60s-inspired living room at the National Space Centre reveals all.
Previously enamoured Brits born in time to see the first men touch down on the moon will presumably wonder whether non-human life is out there. Generation after generation is now searching for answers, and it would appear NASA are keen to reveal all.
Just this year, the space organisation began detailing “unidentified anomalous phenomena” and is keen to dish out details as and when they can. Close to 1,000 UFO sightings were reported in the UK between January 2021 and May 2023, per the Independent.
Though the trip to the UK’s UFO hotspot was inconclusive at best, it served as a reminder that there really could be bits and pieces kicking about our galaxy. Whether they are friend or foe is yet to be uncovered, but what can be guaranteed is there is no chance of me wearing a daft space suit to go and meet them.
But UFO-mad Brits across the country are, for now, on their own. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson speaking last month, said: “The MOD has no opinion on the existence of extra-terrestrial life and no longer investigates reports of sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or Unidentified Flying Objects.”
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