The Staincross LITS

Staincross LITS Case: 14/09/08.
 
KDR-14908-UFO-734

Case Manager - Kirst D'Raven.
Investigators - Kirst D'Raven and Shazzy Lavette.
Report compiled by - Kirst D'Raven.

*witness* represents the name of the witness. This has been inserted to protect the identity at their descretion, under the UPIA's code of confidentiallity.
 
The UPIA were contacted by Mike Cottam of the Barnsley Chronicle regarding a strange light or lights which had been sighted over the area of Staincross in Barnsley the previous week. The Lights were witnessed by *witness*, a 44 year old unemployed ex-miner who is recovering from a brain tumor, and who had also managed to capture the phenomena on his Sony camcorder. Kirst D'Raven and Shazzy Lavette visited the *witness*, at his home to view the tape.

A standard UPIA UFO Report Form was completed, and the witness described the event, although the information we received was a little muddled and inconsistent, partly due to *witness* illness and the length of time between the incident and the time the interview took place.

*witness* couldn’t remember why he first noticed the lights, but assured us that he had rushed back into the house to grab his camcorder as soon as he had, resulting in around 20 minutes of footage. He said he regarded the lights as 'odd'.

No animals appeared to be affected; there was no noise or unusual odors. He did however claim that he had locked his keys in his car, and after he had seen the lights the car was found to be unlocked. *witness*, also told of another experience he had some years previously, just before his illness was diagnosed, where he claimed to have been levitated from his bed for some time , then dropped back down and opened his eyes to see what he described as 'The face of the Devil.'

The weather on the day of the sighting had been quite warm, and there appeared to be quite low cloud in the sky. An email to the Meteorlogical centre to access weather data to discount the possibility of lightning above the cloud has as yet not had a reply. The area the lights were seen has been assessed to discount car headlights, and this has also proved to not be a likely cause.

Local nightclubs were contacted to see if any of the searchlights could be seen reflecting on the clouds, and apart from being in the wrong area this could also be discounted as the lights were not switched on that particular night.

South Yorkshire Police were contacted to determine the area the Air Support Helicopter was, and (unsurprisingly) the helicopter was not in the area either.

Local enquiries did however disclose reports of lamping in the area, and at this point we are inclined to believe that the cause of this particular event is likely to be connected to the use of a high-powered lamp or torch beam being played on the clouds by youths or possibly by poachers "Rabbiting".
 
Due to the lack of evidence and witnesses we were unwilling to investigate further the witness’ claims of the car unlocking itself, or his claim to have been levitated from his bed and seeing the face of the Devil previously, as we feel this is unrelated to the LITS case and is most likely to have been a hallucination caused by his illness.