Sighting record / 1967
Summer 1967. About 10pm on the downs above Clapham, near Worthing. Paul Glover and a companion were walking towards the village when a large black mass moved towards them at speed. It was shaped like a boomerang. It moved fast. It made no sound. And as it passed, it blotted out the stars. That was only the beginning. Two bright lights followed, one releasing a smaller object into the other. Later, pairs of yellow lights descended into the woods. Six objects in one evening, over a wood that would soon gather far darker legends.
Clapham is a small parish north-west of Worthing, in West Sussex. Much of its southern part is taken up by Clapham Wood, now inside the South Downs National Park. In the mid 1960s the village had its peace shattered. Stories in the local press told of unidentified flying objects. Enthusiasts kept all-night vigils through the season, with regular sightings.