Encounter record / 1979

The Wollaton Park Gnomes: Gnomes in Bubble Cars

September 23, 1979 · Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England, United Kingdom

16Thinly documented UAP Being / humanoid 18 sources

Sunday 23 September 1979. Wollaton Park, Nottingham. The light was going. A group of children from Radford were playing in a marshy patch of woodland they called the Swamps. Then the little cars came out of the fenced-off wood. About thirty of them. Silent, very quick, and somehow visible in the dark. In each one sat two gnomes, about two feet tall, with wrinkled faces and long white beards. For about fifteen minutes the gnome cars chased the children around the park. Within two days their headmaster had recorded each child separately on cassette. His verdict was simple. "The children do sound truthful." More than forty years later, the case still has no single answer.

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Key facts

When	September 23, 1979
Time of day	dusk into dark, about 8 pm (some accounts say 8:30 pm)
Where	Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England,United Kingdom
Duration	about fifteen minutes
Witnesses	6
Witness roles	civilians
Found	testimony only
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	none recorded
Status	disputed

The beings

About 30 small, silent, bubble-like cars, each carrying two gnomes about 2 ft tall. The gnomes had wrinkled, greenish faces and long white beards with red at the bottom, and wore blue tops, yellow or green tights and bobble hats. The cars had triangularish lights and a bell instead of a horn, showed up in the dark and jumped over logs and branches.

Size	about 0.6 m (gnomes about 2 ft tall, half the children's height)
Colour	blue, yellow, green, white, red
Surface	glowing
Sound	no sound
Motion	high speed, pursued or followed, erratic
Duration	15 minutes

Context

Wollaton Park is the deer park around Wollaton Hall, in west Nottingham. It has an old fairy reputation. About ten fairy reports are tied to it, and fairies were said to dance around the lake. On the autumn equinox of 1979, a group of children walked there from Radford, about 2 miles away. They went to Southwold Primary School. Frank Earp would later call them "latch-key kids" on an adventure. Six are usually named: Angela Elliott, Glen Elliott, Andrew Pearce, Rosie Pearce, Patrick Olive and a girl called Julie.

Sources (18, most influential first)

The Wollaton Gnomes: A Nottingham Fairy Mystery · Pwca· 2022 · Press, book, documentary · book
Dark Thoughts on the Wollaton Gnomes · Strangehistory.net· 2022-01-31 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
The Gnomes of Wollaton Park · John Knifton· 2016-07-13 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
Did you see Wollaton Park gnomes? · Paranormal Searchers (repost of the Nottingham Post)· 2017-02-28 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
'Each car had two of them in': The Wollaton Park gnomes sighting 38 years on · Notts TV· 2017 · Press, book, documentary · news

Reputability

16/100Thinly documented

Editorial note: most sources for this case are later retellings; the press and book coverage is thin.

Keywords

official investigation no sound humanoid at night photographed glowing sphere police witnesses witness sketches newspaper coverage fast moving tall being multiple objects schoolchildren ball lightning small beings

People

Angela Elliottchild witness
Andrew Pearcechild witness
Patrick Olivechild witness
Rosie Pearcechild witness
Robin Aldridgeheadmaster of Southwold Primary School, recorded the children's interviews
Marjorie T. Johnsonsecretary of the Fairy Investigation Society, investigated the case
Simon Youngfolklore researcher, editor of The Wollaton Gnomes: A Nottingham Fairy Mystery
Frank Earplocal historian, essayist and source of the claimed retraction

Names

Radford Nottingham Paul Devereux Simon Young Young earth lights