Was there a UFO crash in Cyprus back in 1973 ?

Troodos encounter of a third kind

But the most interesting encounter of a third kind involved Corporal Tom Clarke, when he was stationed at Dhekelia with the Royal Corps of Transport in 1973. His detailed account appeared in the UFO Monthly under a 'world exclusive' headline.

This is Corporal Tom Clarke's story in his own words as it appears in the magazine:

'I was selected to be a member of an eight man patrol consisting of six soldiers, one sergeant and one officer. We were given an area, in and around the mountain area of the island and we were to mount a watch and report an operation.

'We had all settled in for the night in location. Everyone mentioned how clear the night was and on the millions of stars and things that could be seen.

'Sentries were posted, and the rest of us hunkered down for whatever sleep we could get.

'We were all awoken at about 02.00 by a brilliant, but not dazzling bluish bright light. At first we all thought it must be a helicopter looking for us or something else.

'What happened next is hard to explain. There was no explosion but we were all hit by what I can only describe as a shock wave that knocked us all flat to the floor! The light just disappeared or went out.

'We all took up a defensive position, believing we were under attack, and I remember being very afraid. We all must have laid there for what seemed like hours, in total silence, waiting to see what was going to happen next, we could see nothing.

The Men in Black

'The first sound I heard was the sergeant on the radio reporting what had happened and asking for instructions on what to do.

'The officer with us took over the radio and after a short while he and the sergeant briefed us and told us that he and the sergeant were to go forward and carry out a recce of the area where we believed an accident of some kind had taken place.

'We were all told that we were to stay in situ whilst they went out and had a look.

'After about an hour the two arrived back, they said there had been what looked like a crash of some kind and they had radioed the information to base before coming back to us and that we were to stay put as recovery and manpower was on its way and we were to help in securing the area and retrieving any wreckage.

'Helicopters arrived and people in black clothing where seen getting out and unloading stores from them. We were only allowed on the site when all the large pieces had been lifted off the area under slung loads, our job, then we were told to comb the area for anything we thought might belong to the crash site and if anything was found it was to be placed in what looked like large industrial waste bins.

'After what seemed like hours a halt was called and we were all lined up and told that under no circumstances were we to talk about what we had been doing and that we were forbidden to take anything from the site under threat of Courts Martial and that we were all to be searched and that we had to give a declaration to the fact that we had not removed anything .

'Tell no one'

'We were then all taken from the area by helicopter and flown to Alexander Barracks in Dhekelia and taken to the cookhouse. What looked like voting booths had been set up to one side. We were then all interviewed separately. I was asked to describe exactly what I had seen and done and was warned again not to discuss with anyone the events that had occurred.

'After our individual interviews we were all gathered together and told that we were never to divulge anything we had seen or done that day because if we did as serving members of the armed forces we could be tried for treason and shot!

'All six of us were then split into different troops and platoons.

'I never saw our Platoon Commander or the Sergeant again.

This is the first time I have talked about these events all those years ago. I don't think I believe in flying saucers or little green men from Mars but I do have an open mind.'

Asked to comment, a UK Ministry of Defense spokesman said the authorities had 'no knowledge of any UFO crash in Cyprus', and added: 'The MoD examines reports solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorized military activity. Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported.' Nevertheless, like Tom Clarke, the ministry remained 'open minded'.

Published today 09/10/2012 by Alitheia news :

[link to www.alithia.com.cy]