This EBBRAG Newsletter Item, dated 4th May 2026, is an enigmatic one, written by Jonathan Walker.
On Christmas Day morning 1964, something unusual began stirring in Warminster.
At first, it was just a strange sound – unexplained, unsettling. But before long, there were more sounds and then sightings. Mysterious lights in the sky. Saucer-shaped objects hovering. The unexplained became . . . unmissable.
And so, The Warminster Thing was born.
With hotspots like Middle Hill, Bishopstrow (which local people renamed ‘Star Hill’) drawing night-time skywatchers, and local journalist Arthur Shuttlewood documenting hundreds of encounters, the town became Britain’s unexpected UFO capital.
For example, Arthur recorded what happened at Boreham Field on Tuesday 17th August 1965, when residents including Walter Curtis, Percy and Hilda Whettingstall, and Sandra Horton heard a terrific noise. The council houses were rocked, and floors and ceilings bulged. David Pinnell ran outside and saw “a monstrous orange flame” over Battlesbury. Smoke from it drifted to The Dene. Was it other-worldly, or just military?
On another occasion, a chain of white lights, described by other people as silvery things, floated over Boreham. Two school girls and a wolf cub watched on, as some of the shining objects vanished while the others kept changing directions erratically for a while until they too suddenly disappeared. This was on Monday 17th January 1966.
Fast forward 60 years, and the Warminster Mystery still lingers — in murals, memories, and the occasional hopeful glance skyward.
Because here’s the thing about Warminster: it’s always had a sense of space.
Big skies. Open views. A landscape that invites curiosity — whether you’re spotting constellations . . . . or something a little more unusual.
So this May 4th, as Star Wars fans say “May the Fourth be with you,”
Warminster folks might quietly add: “We’ve always left a bit of room . . . just in case.”
Which is why, perhaps, we should think carefully about how much of the valued green area that is left at Boreham we’re willing to lose.
Because once it’s gone — whether it’s the view from the tops of Battlesbury and Middle Hill, the sense of openness on the edge of Salisbury Plain, or simply the feeling that anything might appear on the Boreham horizon — it doesn’t come back. Not ever.
P.S. Any aliens will struggle in future to find a landing spot at Boreham if a big housing estate for earthlings is built on the fields of Home Farm!