Greetings Earthlings

Where: Burgh Marsh, Cumbria, England.
When: May 23, 1964.

Introduction

While photographs of UFOs (from Adamski's "Venusian scout craft" to Rex Heflin's "flying hat") regularly give me those little shivers of pleasure 'otherworldly' images often produce, photos of 'extraterrestrials' can leave me pretty cold.

There tends to be something vaguely crude and 'explicit' about them (and not just because most are very obvious fakes). Perhaps they simply lack the amateurish charm of rough and ready eyewitness sketches - showing instead of merely suggesting.

There are, of course, exceptions, and I thought I'd post one such photo today.

Event

For a concise summary of the circumstances surrounding the creation of the above image we could do worse than to turn to the photographer himself: Jim Templeton. Here's what he had to say in a recent contribution to (urggh) The Daily Mail:

As an amateur photographer on a day-trip with my family, I took the photograph on Burgh Marsh on May 23, 1964, using an SLR camera loaded with the new Kodacolor film which was processed by Kodak.

I took three pictures of my daughter Elizabeth in a similar pose - and was shocked when the middle picture came back from Kodak displaying what looks like a spaceman in the background.

I took the picture to the police in Carlisle who, after many doubts, examined it and stated there was nothing suspicious about it.

The local newspaper, the Cumberland News, picked up the story and within hours it was all over the world.

The picture is certainly not a fake, and I am as bemused as anyone else as to how this image appeared in the background.

Over the four decades the photo has been in the public domain, I have had many thousands of letters from all over the world with various ideas or possibilities - most of which make little sense to me.

It should also be noted that I have received no payment for taking this picture.

The only suggestion that struck a chord with me was a letter from Woomera in Australia which came a month after the picture was shown around the world.

The people there were keen to see a good colour copy of the photo, as they had stopped a countdown of the Blue Streak rocket within hours of my photo being taken.

Apparently, two similar looking 'spacemen' had been seen close to the rocket.

Only later did I find out that part of the Blue Streak rocket was made and tested within sight of Burgh Marsh.

James Templeton
Carlisle
Cumbria
England

Aftermath

Not mentioned above by Mr. Templeton is his subsequent (alleged) encounter with a couple of "Men in Black". There appear to be several versions of this tale circulating and its provenance seems rather dubious. One version reads:

"A few weeks later Jim Templeton received two mysterious visitors. He had never heard of MIBs: the subject was almost unknown in Britain then. But the two men who came to his house in a large Jaguar car wore dark suits and otherwise looked normal. The weird thing about them was their behaviour. They only referred to one another by numbers and asked the most unusual questions as they drove Jim out to the marshes. They wanted to know in minute detail about the weather on the day of the photograph, the activities of local bird life and odd asides like that. Then they tried to make him admit that he had just photographed an ordinary man walking past. Jim responded politely, but nevertheless rejected their idea, at which they became irrationally angry and hustled themselves into the car, driving off and leaving him. The fire officer had to hike five miles across country to get home."

Hmmm…I'm glad I've always stuck to my "never take a lift out to a marsh from two strangers who refer to one another only by numbers" rule.

More intriguing is the supposed connection (mentioned above by Jim) to the figures spotted during the "Blue Streak" rocket testing in Woomera, Australia. Patrick Gross (over at the excellent ufologie.net) takes up the story:

Not long afterwards the editor of the Cumberland News newspaper contacted Jim and asked if he could borrow the negative to send a copy out to Australia. Apparently the photograph had appeared in the press there and staff working at the Woomera test range area in Southern Australia had seen it. Jim was told that the day after he took his photograph, a Blue Streak space rocket was due to be launched from Woomera in Australia. The countdown was postponed when two automatic survey camera [sic] had independently spotted two large figures in the firing area during the countdown phase. They were very similar in appearance to Jim's mysterious visitor. At the time of the launch, the photograph had not reached Australia and the staff had no knowledge of the bizarre image.

Curioser and curioser…and (as Patrick mentions) very Twilight Zone-esque.

Thoughts

The more one looks at the pleasant scene Mr. Templeton captured (a smiling child, flowers, green grass, sunshine) the harder it is not to be reminded of Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths' famous Cottingley fairy photos - particularly given the 'plastic' unrealness of the figure itself. Part Michelin Man, part astronaut, part poorly-made action figure - it looks anything but a flesh and blood being.

There's something slightly off (and askew) about its stance, while the flatness and absence of depth in the image make it appear that the "spaceman" is emerging from the top of Jim's daughter's head. In this it calls to mind the ectoplasmic, ghostly figures commonly captured (or most likely faked) by Victorian 'spirit' photographers. While "helmet" and "one piece suit" might suggest "spaceman", the classic "I didn't notice anything strange when I took the picture" refrain puts the image squarely in the spectral, supernatural camp.

Or maybe not…if you believe Fortean Times message board member Niles Calder, who sees not a spaceman (ectoplasmic or otherwise) but a living human "wearing a white jacket and a white/cream scarf". On that same page a Justin Anstey appears to agree, before asking (rather worryingly):

Has this suggestion been made before? Has anybody returned to that place with a similarly sized child and attempted to recreate the picture?

"Fetch me my camera and a similarly sized child!", I cry, as the distant sound of police sirens are heard…

Images

Added: June 29th, 2007
Tags: All, Helmet, Men in Black, Ghost, 1964, England, One-Piece Suit
Views: 11324
Comments: 10

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©2007 edited & written by Fústar, designed by Jess Beeley Byrne