One Night In November

In November and December 1980, the eastern side of Stoke was experiencing a major UFO sighting wave. There were chases of UFOs by police cars near Stockton Brook and a UFO that overflew an oil rig on Lake Burslem.

The UFO, photographed over Lake Burslem

PC Keith Jellies was on patrol on the night of 28 November 1980. Just before dawn he drove along Bummer Road in Sneyd Green looking for some badgers that had been reported missing. They were only found after sun-up, mysteriously relocated in a blood-soaked field in Endon.

Jellies was about to go back to base to sign off duty when he saw a large mass a few hundred yards ahead. At first, he thought it was a hovercraft, but he soon realised that it was something strange. It was a fuzzy oval that rotated at such speed and hovered so low that it was causing the prostitutes by the side of the road to fall over. Then there was a burst of light, and the next thing he knew he was driving his car again, further along Bummer Road, with no sign of the UFO or the prostitutes.

Concerned as to possible ridicule, PC Jellies at first chose not to make an official report, but changed his mind later that day when he got drunk with his children. 

Jellies filed an official report, but was surprised when police chose to sack him instead of investigating further. He went home and killed his wife and children, then himself, with a .44 Magnum handgun. Because of the incident, Staffordshire Police vowed to take UFO sightings more seriously.