The Warminster Thing: Sixty Years Since Britain’s Strangest UFO Flap

In the early hours of Christmas morning, 1964, something strange happened over the town of Warminster. People across the area were woken by a deep, droning noise that seemed to come from above. Some described it as a vibration that rattled roof tiles. Others said it sounded like something heavy dragging across the sky. It didn’t last long, but it was loud enough to shake houses and leave people looking out of their windows for damage. There wasn’t any.

In the days that followed, more people came forward. The sound hadn’t been a one-off. And it wasn’t just noise anymore. Witnesses were now reporting strange lights in the sky, sometimes cigar-shaped, sometimes round. They didn’t behave like aircraft. Some hovered, others moved quickly and changed direction. Cradle Hill, Starr Hill, and Clay Hill came up often. Nobody knew what it was, so they called it what it felt like: the Warminster Thing. Now, sixty years on, it still hasn’t been explained. But it is still being talked about.

Descriptions shared between witnesses lined up in small but important ways. There were no flashing lights or dramatic landings. Most people didn’t see much. But what they heard, and what they felt, was harder to dismiss.

One woman, walking along Upper Marsh Road just after midnight, described suddenly being unable to move. She said her legs felt locked, her chest tightened, and the air changed. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to leave her shaken. She walked home quickly and didn’t go out after dark for weeks.

Another man was walking his dog near Starr Hill when the animal stopped, growled, and then bolted. A few seconds later, the man felt a wall of heat and pressure. The sound was there too. Low, constant, and impossible to place. When he looked up, there was nothing in the sky.

A couple parked near Clay Hill had their radio cut out. The engine died. Then something passed overhead. They couldn’t see a shape, only that it blocked out the stars.

While researching my book Echoes From The Barracks II: More Paranormal Tales from UK Military Bases and Housing, I came across several reports from military personnel who were stationed nearby at the time. One of the earliest came from Knook Camp on the same morning the first noises were reported in town. Soldiers there described a loud, mechanical noise that shook the buildings and left them thinking something had collapsed. They rushed outside expecting to see damage, but everything was intact. There was nothing in the sky.

That same morning, a woman walking to church in Warminster said she heard a crackling sound overhead, followed by a deep vibration. She thought a plane was coming in low, but saw nothing.

Not long after, an army major returning to camp had his car cut out suddenly while driving. The engine stopped, the lights went off, and the car began to vibrate. He felt a sharp pressure in his head, followed by a loud hum that filled the car. Then, just as suddenly, it stopped. The engine restarted, and the car’s electrics came back on. There was no explanation for the failure, and no sign of anything nearby.

Local animals were also known to react to the presence of The Thing. Dogs refused to go outside, birds took flight for no reason, and one farmer said his cattle broke through a fence after what he described as a “sound wave” moving across his field.

Arthur Shuttlewood, a journalist with the Warminster Journal, became one of the most prominent names attached to the case. He documented many of the early reports and later saw the lights for himself. On one occasion, he stood with a group on Cradle Hill and watched a silver disc hover silently over the trees before shooting upwards and disappearing. He wrote about it in plain terms, not as a spectacle, but as something that happened.

Cradle Hill became a regular spot for those hoping to see something for themselves. Some nights, lights were seen drifting above the tree line. They didn’t flash or follow flight paths. They would appear, shift direction, pulse for a few seconds, and disappear. A few people brought cameras, but nothing useful ever came from the film.

There were reports in daylight too. A boy riding his bike said he saw a dark shape above the church that sped off when he looked up. A woman said she watched something metallic drift silently over her garden before slipping behind a rooftop.

It was never the same thing twice. And it never came with an explanation. People weren’t guessing. They knew what planes and helicopters looked like. What they were seeing wasn’t familiar.

Some blamed secret military exercises. Warminster sits on the edge of Salisbury Plain, one of the most heavily used military training areas in the UK. The plain is home to several large army camps, including Warminster Garrison, Knook Camp, Bulford, and Tidworth. Aircraft, armoured vehicles, and live-fire exercises are all part of the routine there. It’s not surprising that some thought the noises and lights might be connected to testing or classified activity. But those who witnessed the events at the time said it didn’t feel the same. The lights didn’t behave like flares or aircraft. And the sounds often came without any visible source. Whatever was happening, it didn’t match what they were used to hearing from the military.

By the end of the 1970s, the sightings had slowed. The noises had stopped. But the events stayed with the people who experienced them.

Warminster hasn’t forgotten what happened. And sixty years later, people are still talking about it, not because it was explained, but because it left them with questions they never got answers to. I was recently at the Warminster Thing 60th Anniversary Conference at the Athenaeum Centre in Warminster, and the fascination hasn’t gone away. The event brought together researchers, authors, and locals, some who were there in the 1960s, and others who only know the stories. The Thing is still being discussed, investigated, and remembered, not just by those who were there, but by new generations trying to make sense of it.