Robert Taylor UFO Incident

On November 9, 1979, a Scottish forestry worker named Robert Taylor encountered something in the woods near Livingston that would change his life and create a unique entry in police records. Taylor came upon a hovering craft that deployed objects which attacked him, leaving physical injuries and traces in the ground. The incident became the only UFO case in British history to be investigated by police as a criminal assault, and it remains unsolved in official files to this day.

The Witness

Robert Taylor was a 61-year-old forestry worker employed by the Livingston Development Corporation. He had worked in forestry for decades and was known as a reliable, level-headed man with no history of psychological problems or fantasy-prone behavior. His colleagues and supervisors considered him completely trustworthy.

Taylor lived in Livingston, a new town in Scotland’s central belt, with his wife. He was a practical man focused on his work and family, with no prior interest in UFOs or the paranormal. He was the last person anyone would expect to report a close encounter, which made his account all the more striking when he came forward.

On the morning of November 9, Taylor set out on his regular rounds to check on young tree plantations in the Dechmont Law area. He was accompanied by his dog, a red setter, as he drove his pickup truck along forest tracks before parking and continuing on foot into a clearing.

The Encounter

At approximately 10:00 AM, Taylor walked into a clearing in the forest and stopped in shock. Hovering in the open space before him was a large spherical object. The craft was approximately 20 feet in diameter, dark metallic gray in color, and appeared to be made of a material with a rough, textured surface.

The object hovered silently a few feet above the ground. Around its circumference, Taylor observed a flange or rim, and protruding from the surface were what appeared to be stems topped with rotating propellers. The overall impression was of something mechanical, clearly manufactured, but unlike any aircraft or vehicle Taylor had ever seen.

As Taylor stood transfixed by the sight, two smaller spherical objects suddenly dropped from the main craft. These were approximately three feet in diameter and appeared to have spikes or appendages protruding from them, giving them the appearance of naval mines or spiked balls.

The Attack

The two smaller objects rolled or bounced toward Taylor at high speed. Before he could react, they had reached him and attached themselves to his trousers at the outer thighs. The spikes seemed to grip the fabric, anchoring the objects to his legs.

Taylor felt himself being dragged forward toward the main craft. An acrid, choking smell filled his nostrils, so intense that it was difficult to breathe. He heard a hissing sound and felt a pulling sensation from the objects attached to his legs. Then he lost consciousness.

When Taylor came to, he was lying face-down on the grass. The objects were gone. His dog was running around him in distress, barking wildly. Taylor found he could not speak clearly; his legs felt weak, and he was disoriented. He attempted to walk back to his truck but was too impaired. He crawled part of the way before recovering enough to stagger to his vehicle.

The Evidence

Taylor’s condition when he arrived home alarmed his wife. His trousers were torn at both outer thighs, exactly where he claimed the objects had attached. His legs showed marks consistent with the tears in the fabric. He was confused, had difficulty speaking, and complained of a headache and thirst.

When investigators later examined the clearing, they found physical traces consistent with Taylor’s account. Ladder-shaped marks in the grass corresponded to the pattern he described on the smaller objects. Circular impressions in the ground suggested something heavy had rested there. Taylor’s dog had refused to enter the clearing when returning to the site with investigators.

Taylor’s pickup truck was found bogged in soft ground where he had attempted to drive away in his impaired state. The position of the vehicle supported his account of disorientation after the encounter.

The Police Investigation

Taylor reported the incident to police, who treated the case with unexpected seriousness. Officers from Lothian and Borders Police visited the site, photographed the ground traces, and collected Taylor’s torn trousers as evidence. They interviewed Taylor and his family and documented his physical condition.

The case was officially filed as a criminal assault by persons unknown. This made the Livingston incident unique in British legal history: the only UFO encounter ever investigated as a crime. The case file remains open and unsolved because no perpetrator was ever identified.

Police conducted a thorough investigation, ruling out conventional explanations. There were no reports of unusual aircraft in the area. No pranksters were identified who could have created the elaborate scenario Taylor described. The physical evidence was consistent with his account but pointed to no identifiable source.

Medical Examination

Taylor was examined by his doctor, who documented his injuries and observed his distressed state. The marks on his legs were genuine, as were the tears in his trousers. The physician found nothing to suggest the injuries were self-inflicted and no indication that Taylor was fabricating his account.

In the days following the encounter, Taylor experienced recurring headaches and thirst. These symptoms gradually subsided, but the psychological impact of the experience remained. Taylor was shaken by what had happened, struggling to understand an event that defied his practical worldview.

Despite the trauma, Taylor maintained his account consistently for the rest of his life. He never varied the details, never sought to profit from the experience, and never claimed to know what the objects were or where they came from. He simply reported what he had seen and experienced.

Theories and Analysis

Various explanations have been proposed for the Livingston incident. Some researchers have suggested Taylor experienced an isolated episode of epilepsy, with the visual experiences being hallucinations and the physical effects resulting from a seizure. However, Taylor had no history of epilepsy and never experienced similar episodes.

Ball lightning and other atmospheric phenomena have been considered but fail to explain the coherent mechanical appearance of the objects or the physical marks left in the clearing. Hoax theories are undermined by Taylor’s character, the physical evidence, and the complete absence of any identified perpetrators.

UFO researchers have classified the Livingston incident as a close encounter of the second kind, involving physical effects, and potentially of the third kind if the smaller objects were autonomous probes rather than components of the main craft. The case remains one of the most compelling in British UFO history.

Robert Taylor’s Later Life

Taylor lived until 2007, maintaining his account unchanged for nearly three decades. He gave occasional interviews but avoided publicity and never sought fame from his experience. His family supported him, and his employer, the Livingston Development Corporation, stood by his character.

A memorial stone now marks the site where the encounter allegedly occurred. The Dechmont Law area became a destination for UFO enthusiasts and researchers, though the clearing itself has changed over the decades as the forest matured.

Taylor’s sincerity impressed everyone who interviewed him. Whatever happened in that Scottish forest clearing in 1979, Taylor believed completely in his experience. The police case remains open, the evidence remains unexplained, and the truth of what Robert Taylor encountered remains unknown.

Sources

• Wikipedia search: “Robert Taylor UFO Incident”
• CIA UFO/UAP Reading Room — Declassified CIA documents on UAP
• UK National Archives — UFO Files — MoD UFO investigation records
• British Newspaper Archive — UK press archive