40-year-old UFO mystery takes centre stage as experts debate if the truth is out there

A mystery that would have had even Mulder and Scully scratching their heads will celebrate its 40th anniversary next month.

In 1979, in a wooded area popular with joggers and dog-walkers, a West Lothian man claimed to have come face-to-face with alien life in an encounter that has become celebrated by UFO enthusiasts from around the world.

November marks 40 years since Robert Taylor said he was confronted by a UFO at Dechmont Law woods in Livingston.

Mr Taylor said he encountered a metallic sphere hovering in a clearing in the woods. As he approached it, two smaller spheres emerged and started to drag him towards the object before he lost consciousness.

Police investigating the incident found unusual marks in the clearing that did not match any known vehicle and tests on his clothes showed it was likely they had been ripped by a sharp upward pull, such as a mechanical device.

The incident has fascinated people for 40 years due to the evidence and Mr Taylor’s testimony as a very respected and credible witness and the mystery that would have come straight from the pages of the X-Files.

UFO researcher and author Malcolm Robinson had his most recent book about the encounter published last year and next month he will host a public lecture in Livingston.

Malcolm Robinson was one of the investigators on the case and is presenting a power point lecture giving all the facts and figures, the police reports, and 11 alternative theories given by other researchers as to what they believe happened on that eventful day.

The event will take place at Livingston Station Community Centre on November 9 from 7.30pm to 9.45pm.

Malcolm said: “This case stands head and shoulders above any other Scottish case and has the prestigious hallmark of being the only case officially investigated by the police and forensic science laboratories in Great Britain.

“Most, if not all, British UFO researchers would say that this one case provides the best evidence that something, not of this Earth, occurred in that lonely wood and which today, stands the test of time as being one of the biggest UFO cases in the annals of British UFOlogy.

“One of the police officers associated with this case, now retired, will discuss his own involvement with this case.

Last year an information board was erected at the site of the close encounter to let visitors know what had happened there 40 years ago.