A quiet countryside village is an unlikely location for a UFO 'hotspot' - but a sleepy UK community is just that. Tales of unexplained objects over the skies of Bonsall, in Derbyshire, have spread as far as Hollywood.
Back in the early 2000s, there were 19 separate sightings with one woman reporting a 'ball of fire' in the skies, and another 'two big, bright lights', while a man out walking his dog witnessed a 'pink glow, vertically-shaped like a shoe box', reports Derbyshire Live. The most famous. however, was footage of a flying saucer taken by housewife Sharon Rowlands in 2001.
She is reported to have sold the film to a Hollywood producer for £20,000 It is even claimed NASA officials requested to examine the tape as they believed it showed a similar type of craft once spotted by the space agency's cameras during the STS-75 Columbia Space Shuttle mission in early 1996.
It is claimed by UFO believers the 'tether incident' saw a craft slice through an experimental tether between the shuttle and a satellite during a test. Orbiting the Earth, however, seems a world away from Bonsall, near Matlock, set in the Derbyshire Dales and with a population of under 1,000.
There are two pubs, a tea room, a playing field with football nets and a park for children, and also villagers who seemingly take the UFO legend with more than a pinch of salt.
One man who has lived in Bonsall all his life insists the visiting aliens were made up by a former pub landlord to drive up business. The man said the landlord used to take tourists up onto the nearby moors on 'UFO tours' , while one woman says that although she doesn't believe the sightings, "it has been good that it has brought attention to the village".
No UFO sightings have been reported in recent years, so perhaps whatever alien had visited Bonsall might have found a new village to holiday at. But Bonsall still attracts a good number of tourists on weekends as the surrounding countryside is fantastic for walking trails.
An attractive, historic former lead-mining village set in steep-sided converging limestone dales, Bonsall is filled with fine-looking houses and quaint cottages, some clinging to the sides of the dale. In the sloping market square is the unusual 17th Century cross, set on top of 13 circular stone steps.
Aside from UFO sightings, Bonsall is also famous for holding the annual world hen racing championships in August. Taking place at the Barley Mow pub, chickens are encouraged along a 20-metre track by their coaches, who hope to win the coveted title.
For anyone planning a staycation this year, Derbyshire makes it into the top ten of UK holiday UFO hotspots, according to laterooms.com.
The UK's top ten holiday destinations for UFO sightings
1. East Riding of Yorkshire
2. North Yorkshire
3. Kent
4. Lancashire
5. Lincolnshire
6. Somerset
7. Cornwall
8. Devon
9. Cumbria
10. Derbyshire
