Scotland’s Fox Mulder
David Milloy
Born in Clackmannanshire, Malcolm Robinson is one of Britain’s foremost experts in the paranormal. Aside from investigating some of the most intriguing cases of UFOs, ghosts, poltergeists and cryptids throughout Britain, Malcolm has lectured in both Europe and North America, often works with radio and TV production companies, and has written a number of books. And in this exclusive chat with Ayrshire Magazine, he talks about of some of the most fascinating cases in which he’s been involved.
When did you become interested in UFOs and the paranormal?
When I was a kid my parents used to take us down to Blackpool. Whenever I was at the Pleasure Beach I made a beeline for the Ghost Train, which was by far my favourite ride. I then started to watch TV shows and films such as The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone and Forbidden Planet, and I began to read books by authors such Erich von Daniken, Charles Fort and Jenny Randles. As time passed I got more and more interested in UFOs and the paranormal, and that eventually led to me founding Strange Phenomena Investigations in 1979.
What was your view of UFOs and the paranormal back then? Were you a believer or a sceptic?
I was very sceptical! Indeed, SPI was set up as a sort of one-man crusade to prove that there was no validity in claims of paranormal happenings and encounters with UFOs.
Is that still your position?
No. Much to my surprise, I soon discovered that the old adage about there being no smoke without fire holds true when it comes to the paranormal.
Am I right in thinking that you hadn’t long set up SPI when the Livingston UFO incident occurred?
I investigated that case. It played a major part in me ceasing to be a hardened sceptic. The details are that Robert (‘Bob’) Taylor, a foreman forester with Livingston Development Corporation (‘LDC’), was doing his rounds on November 9th 1979, when he had a strange and terrifying experience. He’d gone to a hill known as Dechmont Law to check for sheep that may have escaped into the woods there. Having parked his works pick-up on a track, he and his dog walked up to the woods. It was a journey that he’d made many times before.
As he entered a clearing in the woods, Bob encountered a large dome-shaped object which was hovering about 15 to 20 feet above the grass. It seemed to be disappearing and reappearing. Bob was mesmerised by the object, so much so that he didn’t turn and run. He just stood there trying to make sense of what he was seeing. And that’s when things became even weirder.
Two objects shaped like World War II sea mines dropped from the craft and rolled across the grass towards Bob. As they reached him, they took hold of him with rod-like protrusions and pulled him in an upwards direction. Bob was aware of a terrible burning smell and a swishing sound but then lost consciousness. When he came to, the craft had gone, although about 40 holes and impressions on the grass, including track-like marks, had been left behind.
Feeling sick and confused, Bob led his dog back to his pick-up truck. He tried to use its radio to summon help but found himself unable to speak. He then started it up but succeeded only in getting its rear wheels stuck in a ditch. Still dazed and nauseous, he staggered home to his house in Deans. His wife was shocked by the state of him: his trousers were ripped and his jersey was muddy. Bob had by now recovered the ability to speak and told his wife that he’d been attacked by a spaceship.
Bob’s wife phoned the family GP, who came to the house and examined him. He noted that Bob’s heart rate was elevated and he had a nasty graze under his chin. Concerned, Bob’s GP told him to attend hospital. He did so but discharged himself after waiting two hours without being seen by a doctor. The incident was also reported to Bob’s employers and the police, who immediately made enquiries into what had happened.
When did you first become involved with the case?
Having read about the incident in the newspapers published on 10th November, I headed to Livingston the following day. I went to Dechmont Woods and saw the marks on the ground and later spoke to both Bob and some police officers, who with the aid of LDC had fenced off the area in which the marks were situated.
What did you make of Bob Taylor’s account of what happened to him?
I got to know Bob well over the following years. He was, as local people would tell you, a very honest, genuine man. He was a tank driver in World War II and very much of the old school. I have no doubt that he was telling the truth about the incident.
What did the police make of Bob’s report of encountering a spaceship?
The police took Bob’s account seriously but were unable to come up with an explanation as to what had happened to him.
Some sceptics have suggested alternative scenarios as to what happened that day. What do you make of them?
Well, the first thing to say is that even the sceptics are agreed that Bob was an honest witness. As for the theories themselves, there are two main ones: (1) that Bob suffered a transient ischaemic attack (‘TIA’) which had caused him to hallucinate the whole incident, and (2) that he mistook a dome-shaped water tank on the other side of the motorway for a spaceship. I don’t think either is right. The TIA theory doesn’t explain the physical evidence found at the scene or the tears in Bob’s trousers, and the water tank theory fails not only to explain the marks and tears but also fails to recognise that Bob knew the area very well indeed and simply wouldn’t have much such a misidentification.
So what could the object seen by Bob actually have been?
Either a non-terrestrial vehicle or a secret military prototype would be my best guesses. There’s really nothing else that fits.
If readers want to know more about this incident, where would be a good place for them to look?
I’ve written a book, The Dechmont Woods UFO Incident, about it. There’s a lot of information in it, including a report of the forensic examination of Bob’s trousers. It’s available in printed and Ebook form from Amazon.
That’s far from the only UFO case of note that you’ve investigated.
Absolutely. I’ve investigated many cases of UFO sightings over the years. Around 95% of them can be explained by natural phenomena, misidentification (I remember investigating a case in Ayrshire in which the ‘UFO’ turned out to be extra-bright lights on a tractor) and the like but 5% defy what you might call a conventional explanation.
I believe that you also investigated a case of alleged alien abduction in Lanarkshire.
I did. The case involved two young men driving to a friend’s house late one evening to deliver a satellite TV system. To cut a long story short, they were driving down a fairly rural stretch of the A70 when they came across a craft hovering over the road. Rather than try to turn around, they sped up and drove under it, emerging a bit further down the road and on the opposite carriageway. They made it to their friend’s house with no further difficulty but were shocked to find that they had arrived there about 90 minutes later than they should have.
They later underwent hypnosis, where some troubling details emerged about them being taken on board a craft and examined. Hypnosis can lead to false information being disclosed (in a similar way to false memory syndrome) so it has to be used with care and the results carefully analysed. In this particular case, however, I’m very much of the view that both men are sincere and honest witnesses.
Before we move away from UFOs, I must ask you about the Calvine UFO photograph.
That’s another classic case. In 1990, two men walking in the hills near to Calvine in Perthshire claimed to have seen a large diamond-shaped object in the sky, which they said was less than a mile away from them. A fighter jet was flying near to the object, leading the men to think that it might be escorting it. The men took photos of the craft, which they sent to the Daily Record newspaper, which in turn passed them on to the MOD, who then seem to have misplaced them.
In 2022, a copy of one of the photos resurfaced after having been in the possession of an RAF press officer (now retired) since 1990. The photo clearly shows a large diamond-shaped craft and a Harrier jump jet in close proximity to it. Efforts have been made to trace the men who took the photo but finding them after 30+ years hasn’t been easy. It’s possible that either or both of them has passed away or that they simply don’t want the publicity.
What do you think the diamond-shaped object might be?
Like the object Bob Taylor encountered, it’s either a non-terrestrial craft or a secret military craft of some kind. Although its shape is unusual, it does bear some similarities to triangular-shaped craft seen across the world, including in Scotland. Indeed, one man reported that he saw a large triangular craft above the Castlecary Viaduct near Bonnybridge.
Moving away from UFOs, I believe that you’ve also investigated hauntings and cases of alleged poltergeist activity.
I have. Indeed, it’s probably the area of the paranormal in which I’m most interested.
What’s the most significant case you’ve investigated?
Hard to say, as I’ve investigated some remarkable cases. The Sauchie Poltergeist is, however, one that’s of particular interest as it happened just a few miles from where I grew up.
What reportedly happened in that case?
In 1960, an 11-year-old girl, Virginia Campbell, moved from Ireland to a house in Sauchie along with her mother and her two younger siblings. Soon after they moved in, unusual things began to happen. It all started one night when Virginia and her younger sister were in their bedroom. Their efforts to get to sleep were interrupted by the sound of footsteps and scratching noises in the room and the emergence of marks on the wall. Thinking that there may be rats in the room they ran downstairs. As they ran, they could hear what seemed to be a heavy medicine ball bouncing on the floor behind them. Their mother thought they were messing around and so took them back to bed. Her scepticism was short-lived, however, as she noted that the headboard on Virginia’s bed was moving independently and the covers on her bed were rippling, like a pond after a pebble has been dropped into it.
Things got worse from that point on, with one particularly shocking sight being that of a heavy linen chest levitating. A priest was called in, and he too observed untoward things. The family doctor witnessed the lid of the linen chest opening and closing of its own accord and also saw a pillow under Virginia’s head rotate 90 degrees.
The strange occurrences weren’t confined to Virginia’s room: a sideboard in the lounge was seen to move several inches and there were also strange happenings at her school. On one occasion, the lid of Virginia’s school desk opened and closed of its own volition and an empty desk next to her rose into the air before dropping back to the floor again. I interviewed Virginia’s teacher some years after the event and she told me of other occurrences in the classroom, including a time when her desk rose up and rotated through 90 degrees. Virginia’s father, who had remained in Ireland for a time while the sale of the family’s farm went through, did not believe the stories told to him. Until, that is, having joined the rest of the family in Sauchie, he opened the bathroom cabinet and his shaving brush wafted past him as if held by an unseen hand!
Did the family remain at the house?
No, they moved to England. I’ve tried to locate Virginia over the years but haven’t been able to do so.
Did the activity stop when the family moved?
The activity seems to have stopped for a while but one family who lived there did experience unexplained knocks and bangs in the house. I should add that several Church of Scotland ministers carried out an exorcism in the house, which reverberated and banged as they performed the ceremony. Also, when I investigated the case I found that two other houses in the same street were also the locus of paranormal activity.
I believe you’ve written a book on the subject.
Indeed, it’s called The Sauchie Poltergeist (and other Scottish ghostly tales).
With Halloween coming up, can we ask you for one more tale of the unexplained?
Of course. I lived and worked in Hastings for some years. During my time there, I was told of an incident at a local hospital. One of the leading surgeons at the hospital was walking along a corridor when he saw an elderly man who seemed to be staring at the ceiling. The doctor asked the man if he was okay, to which the man replied that he thought so. At this point, a message on the doctor’s pager requested that he make his way to the resuscitation room. The doctor turned to say goodbye to the elderly man but he was no longer there. The doctor assumed that he’d simply gone through some swing doors and thought no more of it until he reached the resuscitation room. Much to his shock, the patient lying on the resuscitation table was the elderly man he’d just spoken to. When recorded footage from the hospital’s CCTV was examined, it showed the doctor walking down the corridor, stopping and talking to… nothing.
That’s quite a story.
Indeed, but it’s only one of many. There are so many accounts of what you might term paranormal happenings shared by people who have nothing to gain from talking about their experiences. Indeed, many people are reluctant to talk about what they’ve witnessed for fear of ridicule, and I just wonder how many others never come forward to talk about their experiences. The same is true of UFO witnesses.
What’s your opinion on UFOs?
Having investigated UFO reports with an open mind for 45 years, I’m in no doubt that this planet has been visited by beings not of this Earth. I think they’ve been visiting this planet for a very long time.
Where do you think these beings come from?
I think it’s less likely that they come from outer space than from another dimension.
And what about ghosts?
I’ve spoken to many credible and reliable people whose reported experiences have left me in no doubt that there’s life after death.
Final question: what should readers do if they’d like to know more about the paranormal?
Reading some books and watching some documentaries is a good way to learn about the subject matter and expose yourself to different viewpoints and theories. And if that whets your appetite then there are organisations such as my own group, SPI, that are dedicated to paranormal research. Be aware, though, it’s a huge subject.
www.strange-phenomena-investigations.ueniweb.com
