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ic NorthWales (UK)
Ancient UFOs on a deadly mission
Jul 7 2005
Wales Of The Unexpected With Richard Holland, Daily Post

UFO sightings are the stuff of science fiction and as such it would be a
reasonable assumption that they are modern phenomena. But this is not
necessarily the case.
In Welsh folklore, for example, there are examples of "tan-we", strange
lights which would come down from the heavens and land near houses where
people were doomed to die.
Once strongly believed in in Wales were Corpse Candles (Cannwyllau
Corff), supernatural lights said to appear in the homes of the dying or
be seen floating down country lanes at night, making their way to the
parish burial ground along the same route subsequently taken by a
funeral.

One year the area around Barmouth became famous for mysterious lights in
the sky - what today we might call UFOs, but which the inhabitants back
then considered death omens. The Barmouth lights achieved a lot more
attention than the usual stories because they coincided with a major
religious revival.
In 1905 national newspaper reporters descended on the seaside town -
cynically, no doubt, expecting to write about a bunch of superstitious
peasants in the back of beyond. But many returned to London impressed
with the UFO-like phenomena described by reliable witnesses.

Of these, there are two well-attested accounts of sightings of
mysterious lights which, in both cases, appeared to predict a death.
In the first a party of people walking on the south side of the Mawddach
estuary saw a strange light at the ferry house of Penrhyn. One
description has it that the light appeared to be inside the cottage and
shining through the windows; the other that it shone outside the house
and was similar in appearance to the glow of a bonfire. At any rate, the
light had vanished by the time they reached the ferry house.

When they returned to Barmouth, they learnt people there had seen the
light, too. A few nights afterwards, the man who lived at the cottage
fell into the estuary at high tide while stepping off a boat, and
drowned.
The second incident took place that same winter. Lights were seen
dancing in the air by people on both banks of the estuary. At Borthwyn
or Borthwnog - depending on which account you read - many people
gathered to watch the lights.

After a while all but one of them disappeared. This one descended to a
little bay where some boats were moored, and some men in a sloop which
was anchored there also saw it. The light hovered over one particular
boat and then vanished. Days later the man to whom that boat belonged
drowned in Barmouth harbour.

* Please send your stories to: Richard Holland, Wales of the Unexpected,
2 Alyn Bank Cottages, Llong, Mold, Flintshire CH7 4JR.
If you would like a reply, please include an SAE. E-mail
richardholland@...