The Aveley Abduction: the Avis (Day) Family and the Green Mist

Sunday, October 27, 1974. Evening in Essex. John and Elaine Avis were driving home to Aveley from Harold Hill with their three children, Kevin, Karen and Stuart. Those were the names in Andrew Collins's report. Later sources give the real surname as Day, and the mother's name as Sue. They set off around 9:50 pm, through Hacton Lane and the country lanes near Upminster. The drive was about 9 miles. They expected to be home by about 10:30 pm.

Kevin noticed it first. Over the houses to their left hung "an oval-shaped, pale blue iridescent light, like a big star." It seemed to travel with the car, stopping and starting as it moved. Rows of trees hid it now and then. Then it passed in front of the car and vanished.

A bend on Aveley Road. No more than 30 yards ahead, covering the whole road, lay a thick mist, "dense green and banked about 8-9 feet high." The car was doing around 30mph. It drove straight in.

The radio started to crackle and smoke, and John pulled out its wires. The headlights went out. Engine and tyres fell quiet. Dead silence. It was very cold, with a tingling sensation, and the inside of the car was very light.

It seemed to last a second or two. Then a jolt, "like a car going over a hump back bridge," and the mist was gone. They reached home at about 1 am. Nearly three hours of missing time.

The case reached Andrew Collins and Barry King of UFOIN. In the autumn of 1977, dental surgeon and hypnotherapist Dr Leonard Wilder held sessions on 25 September, 2 October and 16 October. Gordon Creighton of Flying Saucer Review was present, with Dr Bernard Finch as medical adviser. Under hypnosis, a white beam cut through the mist and lifted the car. John described tall beings about 6 ft 6 in, in one-piece suits, with pink irises and no visible nose or mouth. They were peaceful and spoke by telepathy.

Smaller "Examiners," about 4 ft tall, wore white gowns and had bushy brown hair, large slanted triangular eyes and clawed hands. A glowing scanner passed over him. He was shown star maps, the word "Phobos" and a world ruined "by pollution." He recalled one line: "No visit. They are here always." John and Elaine made separate drawings that Collins called "almost identical."

John had a nervous breakdown before Christmas 1974. He later worked with mentally handicapped people, began writing poetry and gave up smoking. The family stopped eating meat and drinking alcohol.

Elaine went to college and grew more confident. At home they reported a portable radio lifting about 3 inches, moving door handles and a droning noise after midnight. John called it "truly a life-changing event."

No police or Ministry of Defence investigation is recorded. The case belongs to civilian ufologists. Sceptics suggest natural fog, an electrical fault, a brief blackout, or false memories shaped by hypnosis. Writing about abduction cases in general, Jenny Randles warned that "Hypnosis destroys evidence and creates memories." Collins himself later reframed the case in Alien Energy as an experience in "some form of astral domain" rather than aboard a physical craft. Aveley is still retold in podcasts and documentaries, often beside Betty and Barney Hill and Travis Walton.