The Robert Taylor Incident: Dechmont Woods

Robert Taylor was 61, a forestry foreman for the Livingston Development Corporation and a Second World War veteran. His job was to keep cattle and sheep out of the young plantations on Dechmont Law, a volcanic hill beside the M8 motorway.

Friday, 9 November 1979. He parked his pickup near the motorway at about 10:30 and set off up a forest path with his red setter, Lara.

"As I cleared the trees and entered the clearing I saw this object in front of me." It was grey and dome-shaped, resting on the ground or hovering just above it. A flange ran around the middle like the brim of a hat, set with arms like rotors. The top kept changing from grey to translucent. The trees behind showed through. It made no noise.

Two smaller spheres dropped from it, about 2 feet across and covered in spikes. They made frightening sucking noises as they fell. Then they came at him, bouncing and rolling over the grass. "These sea-mine-type things with spikes on them came out of the back and grabbed my trousers ripping right through to my skin." He was pulled very, very forcibly towards the larger object. There was an acrid, choking smell, like burning brakes. Lara froze and stared, then barked furiously. Taylor blacked out.

He came to after about 15 to 20 minutes. Nothing remained to be seen in the clearing. At first he could not stand or speak. He crawled back to his truck. He could not make a radio call. The truck would not start. He stumbled about a mile home. Dr Gordon Adams treated grazes to his chin and thighs.

Lothian and Borders Police recorded the case as common assault by person or persons unknown. It is often promoted as the only example of an alien sighting becoming the subject of a criminal investigation. Officers found two parallel "ladder" tracks in the grass, with about 40 holes around them. PC William Douglas described "forty circular holes just over 3 inches in diameter." The police report said the marks indicated "an object of several tons had stood there."

Forensic scientist Lester Knibb examined the torn trousers. "The damage could have been caused in the way the witness says. But it would require something mechanical." Investigator Ian Wark interviewed Taylor three times. The story never changed. "In my opinion, Mr Taylor genuinely reported what he saw, or believed that he had seen."

A physician, Patricia Hannaford, suggested an isolated attack of temporal lobe epilepsy. Taylor disagreed. "I have never had an epileptic attack before or after." Steuart Campbell of BUFORA had called him "the most reliable witness of a close encounter BUFORA has ever had." Campbell later argued that Taylor saw a mirage of Venus, magnified by a temperature inversion. "I can assure you that Venus had nothing to do with it," Taylor said. Others pointed to ladders, forestry machinery, a water tower or a military drone recovery. His supervisor, Malcolm Drummond, was sure the marks were made by "a perfectly solid, heavier-than-air object."

A plaque on a rock now marks the site, and a council UFO trail leads walkers to it. Taylor died on 14 March 2007, aged 88. In 2004, at 87, he was still certain. "I stand by every word of my account of the incident. I told it as it happened and it's as clear as yesterday."