I Visited Broad Haven In Search Of Clues To Its Famous Past Of UFO Sightings

If you visit Rendlesham, you'll find a well-marked UFO trail guiding visitors through the forest where a famed incident occurred. In Warminster, you'll find a mural in the town commemorating the spate of sightings from the late 60s and early 70s. So, I wondered what Broad Haven in West Wales had to offer visitors searching for a link to its famous UFO past. Spoiler alert: nothing at all.

The Broad Haven UFO incident dates back to 1977, when a group of schoolchildren claimed to have seen a mysterious silver object in a field near their school. This sighting sparked a series of reports, with locals describing strange lights and figures, leading to Broad Haven being dubbed the "Welsh Triangle."

These events have recently been thrown back into the arena of debate after several prominent retellings. Firstly in Danny Robins' hit paranormal podcast series 'Uncanny', then the Netflix docu-series 'Encounters' re-examined the case, and most recently the Welsh Triangle became the subject of a BBC series hosted by Radio 1's Sian Eleri.

Given the enduring interest in this case, I decided to visit Broad Haven to see the site of the claims for myself and perhaps even get a feel for how the village embraces its ufological past today.

I visited Broad Haven on a grey day as wind and rain battered the coast. The village was pretty quiet, not only because of the weather warnings that were in place but also because it was the end of September, right at the end of the tourist season. It was clear that the village thrived on tourism and seemed to be primarily a beach resort with a surf-centric vibe. So, by this point in the year, Broad Haven was entering its quiet period.

Because the village is so centred around its beach, there wasn't much else to do on a rainy day. Although my exploration was cut short by the weather, so I may have missed some of what Broad Haven has to offer. Instead, I looked for shelter and food.

While the end-of-season atmosphere meant there weren't many tourists around, a few places were still open and serving even on a Sunday. There were several cafes, chip shops, a pizzeria, and a sea-front pub, The Galleon Inn, that did an excellent roast. It was nice that they were all independent businesses rather than the usual chain restaurants you'd find in a larger town.

Although welcoming and picturesque, even on a rainy day, there were no obvious nods to the village's extraterrestrial link. No information boards gave details about the event, no shops with quirky alien-themed names, and no local businesses capitalising on its strange history. Of course you could wander up to the primary school, but hanging around outside a school on a dead-end road isn't a good look, and besides, there's nothing to see there either.

The former Haven Fort Hotel overlooking the bay, where Rosa Granville famously reported seeing two 'faceless humanoid' creatures with pointed heads, is now a private home and out of bounds to paranormal thrill seekers.

The only vague reference to the village's past that I found was a small sticker someone had slapped on a lamppost on the promenade that had a picture of a flying saucer on it and the iconic caption, "I want to believe."