Neo (00:00)
Foggy morning on the edge of Ilkley Moor, a retired British cop out for a walk, then a flash of light, and a green-skinned humanoid, and a blurry photo that would become one of the most debated alien images of all time. This is the Ilkley Moor Alien Abduction, and today we're joined by actor Garrett
seen him in The Walking
The Road, and a dozen other projects that flirt with the mysterious and the
what happens when a sci-fi icon walks into one of the s***?
strangest alien encounters England has ever seen.
he believe? We're gonna find out. Welcome to another episode of Mostly True Alien Stories.
Neo (00:54)
Welcome back to mostly true alien stories, a podcast where we tell the story of a real reported alien encounter and then weigh in on whether it's mostly true or mostly something else.
us out by subscribing, liking, and sharing everything we do
I'm Neal Girandola joined as always by my cohost, Andrew Triana. Hey,
Android (01:12)
Hey, Neal.
Neo (01:13)
And today, Andrew, it's a big one because sitting in with us is an actor who's faced off with zombies, desert outlaws and dystopian
know him from The Walking Dead, Deadwood, The Road, Raising Hope, and 100 Rolls that toe the line between mystery and madness.
welcome my friend, Garret Dillahunt Hey buddy!
Garret (01:35)
He kind of blew why I'm doing the thing, but yeah, we're friends. We were friends before this podcast, but I'm happy to be here.
Neo (01:38)
Ha ha.
Well, you know what Garret we always before we get into every anything. We always want to ask our guests Do you believe in
on other planets
Garret (01:52)
would seem arrogant of me to think that in this gigantic tapestry of a galaxy and all the universe's power, like,
there has to
right? There has to be.
That said,
Neo (02:04)
Okay. Yeah.
Garret (02:08)
Yeah, I don't think about it much, but, you know.
Neo (02:06)
There's no wrong answer.
Have you ever had an alien experience or see any UFOs or anything like that along the line?
Garret (02:16)
Not to my
knowledge, no. ⁓ Ghosts? Maybe. But I don't think so. I'm sure they're out there. I don't think they want to talk to us.
always assume they're more intelligent than us, so why can't they get in touch with us if they want to?
Neo (02:34)
You know, it's true. And you wonder why they, maybe they just don't want to talk to us. Why not reveal themselves as I always bring up? Why not? What's the purpose of these secret abductions in the middle of the woods and,
Garret (02:36)
Hmm.
Yeah, and the obsession
Android (02:45)
people that.
Garret (02:47)
with, you know, hillbilly asses, I mean...
Neo (02:49)
⁓
Big time obsession. Yeah.
Android (02:52)
Well, you if
you've never gone Hail Bailey ass, you don't know what you're missing.
Garret (02:55)
And it's always like some grainy photo. You have to be a moron not to take a good photo. This will do it all for you. And now it's all like, no, it was moving so
Android (03:07)
it's the radioactive stuff that's close by that's making the film not take. That's my favorite. The video didn't work because of the radiation.
Garret (03:12)
That's right.
Neo (03:15)
it's
Garret (03:16)
Maybe it's
not
maybe we're not all alive at the same time. Like didn't we just recently find evidence of life on, was it Mars or the
Neo (03:24)
on an
Garret (03:25)
Maybe they're just dead. know, maybe they're what's like ancient civilizations on other planets or something. I don't know.
Android (03:32)
recently found some stuff on an asteroid too, they
So that's flying through space, alive.
Neo (03:34)
Yeah.
Garret (03:37)
and that would be a worthy adversary, I suppose, an asteroid. But it's not alien. So far, all alien life we've we've sort of found. feel like I could take them. You know what I mean? It seems like I could take this, you know, amoeba or whatever it is.
Neo (03:41)
Yeah.
You got it. You can handle it. Yeah.
I can take this amoeba. You know what though? You've played a lot of great roles. You've been a part of some
universes too, like the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fear of the Walking Dead, The
As an actor, that kind of, what's that, does that pull you towards stories set in worlds that are just slightly like all from our own? Do you like those kinds of things?
Garret (04:08)
Wait
Well,
I do like science fiction. I do like fantasy. I have a lot of them in my bookshelf. And I think I learn a lot about the world and politics from those kinds of books. I love those kinds of
doing a show right now called Lanterns for HBO, which is about the Green Lantern Corpse, which is
Android (04:30)
Yeah.
Garret (04:33)
predicated on there being an alien on every single planet, you know, who protects that planet. You know, it's all...
So for my fan base and my bread and butter, feel like I should definitely believe in these
Neo (04:48)
you better. Yeah.
Garret (04:49)
to be a complete slave to that, it just doesn't make sense that there isn't. I just can't, you know?
Neo (04:57)
getting back to the show that you're doing now, Andrew and I have this theory we've talked about that
they're sort of preparing us for an alien sort of takeover or, you know, the revealing of aliens by creating these types of movies that people fantasize about, right? But there's also an ulterior motive to it.
saying, let's, let's just sort of start influencing people to be prepared for these types of things to actually happen. What do you think about that theory? You think that there's, there's, there's some, some sort of government involvement in the, in the, yeah, in Hollywood that are, they're saying, Hey, we got, you know, let's get, you know, let's get this alien script in there because then it'll become, we become desensitized to the, to the whole arrival of the aliens at some point, if you believe that they're coming.
Garret (05:34)
in Hollywood.
What would be the motive for desensitizing us to that? Is there already some deal in place with the aliens?
Neo (05:55)
Yeah to reduce
people just losing their shit taking over
Android (05:59)
Yeah,
they could just be prepping us to just, you know, they do these things in the movies so that when it does happen, we're not shocked by when it does happen.
Garret (06:06)
you know, I like your enthusiasm about this.
Neo (06:09)
Hahaha!
Garret (06:11)
That
seems like a reach to me just only because I don't think anyone would harness would think to harness Hollywood for that kind of good.
And also in the movies, it seems like most of the time, although E.T. and some others
are kind. The aliens are enemies, you know, which is an attractive thing about science fiction and fantasy, the enemy is clear. You know, just like today, you know, the political climate, everyone's like, no, this is what's going on. No, this is what's going on. No one's sure. No one knows where to get information. And those kinds of stories, everybody knows who the bad guy is and we must unite. know, there's clarity in that, in that there's safety and comfort in
Neo (06:35)
Yeah.
Garret (06:55)
the decision being made for you, you know what I mean?
Neo (06:57)
want to believe in aliens. I want to believe in that whole universe and all of that happening. And if they do arrive, I will say just to your point from all the movies and television shows and everything out there, if you were only to see it through that.
lens, you would think that they're going to kill us. They're going to tear us apart. They're going to annihilate
Garret (07:15)
That's right. But they're always like more technologically advanced than us with like one insane weakness. Like we can't stand water or you know what I mean? Just if you spit on us, you know, we've this weird weakness even though they're miles beyond us in any other way.
Neo (07:35)
Right. Zag
nuts. They don't like zag nuts. Yeah.
Garret (07:39)
Yeah, something
we all have or something laying around the
Android (07:43)
I always found that fascinating with the aliens, the alien series. They weren't traveling. They were on desolate planets that we went to or people went to, and they weren't trying to get on ships or anything. They were just trying to continue their colony. know, their colony was to serve the queen. And Neal and I have talked about this before. I don't think the aliens were actually that bad. I mean, they need us like a virus needs a host. They need us to continue and, you know.
Neo (07:44)
Weed.
Garret (08:01)
Yeah.
Android (08:13)
It's sad that we die because the thing busts out of our chest, but you know, they're just trying to survive.
Garret (08:19)
Exactly. What about this? Do you think, let's say we discovered the aliens, let's say on some trip we found them, do you think we could leave them alone? Would we be aggressive and like, you know, start causing problems or would...
Android (08:29)
No.
Neo (08:34)
It's a great,
that's a great question because I just think it's in our nature to destroy something new like that. That discovery, yeah.
Android (08:41)
Yeah,
either colonize them or see something that we can use from them and bring it back and use it to take advantage of other people. It's just, yeah, it's just man's inhumanity towards man is really what it boils down to. It's just awful.
Garret (08:53)
Right.
⁓
That's how we feel now, like, well, we're going to fuck it up, you know.
Android (09:02)
Right.
Neo (09:02)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it's sad. Hey, tell me about Lantern. Is that in production now or talk about what you know?
Android (09:06)
Yeah!
Garret (09:08)
Yeah, it's going right now.
I think we're about halfway through season one.
Neo (09:12)
what's the
layout the story, what your role?
Android (09:12)
Can you tell us about it? Are you a green
lantern? Are you a lantern?
Garret (09:16)
I'm not, and I know that's been announced, so that's okay.
Neo (09:20)
there's some things you can't talk about.
Garret (09:21)
yeah, you know, people think I'm green arrow. People think I'm someone called the black
you know, there's an old
Android (09:26)
wow.
Garret (09:28)
sort of conspiracy theorist, Oliver Queen, green arrow guy who's teamed up with Green Lantern in the comics and everyone's like, we're clean.
Android (09:36)
Oliver Quinn,
Neo (09:38)
Can
we be the podcast that breaks the news about what
can, can you just, yeah, it'd be great.
Garret (09:42)
wouldn't that be cool? People are
all riled up about it though. They're just like, another
superhero, what's going on DC? And I'm like, no, no, I'm not
Neo (09:52)
you're how long are you how far along are you in
Garret (09:55)
We're about halfway through, know, Kyle Chandler and British actor Aaron Pierre play the lanterns. They're great. It's a great cast. I met Laura Linney yesterday. She was on set to do something and it just gets better and better and better. Ulrich Thompson, Nathan Fillion's in it. Jason Ritter plays my son. Kelly McDonald from No Country for Old Men, if I haven't seen her since then, she's in this. It's just wonderful.
Neo (10:14)
⁓
Garret (10:22)
We had some shot the other day that had like 350 extras in it and it
so many people on set. was like, wow, this is like the old days, you know?
Neo (10:26)
massive yeah wow
Garret (10:31)
think it's going to be cool. I really liked everybody. Kyle's a great dude. Just an immediate sort of like, I'm gonna hang out with this guy kind of guy,
Neo (10:38)
how I feel about you.
we were talking about
body of work. You have, you have never stopped working and you've done nothing but great, great iconic films and TV shows.
were even laughing about, I mean you were in a soap opera back in the
Garret (11:01)
was ⁓ One Life to Lit.
Android (11:02)
One life
to
Garret (11:03)
Yeah, I'd never set foot in front of a camera before. I was in my early
was broke. I remember thinking one day, I was walking down the street and I was like, I don't know where dinner's coming from tonight. I lived in a tiny little apartment on 71st and Columbus.
good. was $275 a month when I moved in and like 325 by the time I moved out nine years later.
Neo (11:26)
You do know you do know I've stayed in that apartment a handful of times you would you would go out of town and I'd say can I use your apartment or you'd ask me to stay I don't know what it was and you give me the keys and I go and stay Yeah, you had a bunk right you had like a bunk sort of bed. Yeah, love that bunk
Garret (11:29)
That's right, that's right.
It was tilted, you know, I love, I miss that place. Yeah, I had like a loft bed. It's a loft bed. not a bunk bed.
Android (11:44)
Wow. Yeah, it's a loft bed.
Neo (11:46)
That was a great apartment. You miss those days though. Yeah. Yeah.
Garret (11:48)
It was great. But you you're doing theater all the time and
you know, you're constantly slipping in and out of the red. And I was literally walking down the street and I ran into a guy from my school and he was like, I was thinking like, what am I going to do for
got no money. There's nothing in the house. And he saw me on the street and he was like, ⁓ man.
he just started telling me how great I was doing. And I saw this review in the New York Times and I just was looking at him the whole time. All I could think of was like,
I don't know where dinner's coming from and you think I'm doing good? Oh no, this business, you know, I was like, gotta mix this up a little better. I gotta start doing film and TV, I guess, you know, that was back when you thought you had to choose. And yeah, first thing I got was this soap, which seemed like I couldn't believe they were paying me like $800 a day, you know, to play the, I couldn't, you know, but I work one or two days a month, but
Neo (12:25)
Yeah.
Right, right.
you remember that feeling though, getting that job and just that just gets you to the next level. But that feeling is like accomplishment and excitement, right? You just get inspired to continue on.
Garret (12:42)
Yeah
Yeah, there's someone that used the phrase to one time, naive enthusiasm. And I miss that sometimes. I miss it, you know, where you're just like, I don't care. I'll sleep on stone just to do this. You know, you don't have to pay me. I believe in this. You know, and now it's just like, well, I don't know. Where will I work? What are my accommodations? You know, you have my per diem prepared. You know, it's all very, but I miss that very much. But I remember I didn't know what I was doing, you know.
Neo (12:57)
Mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah.
Garret (13:22)
The girls were so pretty. was completely tongue-tied and I'd walk right up to them and they'd be like, no, no, honey, you gotta see that on the ground. That's called your mark. You gotta stand on that. Otherwise, oh, oh, good. Crazy, in my 30s, in my 30s.
Neo (13:32)
Great. I love that. Love that story.
Android (13:36)
That's wild.
Neo (13:39)
the one role that you think
catapulted you a little bit and just never looked back?
Garret (13:44)
Yeah, I don't know if those actually exist, but I do think those things have an effect on you that has the lasting effect. know, because I remember the first, I got a, I did this play called Eye of God that my friend Tim Blake Nelson wrote. We had done a play together, but this was my first lead
Neo (13:49)
Yeah. Okay.
Garret (14:03)
And for some reason I always thought like that wasn't for me. Like, ⁓ I'm not handsome enough. I'm not whatever enough. I'm weird. I'll never be that guy. And you're like,
you are.
You can do this. You are allowed to tell stories and not look like Robert Redford or something, you know,
Neo (14:18)
Sure.
Garret (14:21)
it gave me confidence. then, and then probably
Neo (14:24)
that whole deadwood run for you, you, you played two different characters in the series
and then you played a third character in the
how do you go into that as an
in the same show, but playing a different actor was that, is that a
Garret (14:40)
Well, I felt a lot of pressure.
you know, and that I'm sure solidified a reputation for me justified or not that I can do anything, you know, and I'll let people think that if you're going to hire me.
Neo (14:51)
Hahaha
Garret (14:54)
I was talking with Tim Olyphant about this a while back as much as we loved Deadwood and it changed everything for us, it kind of ruined everything else.
because the way we worked on that was so, this is how we imagined it was gonna be always in film or TV, just this incredible cyclic artistic process. David wrote a book actually
Work. It's a memoir
that tells you a lot of stories about all of his shows and the way he works. And it's a very inspiring book for any artist. I think you should read that any writer or an actor. And he talks a lot about why he
He cast me twice and stuff like that. And I didn't, some stuff I didn't
you know, I don't think I could have done it today. I don't think Deadwood would, would have been allowed to exist today. We took 21 days to shoot an episode one time, you know, we never had a finished script after the first couple, maybe just not how he works. We would literally get hot pages every day and we were winging
Neo (15:44)
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Garret (15:54)
monologues and, it was just so brilliantly.
laid out and poetic and he would come out every morning and set the scene. This is what the scene's about. And we were all wrong always. We're like, oh, it's about the opposite of what we thought. And which to him is what a great scene is, you know, just tons of subtext. And I was just, wanted to be, I wanted to do a good job. I wanted to earn it and knowing who I was, which helped a lot as well.
Neo (16:05)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
What?
What was the reason he hired you twice, three times?
Garret (16:27)
Well, think Neal, and I'm sure you'll understand this right away, I think I'm the greatest actor in the world. no, don't, it was something about chaos. The first character was an actual character, an actual historical figure, the guy who kills Wild Bill
Neo (16:33)
Yeah, well, ⁓ that was a given. That was a given. Yeah.
Garret (16:45)
he was supposed to be the ugliest man anyone had ever seen. Every description of him was like, this guy is so ugly. And I was like, wow, this is my part.
You know, all right. But we uglyed him up a lot. You know, this patchy beard, I could do this trick with my eye, you know. And
Android (16:56)
Thanks.
Neo (16:56)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Garret (17:03)
it made it easier to be the other guy then, because I tried at least to look as different as I
And that's kind of what we do in theater, right? I mean, it wasn't an unusual thing to me. We all, this is what you do. If you're in a company, you're the prince one day, you're the pop or the next. So it actually didn't seem unusual.
Neo (17:22)
Yeah.
Garret (17:22)
I just thought, I just didn't want to go home, you know, I was really happy.
Neo (17:27)
Yeah, that's very cool. What's one of the favorite, what's your favorite role that you've ever played to date?
Garret (17:31)
Wolcott was pretty cool. I was the second guy on Deadwood. ⁓ But I did a show called Hand of God for Amazon.
It Ron Perlman. ⁓ Ben Watkins created it. And I don't know if it's the greatest show. It's a good show. But it's maybe one of the greatest characters I've gotten to play. It's a real complex, you know, lifetime convict, basically. Skinhead turned religious, so he's trying to do better.
Unfortunately, he has a rage problem, his skills get harnessed
by the judge. I just really loved that a lot. I tried something physical that was unusual, and I was nervous to do it, and it worked. That's a good feeling.
Neo (18:18)
my wife, who, know, she, that's was one of her, she said it was one of the, favorite roles that she had seen you in as
and I said, why are you watching all of Garret's films all the time? Why are you always watching his stuff?
Garret (18:29)
Right? Well,
I've always liked your wife. She's a great
Neo (18:33)
She is.
Garret (18:33)
Great taste in men.
Neo (18:35)
We do this
we're going to play this segment. It's called mostly true or not. And I'm going to read some headlines from the alien universe, and you're going to weigh in on whether you think it's mostly true or
you ready? Andrew, you can weigh in too if you want. All right. Garret, aliens helped build the pyramids. Mostly true or not?
Garret (18:46)
⁓ yeah, okay, yeah.
I think not.
Neo (18:58)
just gonna leave it there. You won't leave it there.
Garret (18:58)
I that's
Well, I just think, you know, I think it's a convenient excuse to,
justify the massive amount of slave labor that they used to build those things and all the people they killed. I think it's built on the bones of fucking slaves.
Neo (19:13)
Alright,
Android (19:17)
Agreed.
Neo (19:19)
very
Garret (19:20)
no, was aliens. Yeah. yeah.
Android (19:22)
Yeah, yeah,
there was a huge spaceship. lowered it down.
Garret (19:26)
No one was harmed in the construction of these incredible
Android (19:28)
Well,
Neo (19:29)
alright at least one u.s. president has had direct contact with
Garret (19:35)
I'm gonna say no.
Neo (19:36)
How about how about
Garret (19:36)
too, and I don't believe
aliens exist, I
Why would they choose him? Why?
Do they recognize our fucking hierarchy of, anyway.
Neo (19:41)
Yeah. That's
that's that's my question always is how do they know who the president is? How do they know to go to the White House? How do they know to go find that guy?
Garret (19:48)
Yeah.
I believe they've contacted someone. just don't know if it's the
It's a small number of people really. Anyway, go ahead. Sorry, Neal. You said not long-winded and here I go.
Neo (20:01)
No, no, that's good. This is good.
Yeah, no, this is what we wanted. All right, Garret, if you were offered,
would you go aboard a UFO? No questions
Garret (20:12)
I was going to say yes until you said no questions asked because I'd probably have a few questions.
Neo (20:16)
All right, take out no questions that ⁓ you would go aboard a UFO. You would.
Garret (20:19)
Yeah, absolutely. Heck yeah.
I'm a purple belt in jujitsu. feel like, you know.
Neo (20:27)
You can handle
it. Yeah, you can handle the aliens. Yeah. All right.
Garret (20:32)
I'd be dead immediately.
Neo (20:36)
last one. ⁓ Some UFO sightings are actually time travelers, not aliens.
Garret (20:42)
I never even considered that. Yeah, no, no. I don't mean to be such a stickler, but it's just an odd, yeah, you know.
Neo (20:44)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's why we're playing this game.
Absolutely no.
Andrew, what do you think?
Android (20:58)
I don't know. mean, you're talking multi-dimensional travel. think that's... I mean, I love Stargate. So thinking about Stargate, that was kind of cool that they could do that instead of just... They flew this ship thousands of light years away to land in the middle of the woods to pick up Billy Bob and do whatever and then fly away. And then Billy Bob makes millions of dollars because he sold the story. I think it's... I think popping in and out...
is makes more sense than actually flying through space to get here. So I'm going go with yes.
Neo (21:28)
Well, one
of the theories ⁓ that is out there, Garret, is, and I did a short video on it, was that the aliens are really us, and we're time traveling. us from the
who are able to change time and come
Garret (21:45)
So what we're watching is future us coming back to like buy some hot stock or something, or maybe sell before the tariffs sting.
Neo (21:50)
Yes. Yes.
Android (21:57)
or tell you not to do the show.
Neo (21:58)
Well,
I yeah, yeah, stay off the show. No, the theory is that we can only go back in time. We can't go forward in time.
Garret (22:00)
Right. Right.
So there's touch here then.
Android (22:06)
Ooh.
Neo (22:07)
Well, I think they, yeah, so that's where the whole thing falls apart. Well, how do we get back?
Android (22:11)
Yeah, or you could say there's
a multiverse and somewhere in another dimension, this same thing is happening where the three of us are talking. It might not be the same context, but we're talking in another.
Garret (22:22)
And maybe
that was their job.
I've done movies in weird places and then inevitably, like I was in
and I was in the ruins of Petra, you know those ruins, incredible carved out of stone. And they say, and this section was built, this is part of the Roman road. Like the Romans built this section of the thing, the Romans. And you realize that this was some guy's whole life. He was sent there.
Neo (22:42)
Crazy.
Yeah.
Garret (22:49)
to end his entire life was to build this section of road in Jordan. So maybe that's their, that's a commitment. That's like, I'm gonna live and die as basically a
not a Roman. Maybe this alien to doing the same thing. Like, well, I'm an earthling
Neo (23:02)
Buildin' Yeah. ⁓
Android (23:03)
while.
Garret (23:07)
blend in.
Neo (23:08)
You think they're living among us? Mostly true? Could be.
Garret (23:10)
don't know.
Android (23:11)
They're here.
Garret (23:12)
Could be.
Neo (23:13)
let's get to the reason we brought you here today. ⁓ is we're going to talk about a story. That's one of the weirdest from the UK, the Ilkley more alien abductions, a police officer, green skin being in a single blurry photograph that still divides the paranormal
good news is Garret's going to stick around with us and weigh in.
on this story as well. let's go ahead and get into
know the rules right Garret?
I'm telling you a documented story about a true alien encounter. And then we are going to weigh in on whether we think this is mostly true or not. got you warmed up with the speed round there. Here we
Garret (23:49)
Can't wait.
Neo (23:51)
Ilkley Moore is a desolate.
Misty stretch of land in West Yorkshire, England. It's the kind of place that feels like it belongs to another time or another world. It's rolling hills, scattered rocks, dense fog, and a few signs of life. And on the morning of December 1st, 1987, Philip Spencer, this is a pseudonym to protect his identity apparently, was hiking across the moor. Spencer was a former police officer.
Newly moved to the area and he had set out early to photograph the landscape and visit his father-in-law's house on the other side of the moor. Armed with a compass and a camera bundled against the freezing cold Spencer had no idea his life was about to take a turn into the bazaar.
As he made his way across the fog shrouded moor Spencer noticed a small figure about 30 yards ahead standing awkwardly near a rise. At first he thought it might be a lost hiker or a child.
But as he got closer, the figure became clearer and stranger.
About four feet tall, greenish gray skin, a large bulbous head, long arms that nearly reached its knees, short, thick legs, almost
wasn't human. And the figure noticed him. It turned and it began to scurry away toward a glowing dome shaped craft, partially obscured by the fog.
Thinking quickly, Spencer raised his camera and he snaps a photo. And the figure paused for a moment and then seemingly aware, it then hurried toward the craft, which lifted silently into the air and it vanished into the
Shaken, Spencer realized his compass was spinning uncontrollably, he refusing to settle on North and he tumbled toward his father-in-law's house. But when he arrived, something was wrong.
thought that maybe 15 or 20 minutes had passed since he took the photograph, but his father-in-law's clock told a different story. He was more than two hours late. So somehow over two hours had vanished from his memory and he hadn't simply gotten lost. He had no memory of anything after the
there was something else, a dull ache behind his eyes and a feeling like he had been examined or touched.
So the photograph Spencer took remains one of the most controversial pieces of UFO evidence to this day. It shows a small humanoid figure standing on the
It's blurred partly because Spencer was shaking when he snapped it. That's what he says. Experts at the time couldn't definitively prove the photo was a
Image analysts from various sources, including Kodak Labs concluded the object was indeed ⁓ in the frame.
at the time of exposure and not
argue it could have been a person in a
a cardboard cutout, a trick of light and fog, but Spencer insisted there was no
All right. So realizing he needed answers, Spencer eventually underwent hypnotic regression with Bud Hopkins. He's a well-known figure in the UFO abduction research community.
and under hypnosis, Spencer recalled being paralyzed and lifted into the
Inside the ship, he encountered several beings similar to the one he
along with the larger, more authoritative figures. The interior was cold, metallic, and dimly lit. He was placed on a curved examination
where the beings conducted medical tests, including scanning his body with the devices and extracting samples.
They,
yeah, yes, it was a party. They communicated telepathically telling him he was being examined for research and that he would not be
also described being shown a series of visions of earth devastated by pollution and war, scenes of lush green landscapes returning after humanity changed its ways. He said the beings imparted a message of environmental stewardship.
He was urging humanity to correct its destructive behavior before it was too
When asked why he was chosen, the Beans reportedly
will not understand now, but you will help others to
After the encounter, he remembered being placed back on the moor dazed and
following the encounter, Spencer became withdrawn and anxious. He refused interviews for years and avoided publicity, choosing anonymity.
His photograph was analyzed, never definitively debunked. No money was made from the incident. We always like to know that. Spencer never sought to
Local law enforcement was skeptical, but had no explanation. No other hikers or locals reported seeing the craft, although other UFO sightings had occurred over the Ilkley
both before and after Spencer's encounter. In fact, Ilkley Moor has a long history of mysterious lights, animal mutilations.
unexplained disappearances and locals have whispered for generations that the more is a place of strange energies.
alternate theories, ⁓ some skeptics have proposed, ⁓ that these he misidentified a human figure, a hiker or child in odd lighting conditions. That cracks me up. ⁓ just, you know, short stubby, hairy,
Android (28:56)
Me, basically.
Neo (28:58)
that he fabricated it.
There's no evidence Spencer though he never no evidence that he faked
Psychological episode they think maybe stress or exposure could have caused hallucinations but these theories don't fully account for the missing time. The spinning compass the consistent hypnotic
that is our story and now I'm going to hand it over to you
And it is a strange one for me. And I'm going to hand it over to you guys and have you weigh in on whether you think this is mostly true or not. ⁓ Garret, usually Andrew has some stuff that I left out. So let's let him fill in some blanks and see what he, if this changes our decisions either way.
Garret (29:35)
Over to you,
Andrew.
Android (29:37)
Alright, okay, so here's something that's
said that there's two different stories that are pseudonym friend, which I find fascinating that he changed his name to protect the innocent or the guilty.
really knows who he is, just so that we're putting that in the picture as
Neo (29:54)
in a previous story that we had done, there was a police officer that used his own name who had taken a picture, very
this happened in Kentucky and this guy's life was ruined. His house was burned down. His wife left him. He was fired from the forest. He was a young chief of police, 26 years
Android (30:01)
Yeah.
Neo (30:08)
maybe this was a part of the plan for
Android (30:10)
Possibly,
but the story started with him, you know, not giving his
name. Okay.
the person Phillips said that he was going to his father-in-law's house, but actually the other story is he went to the more because they had heard about the lights appearing there and he wanted to get some photos of these mysterious lights that were appearing. So that's really why he was out there. He wasn't just like walking across and take pictures of the fog to go see his father-in-law. He was going.
Neo (30:36)
He was looking for
aliens. Let's see. All right. That's a good bit of insight there. Okay.
Android (30:38)
He was looking for aliens, okay? So let's put that in place. That actually helps with the theory. Right,
and so the first thing that he said that he did was he actually took a photograph of this
said that the creature held his hand up and said, don't come any closer. And he was like, fine, I'll get a picture of you from here. Click. And then the thing scurried off and he chased after it. And then he saw the ship take off,
Then he thought, like you had said, 15 or 20 minutes had gone by, but it actually had been two hours. So when he did make it to his father-in-law's house, was in the town,
the town was open. Everything was open for business. And he's like, how could this be? I was at eight o'clock in the morning and now it's 10 AM. This is
the first thing he did was he took his camera and he took the film and had it developed. And in the developed of the film, there was this creature that you really can't see. It looks like a green blob thing. You know, it looks kind of...
Neo (31:29)
Looks like his penis.
Android (31:31)
It looked like a bush. It looked like a bush. could possibly be. They thought it was possibly a mannequin. So they give it to a wildlife specialist, right? To look at the, he's the first person to look at this photo. Wildlife specialist looks at the photo, says, no, that's definitely not
So then the photo was sent to the U.S.
Dr. Bruce Maccabee,
an optical physicist for the United States Navy.
And he
said that the slow shutter speed made the film too grainy for analysis.
really can't know what it is, he's really sad, but he said, I really wanted this to be a photo of a real
Neo (32:06)
Wait, McAfee said
⁓ McAfee, he's the one who said I was really hoping this would be an alien? ⁓ okay.
Android (32:08)
Yes, Dr. Bruce Maccabee. Dr. Bruce Maccabee.
Yeah, I was really hoping it was
real. I was really hoping it was real. That's his
So then they brought in the hypnotist. His name was actually Dr. Jim Singleton.
And Philip decided that he agreed. So on March 16th, 1988, and this happened at the end of 87. So not that much time had
so under hypnosis, Philip said the creature was four feet tall, short,
small legs. His body was blobby. So he said he wasn't in good shape. So I guess this alien is not on the workout team. He's not your normal gray or your normal green guy, right? He said he had big hands, long arms, big hands, long arms, small feet.
Neo (32:40)
Yeah. ⁓
Right. Might be an unidentified type of alien.
Right? Yes. Yes.
Android (32:54)
The creature approached him, and when the creature approached him, he couldn't move. He was frozen. Then the next thing he realized, he's laying on his back and he's floating towards the spaceship like he's being tethered, like he's a balloon on a string. This is through the hypnosis, right? Okay. Right. So hypnosis regression, right? So he gets up there and they do the usual, they run the wand over him.
Neo (33:08)
Right, this is through the hypnotist. Yeah, that's it, regression. Yeah, he tells of this story. Okay. Yeah, right.
Android (33:20)
They run the wand in him.
Neo (33:22)
Yep.
Android (33:22)
They
do whatever they do, the aliens, whatever their obsession is, whatever group this
showed him two films,
is what I'm imagining.
Neo (33:29)
Rocky, Rocky
Android (33:31)
the first
showing the earth just
famine. He saw people from Ethiopia and all over the world, people starving and dying and... Right. And then there was a second
Neo (33:39)
Yeah, sure. Right. These were these were the what they were telling them to make the world a better place. Yeah.
Android (33:46)
that the aliens told him not to tell anybody
Do not tell them what you've seen. This is...
Neo (33:50)
Okay. But he did.
Android (33:53)
He never
Neo (33:53)
Well, how
Android (33:54)
Even under hypnosis. He said he refused
This is what Dr. Singleton said. He refused to speak about the second film because he was told not to.
Neo (34:01)
Okay, how is any
of this dispelling what if this is true or not?
Android (34:05)
Wait, wait, the story is getting better. Do you see how elaborate it is now? Okay.
Neo (34:09)
Yeah, I don't
want to hear the story again. I want to know why you think it's not true.
Android (34:13)
Have I said anything
haven't even weighed in on my decision.
photo that he actually
place after the time lapse, then the creature went back to the ship and he took
first. your report's wrong because that came out in the hypnosis.
Neo (34:23)
my report he says he took the story then lost time
Android (34:28)
That came out in the hypnosis that he took the picture after, not
Garret (34:31)
There
was never this encounter of like, don't follow me. And he chased after him. It was all like, we're done probing you. And he took a farewell snap.
Neo (34:40)
Yeah, on his way out the ship.
Android (34:40)
I guess he, that was him waving, I guess, as in the
and then off the
But he never thought to take a picture of the ship.
Neo (34:47)
because, I mean, might have been just lost in communication in the
Android (34:47)
find that fascinating. I'm not done yet? No, no,
OK, then
you brought up the whole thing about his compass, right? His compass was like spinning around, right? It didn't work anymore. It had been demagnetized. Well, that can happen by
Neo (34:56)
Spinning around, yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah.
Android (35:02)
OK. OK. OK.
Neo (35:02)
I really want to weigh in on this, but you're telling me the story again.
Android (35:06)
Skeptics are saying there's two schools of thought on this. Okay.
the creature standing,
Neo (35:11)
You have 30 more
Android (35:12)
the creature standing out there was just a mannequin that the guy, the guy made up the whole thing. That's why he's not given his name. It wasn't real. He never got probed and never tested him. were, when they went to the area, there was no radiation found. There was nothing found other than this photo. And they're saying that it's too grainy to even depict what it is.
Neo (35:12)
You have 30 more seconds.
Android (35:33)
So.
Neo (35:34)
So what
are you saying?
Android (35:35)
What I'm saying is that this guy, obsessed with going out there to take photos of lights in the sky, made up this whole freaking thing, changed his name in case it went
Neo (35:42)
Mm-hmm.
you're thinking it went south.
Android (35:47)
Did it? Could it have been? Sure, it could have gone south, meaning that everybody would have thought he was crazy. OK, look, the last thing I would think of, Garret, weigh in on this, please. If you saw an alien and you took a photo of the alien and you went to show somebody, would you change your name? Or would you say, my god, I just saw an alien and here's the
Neo (35:48)
I don't... Doesn't sound like it.
Android (36:06)
Would you have the thought process ahead of time to change your name? No. Just saying.
Garret (36:06)
Yeah.
Neo (36:10)
⁓ Don't try to influence Garret. Don't try to influence
them.
Garret (36:13)
story about the other guy who got his whole life got turned upside down. I could see it as an impetus to that. but the whole thing does sound like a crock of shit. There's there's no one there's no one who can verify that you said this guy and he has like no evidence.
Neo (36:22)
you
Garret (36:28)
it's everything we've always heard aliens do. I mean, I don't.
Android (36:31)
Right.
Tell me something new.
Garret (36:33)
Yeah. Did he fall asleep and was late and this is what he came up with? Did he, is it, I feel like he took a picture and after the fact was like, that looks kind of like something in that
Neo (36:33)
Alright.
Garret (36:43)
don't know. He took a, and he took his picture out expressly to catch some aliens and then muffs it. Just one photo. He took one photo and it's, and it's horrible. You know, I don't
Neo (36:51)
Yeah, he blew it. He had his one shot.
Garret (36:57)
I don't know what, why someone would do that.
I don't know why.
Neo (37:01)
That's what I always ask first.
Android (37:02)
gonna go with, guess you know where I go with this, mostly not true. No, not true. Not true, it's a farce, it's bullshit.
Neo (37:05)
You're saying it's not a mostly true alien story. Okay. All right.
All right, Garret. I want to hear you weigh in whether you what do you
Garret (37:13)
Well, it's a little weird that they showed them film. how do they have similar technology? Like they went and made a
and why him? Like, okay, we're going to, we're choosing this random
Neo (37:20)
It might have been a hologram, might have been, you know...
Garret (37:26)
give you some horrible warning about your planet and don't tell anybody.
Neo (37:30)
You
Garret (37:31)
he doesn't. It's like, why, why did we have this exercise? You know, random dude.
You know, like we were hoping that you would defy like why, why waste that was, don't, it just doesn't make any
Neo (37:44)
So what are you
Garret (37:45)
I think it's just mostly a crock. This is mostly a crock
Neo (37:47)
This is much more awkward,
Garret (37:48)
he's embarrassed and he hit out. he, that was 40 years ago, a little more.
Neo (37:54)
eighty seven
Android (37:54)
87 yeah, almost 40 yeah.
Garret (37:56)
I mean,
and nothing's happened with these dire warnings. Thanks for nothing. You the aliens chose a shitty human. You know, he didn't help us at all.
Neo (38:08)
we run into that a lot in these stories where they say it is a environmental message to save the planet and then you know, nobody does anything about
listen Andrew doesn't think it's a mostly true alien story Garret thinks it's a crock of
Garret (38:22)
What about you?
Neo (38:23)
let me weigh
I wanted to believe
don't understand why he would change his name or anything like that and and and you know throughout the whole thing there's no reason to it and then but I he's definitely influenced by other ⁓ encounters alien encounters by this whole environmental message and I think that's where it came
I agree with you guys. I do not buy this. This is not a mostly true alien story. Garret thinks it's a crock of shit. Andrew says it's not.
Garret (38:50)
I mean, the most
compelling part's the hypnosis, right? Maybe, because you're like, what? But then I also feel like, I think you can
You can, I think you can. It might be hard, but... And also like, what do we know about this hypnotist? Like, how many hypnotists did we see? And this is the only one that could do it, or is this... I don't know,
Neo (38:58)
We could bake that too.
a ⁓ not a mostly true alien story.
Garret (39:15)
I'm a little angry.
would like one to be true. Stop wasting our time, liars.
Neo (39:18)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, this one this one misses on a lot of counts because you're like you said, Garret, there are no there's no other people involved. There's you could say anything. Yeah, my compass was spinning.
Garret (39:30)
Yeah, was it?
Neo (39:31)
I was taken away and I lost time. I mean, he maybe had a few drinks out on the Oakley more before he headed back to his dad's house, you know, and then just, you know, said he was lost time.
Garret (39:40)
And you know,
and now that we have digital cameras with autofocus
where's all the great pictures of aliens now? have they stopped since technologies improved on our planet? You know, they just stopped probing us,
Android (39:52)
watched several stories on this particular story and they're all like, yes, we actually spoke with him and he told us. And I'm
what did he say? What's his name? Where's the legitimacy of this person? And they're gonna say that it's a real story. And I'm like, how?
Neo (40:06)
Well, he,
you know, those that spoke to him may have vetted him and were sworn to anonymity, but they probably vetted him and said, he's pretty credible guy. I mean, why wouldn't we believe him? You know, I think if it was a, if he was a nut job, they all be like, yeah, this guy's nuts. It just definitely didn't
Garret, before we let you go, I have a final question for you. If you were the cop.
out on Oakley more that day and this was a, you were involved in this story. Do you think you'd chase the alien like he did or turn him run?
Garret (40:37)
don't know if I'd chase it, but I think I'd be curious and I'd follow at a, you know, a constant distance, just kind of see what's going on here. I'd try to be
I'd be like, you want to probe? You want a quick probe? Let's, let's be pals, you
Neo (40:46)
Would you take better pictures?
Garret (40:52)
Yeah. I see him ⁓ fucking selfie like, Hey,
Neo (40:53)
Yeah
Android (40:54)
Take a nice selfie with him. I mean, come on.
A better photo.
Neo (40:59)
Well, it was a green skin humanoid is missing time, a blurry photo and a very confused Yorkshire cop. That was the Ilkley more alien abduction is a big thanks to you, Garret. Thank you for being here for jumping in with us. And if you haven't seen Garret, which I doubt in the walking dead, deadwood or the road fix that lanterns coming out soon. They're halfway through production. You're gonna have to check that out. And as always, let us know what you think.
Garret (41:10)
Thank you, Al.
Neo (41:25)
Was this one mostly true or mostly a weird walk on sideways? Leave your comments on the page here. Subscribe to YouTube and hit us up on all the other platforms. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
Be kind to aliens when they get here. We'll see you guys on the next one. Garret, thank you. Thank you. Hey,
Android (41:44)
Awesome. Thanks.