Article by Katie Anderson February 20, 2021 (gazettelive.co.uk )
• Glen Richardson’s father once told him about a strange occurrence that happened before Richardson was born. His father awoke one night around 2 or 3 in the morning to the sound of a vacuum cleaner. He ventured downstairs expecting to find his wife, but instead, saw a very big, bright, yellow and orange blinding light coming from outside the window. “He went to take a closer look, it lit up the sky for a few more seconds, and then it vanished,” said Richardson (pictured above).
• With this story, Richardson was hooked. He consumed as many books and articles on the UFO topic as he could get his hands on and became a resident UFO investigator in Hartlepool, in Durham County, England – studying unexplained objects and potential alien existence. He began travelling the length and breadth of the UK to meet people who’d had witnessed similar phenomena. “[M]y late-father that really inspired me- because he was a very skeptical man,” says Richardson, now 45. Richardson works as a mental health care assistant when he’s not chasing UFOs.
• The most compelling case that Richardson has dealt with over the last 20 years involved a woman from Northumberland who came forward two years ago saying she’d seen an unrecognizable object in the sky followed by two Apache helicopters. “…I spoke to a gentleman from the Ministry of Defence” said Richardson. “He confirmed there were three Apache helicopters deployed at the same time and location.” “She was adamant that the third was not a helicopter.”[B]ut… it validated her sighting of an unrecognizable object.
• Richardson says North East England is somewhat of a “hotspot” for UFO sightings, with many reports coming in over the last few years, including across Hartlepool. “A man in Hartlepool complained of missing time while he was awake, and a triangular shaped craft outside his room when he went to sleep,” said Richardson. “He said these things happened to him on three separate occasions during the 1980s.”
• Richardson said he feels there is a difference between these ‘abduction’ scenarios and hallucinations he observes in his job as a mental health worker. Patients will just come out with their hallucination. But when UFO witnesses speak of an encounter, they act very cautiously. “Often it’ll start with them describing a sighting, and once they trust you, they’ll confide in you about something more,” says Richardson. “Often I get the impression they don’t believe it themselves, or they don’t want to believe it.”
• With the advancement of smart phones and other video technology, more people are capturing them and the stigma attached to reporting UFO’s is falling away. And with this change, “[P]eople are feeling more confident than ever coming forward,” notes Richardson. “When I first started, there was a lot of name-calling (from) friends and colleagues… but that’s settled down now.”
• “I’m part of a strong community of researchers and we are all in it for the same reasons: to help people and to gather as much information as possible to substantiate that there is life out there. It would be an amazing discovery.”
• Richardson concedes that there are logical explanations for many UFO sightings. But there are some that just can’t be explained. “I do believe there is something else going on,” he says. And he believes that there is more to it than just unidentified flying objects – there is the potential for alien life. “Regardless of whether you believe in evolution or religious arguments, it seems highly unlikely that we are the only life out there.”
For most people, UFOs are a source of intrigue and the extra-terrestrial is reserved for sci-fi Netflix binges.
But for Hartlepool ‘s resident UFO investigator, Glen Richardson, studying unexplained objects and potential alien existence is a life-passion.
“I’ve been interested in this line of work for as long as I can remember” said Glen, 45, who works as a mental health care assistant when he’s not chasing UFOs.
“But it was one story from my late-father that really inspired me- because he was a very skeptical man.”
“He told me that one night, before I was born, he awoke around 2 or 3 in the morning to the sound of a vacuum cleaner. He ventured downstairs expecting to find my mum, but instead, saw a very big, bright, yellow and orange blinding light coming from outside the window.
“He went to take a closer look, it lit up the sky for a few more seconds, and then it vanished.”
Glen was captivated by the tale, and eagerly consumed as many books and articles on the topic as he could get his hands on. Soon, he began travelling the length and breadth of the UK to meet people who alleged they had witnessed similar phenomena.
He said the most compelling case he’s dealt with over the last 20 years involved a woman from Northumberland, who came forward 2 years ago saying she’d seen an unrecognisable object in the sky followed by two Apache helicopters.
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