Is the mystery of an unexplained crash in the Troodos in 1973 about to be solved? ) A BRITISH UFO researcher may hold a vital clue that could help prove a flying saucer crashed into the Troodos mountains 35 years ago. Gary Heseltine, the editor of the popular UFO Monthly magazine, has taken possession of several items of unidentified debris collected by a former British soldier who claims to have witnessed a UFO fall to earth in 1973. In his detailed account, Corporal Tom Clarke, who was part of a six man British Army unit on a late night patrol recalled what happened when spotted strange lights in the sky.

“We were all awoken at about 2am by a brilliant bluish dazzling bright light in the sky, what happened next is hard to explain. There was not an explosion, but we were all hit by a shockwave and fell flat to the ground. The light just disappeared or went out,” Clarke recalled.

The team of dazed soldiers quickly found the crash site which was located some 200 metres down the mountain and additional military personal were called in to investigate.

The soldiers were ordered to collect debris and place it into black plastic bags; Corporal Clarke managed to conceal some small pieces of golden tinted foil from amongst the wreckage – which is now in the hands of UFO Magazine.

“After what seemed like hours a halt was called and we were all lined up and told that under no circumstances were we to talk about what we had been doing and that we were forbidden to take anything from the site under threat of Court Martial.

“We were then all taken from the area by helicopter and flown to Alexander Barracks in Dhekelia where we were interviewed separately. I was asked to describe exactly what I had seen and was warned again not to discuss with anyone the events that had occurred.”

Soon afterwards all six men who witnessed the crash were posted to different foreign locations and nothing more was heard about events of that night in 1973-- until now.

Gary Heseltine is convinced that Clarke has given a credible and genuine account of the mysterious events of 1973.

“You have to appreciate for someone to come and contact a person like me they have to be quite serious and determined to discover more about their experience. Mr Clarke has kept records, photos and gave me a very clear precise account of what happened, I doubt very much this is a fantasy or made up,” he told the Sunday Mail.

“I have the artefacts Mr Clarke collected from the crash site and am now looking at having them examined by experts to determine what they are or where they are from. From everything that has been described I would have to label this a UFO event. Something obviously crashed and by the response of the military it was something highly secret,” he added.

Unsurprisingly, in a statement to the Sunday Mail, a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defence claimed they had no knowledge of any UFO crash in Cyprus.

“The MoD examines reports solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised military activity. Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported,” he said.

The MoD remained 'open-minded' about aliens, he added.

However, Paphos based UFO expert John Knowles, who has enjoyed two UFO encounters himself, told the Sunday Mail that he would certainly not rule out that a crash could have happened.

“It is feasible that something like this could easily have occurred without anybody noticing it, or it could have been covered up. There is a lot of fear associated with this subject, many authorities are reluctant to admit that there are things that they can’t control and I think that’s part of any cover up activity.”



The Troodos range, which is home to several military communication stations, has been location of dozens of reported “UFO incidents” over the past half century.

Speaking from the UK, famed psychic Uri Geller told the Sunday Mail how he watched in disbelief as a disc-shaped object floated above his head in Troodos before it "zoomed off at incredible speed" in 1961.

“Actually I had two UFO experiences whilst I was living in Cyprus, the first in 1959 and then again a few years later,” he said. “I have never really spoke about this openly, but I saw a UFO when I was up in the Troodos and once whilst I was walking my dog on a beach near Kyrenia. On both occasions I saw flying objects, they were not planes or helicopters and I saw them both times in broad daylight.”

Geller told the Sunday Mail he would never forget what he saw in the skies above Cyprus, despite the fact the incidents happened over 40-years ago.

“On both occasions the craft did an amazingly fast zig-zag, then the shot off at a speed no human craft could ever achieve.”

One theory as to why the alleged Troodos incident is now only seeing the light of day is because UFOs were of extreme military interest during the Soviet era and it’s believed that the USA, UK and USSR were all actively seeking to capture an alien craft.

It has recently been revealed that during the Cold War the Soviet Union’s Air Force had standing orders to intercept and shoot down any detected UFO in Soviet airspace.

The Kremlin was apparently sure that the United States had recovered some advanced alien technology from the Roswell crash site in the 1940s.

Whether alien activity or natural phenomena, reports of UFOs have flooded in this summer from all across the island. If aliens are choosing Cyprus as a holiday destination, it appears it is becoming more popular, as the number if sightings has dramatically shot up.

In the past year alone dozens of accounts of local UFO activity have appeared on local forums and message boards and even Uri Geller admits he is aware of the increased activity in this region. “Recently the most extraordinary UFO’s were filmed for 20 minutes outside Istanbul, and if you think geographically it’s pretty close to Cyprus. I know there have been lots of sightings in that arena lately. If people see a UFO they really should report it.”

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