Sam The Sandown Ghost Clown - [Alien/Ghost?/Cryptid?] - 1973. - Sandown, Isle of Wight.
• About this Alien: Met by two young children in 1973 near a golf course near Lake Common, Sandown, Isle of Wight. - Published anonymously by their father "MR.Y" (alias) & submitted to the Jan/Feb issue of "BUFORA journal, 1978." - In addition to two of his own odd stories from the area, MR.Y told reporters that his then 7 year old daughter, "Fey" had encountered something odd herself whilst out with a friend. The story was presented & edited by noted Ufologist, "Norman Oliver"- [The BUFORA Editor, who sadly passed last year in July of 2022.] - According to MR.Y, Fey described the creature as: "Nearly seven feet tall, with a tall, yellow hat that interlocked straight into his red collared green tunic. (which made it appear as though he had no neck.)..a round, black knob was affixed to the top, with 'wooden antennae' attached to either side. His paper white face had "triangular markings" around his eyes, he had a brown square for a nose & motionless yellow lips, he had colourful, round markings on either cheek, and a fringe of red hair fell onto his forehead. 'Wooden slats' protruded from his sleeves and from the inside of his white trousers. He had three-fingered blue glove-like hands and white, three-toed bare feet."
..One Tuesday afternoon in early May, Fay was out playing with a young boy about her age, when at about four o’clock, they both heard a loud wailing noise, not dissimilar to an ambulance siren, curious, they went to investigate, following it across the golf-links and through a hedge leading to a swampy meadow adjacent to the Sandown Airport.The two were crossing a small wooden bridge over a narrow brook when the noise suddenly stopped. A blue gloved hand, appeared from underneath the bridge and a strange figure emerged. The figure fumbled with a book, dropping it into the water, and splashed about to retrieve it. The two then watched the figure run off to enter a distant metallic hut. - as it ran, It moved along with a strange hopping motion with knees raised high..The children got bored and began to wander off, they were about 50yards away when the 'odd person' reappeared from the hut, carrying a black-knobbed microphone with a white flex attached. - The wailing noise returned, this time much louder, the boy was scared and began to run, but as he turned The noise ceased, and the figure spoke into the mic. - Eerily, The children could hear his voice as clearly as though he were right next to them. ‘Hello, are you still there?’ he asked in a friendly tone. The children decided to ventured close enough to speak to the oddly attired ‘person.'His first communication was in writing, He wrote in his note-book in a large hand, ‘Hello and I am all colours, Sam.' - The boy was hesitant, but Fay read each word as it was pointed to; this was necessary, as the words were not laid out in the conventional sequence. - The children ventured closer and discovered that the creature could talk without the aid of a mic, though his lips did not move and speech was mumbled and unclear - rather like that of a person who does not open their mouth properly.
The creature asked the children about themselves so, they decided to ask questions as well: They asked about his clothes, which were all ripped, and he told them he only had one set, so he could only wear those... Because of his strange white features they asked if he was really a man: The answer was a chuckled ‘No.' They also asked if he was 'a ghost?' to which The vague reply was...
"...Well, not really, but I am in an odd sort of way..."‘...What are you then?'
It also said he had no name, There were others like himself, though, and he drew a rough sketch of one of them. [Sadly not provided.] He also confided that he was frightened of people, scared that they might hurt him. Apparently if attacked he was resigned to not fight back. - He told them he had just made the hut, and at the mans invitation the children went inside.[Re imagining of the metallic Hut]...Once inside the hut he removed his hat to reveal round, white ears and Sparse brown hair. - "The hut contained two levels. The lower had plenty of headroom and was ‘ wall papered ’ in blue-green and covered with a pattern of dials. - It also had an electric heater and simple, wooden furniture. - The upper level was less spacious and the floor was metallic. He told the children that he fed upon berries which he collected in the late afternoon: he didn’t say where, but did indicate that he had a ‘camp' on the mainland he could go to. He also said that the water from the river could be drunk once he had cleaned it...Before eating a berry, he performed an odd ‘conjuring trick.’ where in he placed the berry into his ear, thrust his head forward and caused the berry to disappear and reappear at one of his odd eyes: repeating the process, the berry travelled to his mouth.
The children talked to this strange being for about half-an-hour, then, after saying ‘Goodbye’ they rushed across the field to tell the first grownup they met that they’d seen a ghost: the man merely laughed at them. But the children were convinced of their experience and that the being was either a ghost or someone dressed up...
Fay told her father of her experience some three weeks later, on June 2 1973. - At first he found the story quite unbelievable, but he was amazed at the detailed account and Fay’s certainty as to its truth: she was quite upset when he suggested she’d made it up or invented it. - Mr Y later met with the boy, but found him not easy to communicate with, though he did get a statement from him and was able to verify that he’d seen it too. Mr Y also visited the spot, but could find no metal hut anywhere in sight, nor any indication of one. - Although it was bizarre, certain elements of the story rang true to him and he also took account of the possibility of some connection with his own previous experiences – Summing it up, MR.Y told the reporters that “I get the impression that Fay was somehow taken into a bubble of alien reality created by this strange personage... Also, Fay told me that while they were talking to this ‘ghost’, two workmen nearby were repairing a post. They paid no attention to the weird charade—as though they could not see it."[Cover of the - "BUFORA journal 1978." - Credited inside as designed by "Richard Beet" who sadly i can find no other information about...]