A mysterious sighting, known as the Bat Beast of Kent, scared many in the south of England during the 1960s. It may have been an alien, says RICK HALE
On a cold night in November, 1963, lifelong friends John Flaxton and Mervyn Hutchinson and two other teen boys were walking home from a party on Sandling Road when the unthinkable occurred.
As the four young men walked down the road their attention was drawn to a brilliant ball of light hovering over a field near Sandling Park in Maidstone.
Whatever this light was, it made no sound and glowed with an intensity that was brighter than any plane they ever saw.
The four young men watched as the ball of light moved soundlessly and descended into a thick grove of trees near the park.
Seized by a curiosity to see what the light was, the four boys ventured across the field and stood just outside the tree line.
Whatever the brilliantly glowing orb was, it appeared to have extinguished.
They were about to leave when something unbelievable emerged from the foliage. A creature that thoroughly terrified the young men.
According to Flaxton and Hutchinson, the creature waddled out of the woods and stood a mere 10 feet from them.
They described it as having a thick hairy body, large webbed feet and great membranous wings reminiscent of a bat’s.
The strangest feature of the creature was that it had nothing that resembled a head.
When the fantastic beast spread it’s giant wings and flapped them, the four boys knew it was time to go.
They screamed and fled whatever the thing was.
The boys didn’t stop running until they reached the local police station and reported the light and the creature that must have come from it.
The police listened to their story and could tell by the tone of their voices and the look of terror upon their faces they had seen something that frightened them.
Nevertheless, their skeptical nature took over and they did their best to convince the boys they probably saw an owl.
Afterall, a lack of light and shadows could play tricks on the eyes, making people think they saw something unexplained.
Unfortunately, the logical stance of the police fell apart when they began receiving reports from others eerily similar to what the teens claimed to have encountered.
The days following the report made by Flaxton and Hutchinson and their companions, were filled with reports of something strange in Sandling Park.
More people see the Bat Beast of Kent
John McGoldrick, a lifelong resident of Kent and a sober man of good character, reported that he and a friend had seen an unexplained light near the park.
When they went to investigate, they claimed to see an eerie, unnatural glow emanating from the woods.
Stranger yet, they discovered several two foot long footprints near the area where the boys came across the creature that sent them fleeing into the night.
Something inexplicable was transpiring in the woods of Kent. But, what that was remained unclear.
When reporters got wind of the sightings near Sandling Park, they found that it wasn’t just McGoldrick and the boys who saw the lights and the monster.
Several residents came forward and reported seeing bright lights and a giant bat-like creature haunting the skies over their town.
A few of the reporters even witnessed the strange light coming from the woods near the park.
And just as suddenly as the bizarre situation began, it came to an abrupt stop.
The lights in the trees and the bizarre bat beast vanished leaving the people in and around Kent mystified about the bizarre situation they experienced.
It would be simple to dismiss the bat beast of Kent and the strange lights as nothing more than urban legend. Or even people misidentifying something ordinary under extraordinary circumstances.
However, there have been several encounters with unexplained, even terrifying flying humanoid creatures from countries all around the world.
Was the bat beast of Kent an alien visitor who meant us no harm?
Or was it a monstrous beast like the legendary Bigfoot or Mothman?
Until it appears again we may never know. However, it was the first time a creature such as the Bat Beast has been witnessed.
Mysterious beasts from across the world
Three years following the appearance of the bizarre creature witnessed in the United Kingdom, similar creatures have been witnessed in other parts of the world.
From November 1966 to December 1967, the citizens of Point Pleasant, West Virginia were terrorized by a sinister flying creature called the Mothman.
It’s even believed the Mothman was responsible for the death of 46 people when the Silver Bridge collapsed 10 days before Christmas.
Lastly, in 1969, several American soldiers in Da Nang, Vietnam, witnessed flying humanoid creatures they described as bat-like flying through the jungle near a strange, eerie glowing object.
Much like the creature witnessed by the teens in Kent, England.
Flying humanoids have become a popular staple in cryptozoology as well as Ufology over the last two or three decades.
They have been witnessed throughout every corner of the Earth and appear to be a phenomena associated with high strangeness. Something the British Isles is well known for.
Do you believe the Bat Beast of Kent was an alien? Tell us in the comments section below!
you have the Location of the Incident totally in the wrong place.
It occurred just up from Slaybrook Corner in Sandling Road, Saltwood near Hythe in Kent.
the incident occurred on 16th November, 1963.
It involved 4 teenagers 3 boys one girl. One of the winesses was John Flaxton who lived in the nearby village of Saltwood.
Chris Rolfe
Inverstigator/Researcher
UFO Monitors East Kent (UFOMEK)