THE READING INCIDENT
by
Brian McMullan Snr
Introduction
It was after performing at the BUFORA International UFO Congress in Sheffield 1991 that we first met Clive Potter and Robert France. Both were very much into Ufology and I believe at that time Clive Potter was an investigator who studied contactee/abduction claims and experiences.
Clive introduced Robert as an interesting contactee with original and consistent experiences. Robert began to relate his beliefs and experiences. I remember at the time thinking it was all very heavy stuff, but nevertheless it was extremely fascinating. We are always grateful for witnesses who relate their UFO experiences to us, and face to face with Robert we found it difficult to question his total belief in what he was telling us.
He went on to say that he had had a dream a few years back that revealed he would one day be working with a Scots band? At the time he remembered thinking of a Scottish pipe band and wondered why he should be working with them! He was now adamant that it surely must mean us! I asked if he could play bass guitar as we needed this at the time. He laughed at the idea and like us, wondered in what capacity he could be working with us.
The following months we kept in touch and it was one of Robert’s letters that revealed he and Clive were doing a paper on his experiences. This would probably be in the form of a talk at a conference or even appearing in a UFO magazine. Both men had almost completed the paper by late 1991 and had also included the experiences of a close friend of Robert’s. The important contribution made by Shelagh will become apparent as this record of events unfolds.
During the correspondence I began to wonder if this paper could be applied in audio and include the witnesses speaking of their experiences. We could complete the recording adding sound effects and music where appropriate. It would be intriguing to work with the witnesses and certainly an interesting media to put across their experiences.
I put this idea to Robert around Christmas 1991 and he was very interested and willing to go ahead as soon as possible. Clive and Shelagh agreed and we began working out how it could be done. We would have to meet to get various voices recorded and this would have to be a time that suited everyone. We all agreed it would be started around February 1992. We continued to correspond and work out what recording equipment we would need to take with us.
Recording in Reading
Brian jnr, A.M. and myself left Glasgow on a chilly but sunny Friday morning. In the transit were the four track recorder, microphones and other essential recording equipment. The idea was to tape the individuals and leave by Sunday afternoon. On return to Glasgow we would then mix what we had and insert effects and music where required. Through past correspondence we knew they had their scripts spot on and we had been sent copies.
We arrived in Reading just before tea time and were greeted by Robert, Shelagh and Clive. All three were extremely happy to see we made it. We unloaded the van and Robert showed us to our rooms. One of the rooms was to be used as a small studio and after a welcome tea we began to set the gear up. We all agreed we would start recording around lunchtime on Saturday, hopefully finished by teatime. The rest of Friday evening was spent chatting about various subjects and downing a few welcome beers.
My personal impressions of our hosts were that they were all seriously involved and very knowledgeable on the subject of UFOs and the paranormal in general. Clive was business like in his approach and discussed the importance of the tape we were about to record. He emphasised how critical it was to get this material out to the listening public and how seriously he viewed this particular case. Clive, like the rest of us, relaxed more as the evening went on and was soon discussing the various processes involved in recording.
Shelagh was a lovely kind woman. She freely discussed with us her various strange experiences connected to the paranormal and the effects it had on her life. All of Shelagh’s experiences were extremely interesting and very believable. She would relate these events in her life in a very matter of fact manner and lots of what she said was parallel to our own experiences with the paranormal. She seemed to accept these incidents as a normal part of everyday life. Shelagh was a very genuine person.
Robert was so obviously different from the others. He had an inquisitive mind and would move easily from one subject to another. He wanted to know about Glasgow, our gigs, the instruments we played, the song writing, how and why we did it all. He was also very interested in our own UFO and paranormal experiences, a good listener who could maintain an intellectual conversation. We questioned him with regard to his talk on the album we were about to make and he would always reply in great detail. Robert left us in no doubt that he was completely sincere in what he was stating on ‘The Shadow of Man’.
Meeting all three in person helped our confidence and made the long journey, with all the equipment, more satisfying.
We woke quite early on Saturday morning and after breakfast Brian Jnr took Clive and Shelagh into the room for some test recordings. I remained in the lounge with Robert and A.M. chatting away with regards to how the recording would go. It was during this relaxed conversation when Robert asked me had I slept OK. I replied I did and had a good rest! He then asked if I remembered sitting in the lounge around 3am with him and an Indian spirit guide. I have to say I burst into laughter. No I replied, I don’t remember that at all! He said we had discussed various aspects of life, etc, and the Indian guide was very interested in what we were doing. The guide was happy and hoped everything would go well! I have to say that although I believe a spiritual side exists I do find it difficult to comprehend; nevertheless I took great interest in what Robert was telling me.
Brian jnr broke up the chat by asking Robert to do a vocal test. Once the tests were complete serious recording began immediately. All three had their separate scripts and were cued when to come in etc. Brian jnr handled the recordings very well and it wasn’t long before we were finished. After checking through the recordings, we finished up around 8pm. The recording for us was fairly easy and the real work would happen later in Glasgow, where we would insert the music and sound effects.
During the recording there was the chance to watch each individual as they spoke into their mikes. Sincerity and confidence showed in all their faces yet, the more I watched and listened, the more I wondered exactly who was doing the talking. Who conjured this deep meaningful mind boggling talk? A strange feeling of someone or something utilising them came to mind. I spoke to them all regarding this after the recordings were completed. None of them were surprised. This is the point where I felt I must question them all in more depth.
Up until now it was good fun; it was what C E IV did - meeting with UFO witnesses, gathering info and expanding our knowledge of the subject. This was proving to be something a little more. All the band members agreed there was an eerie atmosphere during the recording.
Robert, Clive and Shelagh easily accepted that other uninvited guests, alien or spiritual, were probably within the room listening and watching the proceedings. No doubt there was a strange presence in that room. I have to admit I had a problem sleeping on the Saturday night! We woke quite early on Sunday and after breakfast we discussed promotion and packaging of ‘The Shadow of Man’.
Various ideas were put forward by each of us with regard to the cover design. Robert and Clive were known on this recording as ‘Pendragon’. This was their collective name, like a ‘group’ name. According to myth and legend this was the name of King Arthur’s father! Why they should use this name is fairly apparent in some sections of their talk. During the afternoon we discussed advertising the album and came to some suitable arrangements regarding sales. When all of the above was ready we would send Robert copies from master tapes and they could make up their own from these.
After packing all the gear we sat for a while talking about the weekend and hoped it was worth the input. The conversation drifted back to the spiritual/alien side of things. I’m still not convinced exactly what was present in the room during recording but I’m certain there was a presence of some kind.
We all agreed we would have to meet up again sometime in the near future.
Robert and Clive had an interest in hill walking in the Highlands that summer, which could be a chance to meet up in Glasgow. As we said our goodbyes none of us knew that a chance visit to Reading over a year later, would not only confirm a presence did exist in that house, but all our three hosts had been well aware of it.
A Year Later
We continued corresponding back and forth re sales and promotion and in spring of 1993, Brian jnr prepared to visit a friend in Devon. They had agreed it would be in May and Brian would meet her in Barnstable. This then became an opportunity for me and A.M. to drop Brian off and spend a week exploring the West Country. We would visit Warminster, Stonehenge, etc, before meeting up again for the trip home. I mentioned this to Robert in one of our letters and said we would drop in and see them. He and Shelagh suggested we could stay with them at Reading over the five days and still manage our trips to Stonehenge, etc. We agreed and suggested they could also join us on the trips. We dropped Brian at Barnstable as planned and headed to Reading to meet up with our friends, who we hadn’t seen in over a year. We were welcomed as usual and saw Clive had made it too. This was to be a more relaxed visit with no recording to worry about. It was quite late when we arrived so after a couple of beers we retired to bed.
Next morning after breakfast we began working out possible trips around the West Country. The band had visited Warminster in 1984 and perhaps we could take that in today, along with Stonehenge. As we planned the journey we learned that Shelagh’s health wasn’t too good and didn’t allow her to travel long distances. This was a blow as she would have been good company on the trips. We obviously understood the situation and accepted that Robert decided to remain at home with her. Over the next four days Clive joined us as we called on some of the band’s old haunts, Stonehenge, Warminster, White Horse to name just a few. Clive was very knowledgeable with the area and good to have on board. The weather was brilliant and it was great to see these places again. We had lunch at various old inns along the way. We rarely, if at all, talked about ‘The Shadow of Man’ or any business attached to it. We all just had a break from the norm and enjoyed the freedom.
Transformation
Evenings back at the house were usually spent telling Robert and Shelagh about the trip that particular day. As usual, both were very interested and related their own experiences while visiting these areas in the past. I had taken loads of photographs on the journeys and at the house and the camera battery was reading very low. I think it was the Thursday morning when I decided to go into Reading town centre to search for batteries. Robert and Clive joined us as we strolled around the shops. The batteries were a special type and before we could find a camera shop I guessed perhaps Boot’s department store might be worth a look. As it turned out they did have them. I had the camera with me but chose to put them in later.
As we left the store Clive held the door as Robert, then me followed by A.M. began to head out into the street. There was nothing particular in my mind apart from the fact that I had got the batteries and would get more photos later.
The next moment can only be described as a shock to say the least. As Clive held the door Robert began to exit the store. I was certainly unprepared for what followed. Robert’s body broke at the waist area and the top half fell over to the left. Although his body could still be seen as normal a definite image of a small Grey took shape of his top half. The Grey lay limp in a hanging pose before it suddenly shot back into its/his body in an upright position. It was visibly smaller and I was looking down at it.
It took a few steps round Clive and into the street. I immediately followed it round Clive and as I entered the street it was the back of Robert’s body, just as normal. The Grey was visible for only 6/8 seconds.
As he let the door go Clive joined A.M. behind me and I caught up with Robert. The sites and sounds of Reading suddenly came crashing in, like it was quiet and still when I was staring at the Grey. Robert was talking about Reading in general and acting very normal. I couldn’t concentrate and kept thinking ‘Did I just imagine that?’ ‘Is he aware of what’s just happened?’ I kept staring at Robert and he seemed oblivious to it all. I hoped for some reaction but there was none. My strange look must have been more obvious than I thought and he asked was I OK? I replied I was fine and just a bit tired. Of course I wasn’t fine or tired at all.
As we wandered around Reading I became deaf to the conversation and blind to what was going on around me. I was deep in my thoughts continually cross examining myself. Did I really see that and if so, why would it occur as we innocently left a department store and entered a busy street. Why did it not happen in the house, or at least some location where it could allow closer examination? Did it wish to be seen? Why did no one else see it?
As the reality of the busy street became more apparent and my mind more exhausted, it began to feel more comfortable just to dismiss this unexpected and bizarre incident as imagination.
Of course I couldn’t do that. I saw this monstrous little Grey in perfect detail. Its darting movements when moving through Robert’s body were quite menacing and deliberate. I admit I was scared to accept what I was seeing but I still took in as much as possible. In hindsight I’m glad I didn’t turn away.
I recognized the ‘Grey’ through sketches and reports made by many UFO witnesses over the years and accepted immediately that this was what I saw. If I didn’t recognize it as this, because of its movements and appearance, I would have guessed I was looking at some kind of demonic materialisation.
On the way back to the house I was determined to confront Robert with what I saw. I couldn’t put it directly to him so I decided to question him in a roundabout way. As we arrived back at the house Shelagh began preparing tea. Clive followed her down the hallway to assist in the kitchen. Robert, A.M. and myself retired to the lounge. After a few minutes, I plucked up the courage to ask Robert, ‘How did you do that trick?’ Both he and A.M. gave me a strange look as Robert replied with a question of his own: ‘What trick was that, Brian?’
I was now on the proverbial roundabout and couldn’t get off. I had asked the question and would now hang on until I got a satisfactory reply. I goaded Robert by replying he knew fine what trick I meant. ‘Just as we left Boots department store, c’mon Robert, just at the doorway, how did you do it? Robert just stared and shrugged his shoulders. I wanted him to say what had happened and obviously he wanted me to say what I saw. After a few embarrassing minutes I told him exactly what I had seen. He looked at me for a while and then asked A.M. to go to the kitchen and give Clive a shout. He asked me not to say anything and as Clive appeared in the room. He told him that ‘Brian had witnessed something strange while wandering around the town’. Clive acted none the wiser as I said I was saying nothing! Robert then asked Clive: ‘What do you think Brian saw?’
Clive acted like he was avoiding the question for a few moments. He then sat beside me on the couch. His face became quite pale and his mood more serious. He looked at Robert then at me; we were all quite serious now. He then turned to Robert and asked, ‘I think I know what Brian saw, will it be OK to come out and say it?, Robert told him to say what was on his mind. Clive was still a bit hesitant to do so but turned towards me and asked me outright, ‘Did you see Robert’s body change?’ I replied yes and he then asked, ‘Did he change into an alien?’ I again replied yes. Clive’s face remained very pale as I asked him why he should immediately think of something so bizarre. He ignored my question and became very excited. He grabbed a pen and note book and started asking me exactly what happened. While taking notes he told me it had happened twice before. Two other people had also witnessed Robert’s transformation in recent years and although recorded, was never made public or mentioned within the UFO fraternity. Seemingly it was the same creature I had witnessed, although on both occasions it had ended during transformation. I believe the first witness had screamed causing the transformation to stop halfway. I certainly hadn’t heard of this and I must admit had I known it may have affected my stay in that house!
Shelagh was called from the kitchen and I learned she too was a witness to this. She related her experience telling me that while retiring one night Robert sat on the edge of the bed. He removed his shirt and with only a lamp light in the room, she could clearly see his body had become very small and thin. His skin was a greyish colour with a fish like scaly texture. She jumped up immediately switching on the main light to find Robert sitting his normal self on the edge of the bed. He was seemingly none the wiser and quite surprised she was alarmed. She seemed content that I too had witnessed a similar event. Only thing was I had witnessed a full body Grey totally transformed. After the initial excitement died down I was ready to ask Robert some serious questions.
Shelagh and Clive had now abandoned preparing the evening meal and were sitting with us in the lounge. My questioning to Robert was like that of a prosecutor in a courtroom. I had to ask everything now as the incident was still fresh in my mind. Robert was fairly relaxed and as we all listened we heard him attempting to piece together the jigsaw that was his life! I asked what he felt while walking out onto the street. He said he felt very hot, similar to the last two incidents. It was obvious Robert hadn’t a clue his body was changing, he wasn’t in charge of the situation.
As I said earlier, I felt a presence of some kind during the recording session. Is it the same presence that moves into and out of Robert’s body? I asked did he feel he was being used. His reply perplexed me even more when he said ‘To a certain extent’. His knowledge and seemingly interactive involvement with these beings, as heard on ‘The Shadow of Man’, had surely unlocked a doorway and allowed them through. He agreed this was very possible and through recent dreams and flashes he knew they were getting close.
He was particularity interested that the metamorphosis, as he called it, was now a full bodied grey! He wasn’t sure where it was all leading but sensed he had some kind of task to perform in the future. I believe Robert knew what was going on and was calmly accepting his strange existence with these creatures. He knew exactly where his future lay. I asked about his past but this too was clouded in mystery. He said he thinks he came to England from New Zealand as a child. I asked various questions about his younger days, but the replies were vague to say the least. Looking into his eyes I can honestly say Robert was not lying or leading me up the garden path. On the contrary, I would say he was straining to find a memory.
Clive continued to take notes as part of his ongoing investigations. He seemed surprised at some of Robert’s replies and admitted the discussions with Robert and myself were extremely productive to his investigation. I gathered Clive had usually kept his questioning aimed at Robert’s particular case and not his past life in general.
After a couple of hours I was getting quite weary at some of the non productive questioning and was happy to see Shelagh and Clive return to the kitchen to continue with the evening meal.
During the meal we tried to keep things light by discussing chapters of ‘The Shadow of Man’ and of course Shelagh’s excellent cooking.
After the meal we retired to the lounge. The discussion continued lightweight and as time passed myself and A.M. prepared to pack as we were to meet up with Brian jnr the following day.
Sometime during the evening Clive and Robert asked me to sign a paper, as part of Clive’s investigation, to say I saw Robert’s transformation. I did this without hesitation. I fully understand the reliability problems in relation to witness testimonies so was happy to oblige, and would do so again if necessary. On the Friday morning I suggested we return to the store and take photographs of Clive holding the door open. Artwork would be added almost immediately we returned home with the incident still fresh in my mind. The result is exactly what I witnessed. We returned to the house and said our goodbyes to Robert and Shelagh. We obviously didn’t realise it would be the last we would see of them.
Recent Contact
Over a year ago and completely out of the blue we received an email from Robert; it was the first contact in almost 14 years. He had been browsing our website and decided to write. We sent him a digitally re-mastered copy of ‘The Shadow of Man’.
Listening to the CD had brought back some good memories for him. He had lost contact with Clive shortly after the recordings and sadly Shelagh passed away in 2000. He particularly enjoyed hearing her voice again and I agree when he says her experiences will live on in ‘The Shadow of Man’.
Shortly after his email I decided to complete this paper on ‘The Reading Incident’. Obviously I hadn’t the space here for all the details but hopefully I have covered the main facts.
In Brief
I will now attempt to summarise this case. Over the past twenty odd years as well as working with C.E.IV, I have investigated numerous UFO cases and have conversed with hundreds of witnesses. I have worked alongside other investigators on various cases and I know they can testify to my sincerity.
We had linked up with Pendragon simply because of our total interest in Ufology and the challenge this would present. I sincerely believe meeting and working with witnesses is the only key we have to gain access to this mysterious world.
In this case I believe I got too close. Obviously something strange was going on when we first arrived at Robert and Shelagh’s home. Robert was very heavy into the doctrine that was ‘The Shadow of Man’. His mind and body were certainly possessed. He couldn’t remember much of his past and his body was changing. His doctrine and getting it out to the world had now become his life’s work. He was oblivious to the reality of everyday life around him. Clive had been taking notes from a distant investigative role, while Shelagh attempted to maintain some sanity and reality in Robert’s everyday life.
I doubt either of them knew the entirety of what was taking place. I think Robert’s personality was strong and overriding any thoughts they may have had regarding his well-being. To an extent they were working for him and something powerful was working through him. The three, who were Pendragon, were being manipulated. I have to say I believe Robert had become possessed by a formidable unknown entity. Why it chose him I cannot say. Very soon after ‘The Shadow of Man’ was complete, Pendragon broke up. That could suggest that C.E.IV were also being manipulated to complete recordings!
I believe the depth of Pendragon’s doctrine is for another time. I know when Robert speaks it is his voice but not his thoughts. It’s fitting to end with quotes from Robert’s last e-mail to me.
‘I have often thought back to those days and simply don’t understand why… I feel there was ‘something’ involved with us, intangible but very conscious and a powerful driving force’.
‘For 10 years prior to ‘The Shadow of Man’ I possessed a single-minded pursuit which I could only interpret as greater than my flicker of mortality. I was driven almost 24/7 to a purpose. I engaged accurate in psychic mediumship, was knowledgeable in how to conduct hypnotic regression, I became accurately prophetic. I never had a history of any of this talent, I simply woke up and was able to do it all, till soon after our joint work, when it all started failing’.
‘I felt I was chosen to change the world.’
‘All I can say is that wasn’t me - something outside my understanding was working through me; you glimpsed it, confirming what Shelagh had seen some years before’.
‘I think Pendragon and C.E.IV touched the edge of something very vast and unknown’.
Unquote….
I still ponder what the ultimate aim of this ‘entity’ would have been. Would it, could it have changed the future through Robert?
I believe this particular entity can only work through a human to ‘deliver’ it’s message(s) and will continue to do so, simply because that’s what it does.
Brian McMullan
C.E.IV
Glasgow, Scotland
The Shadow of Man and other C.E.IV CD titles are available from www.ceiv.co.uk
Copyright © 1993 Brian McMullan for C.E.IV
