Decky Hill
Dechmont Law is a small hill in Livingston, West Lothian, affectionately known to locals as Decky Hill.And back in November 1979, it was at the center of one of Scotland's most mysterious alleged alien encounters.
Bob Taylors encounter with the mysterious spheres in Dechmont wood near Livingston in Scotland, is maybe one of the most written about cases of a close encounter in Britain.
The case stands as one of the most intriguing in British Ufology.
Around 10:30 a.m., Robert Taylor, a forestry worker employed by the Livingstone Development Corporation parked his truck off a track at the bottom of Dechmont Law, just off the busy M8 motorway.
He walked up the lower slope of the forested hill with his dog, and as he emerged into a clearing an amazing sight greeted him.
Before him in the clearing was a large, circular, sphere like object about 20' across. It appeared to be made from a dark metallic material with a rough texture like sandpaper, parts of which were transparent.
A narrow flange ran around the outside of the object.
As he approached, 2 spheres with protruding metal spikes, like an old navel mine, dropped from the object.
They were about 3' wide and made of the same dark metallic substance as the larger object.
Both spheres rolled towards, and flanked him, each rolling at the same time to his left and right foot.
With his dog now barking furiously, the spikes attached to the Bob's trousers and pulled him towards the larger sphere.
Bob heard a distinct hissing sound and smelled an acrid smell that caused him to choke.
The next thing he knew he was coming around lying face down on the grass with his dog nearby.
The strange objects had disappeared from the clearing, his legs were aching, his trousers were torn and he found he could not speak.
He crawled the rest of the way to his truck, but could not get it started, so had to walk the mile to his home in Livingston.
His wife was at home when he arrived in his disheveled state and she quickly phoned the doctor and eventually the police.
The police treated the matter seriously and returned to the site with Bob.
They found ladder shaped marks in the soil where the craft was said to have stood, and marks following the path of the mine like objects.
Although there may be several possible explanations, what has been agreed to, is that Bob Taylor was a man of character, not given to fanciful stories.
He never changed his account, never actively sought publicity, and never gained from any of the publicity generated at the time of the event.
The main explanation given by Steuart Campbell, is that Bob witnessed a mirage of Venus, which brought on an epileptic fit and caused him to hallucinate the whole encounter.
Although possible, Bob had never experienced epilepsy before or after the event, although some of his symptoms after the encounter are similar to those experienced by those with epilepsy.
Recalling the incident during an interview, he said:
It was a huge thing with a big round dome, a very dark grey color.
It had a big flange going all the way around. I could see arms sticking out of this flange, with what I took to be blades on the top.
As I stood here, 2 balls came out, 2 balls that I think would be about 3' in diameter with about 6 spikes.
They came right up beside me and I remember feeling a tug at that time, a very powerful smell, a choking sort of smell and that was it.
Taylor lost consciousness, woke up next to his truck, and when he arrived at home battered, bruised and with his clothes torn, the police recorded the matter as a common assault, one of the few examples of a UFO being involved in a criminal investigation.