One of Britain's greatest UFO riddles refuses to go away as a new witness emerged today - 34 years after the alleged 'close encounter'.

The Government is said to have covered up 1974's event in North Wales, where scores of residents reported a massive tremor, strange lights in the sky and secret-service-style 'men in black' scouring the area.

It has been dubbed the 'Welsh Roswell' after the famous U.S. case in which aliens were allegedly found by authorities in New Mexico.

UFO believers claimed aliens crash-landed in the Berwyn mountain range and their bodies were transported by the MoD to top-secret Wiltshire research base Porton Down

No new details of the alleged incident emerged in May when hundreds of MoD documents about UFO sightings were released.

But now, fresh claims by retired gamekeeper Geraint Edwards, of Llandderfel, Denbighshire, have reopened the debate.

He told the makers of a new Channel Five documentary - being broadcast tonight - that a flying saucer hovered for 10 minutes above the mountains on February 15 1974 before it disappeared into space at impossible speed.

He said: 'It was definitely a flying saucer. It was a pity I didn't have a camera because it was there for at least 10 minutes, just hovering.

'We were on the way down to play darts when something caught our eye in the south-east, so we stopped. 'It looked like a rugger ball, but the ends of it were more pointy. When it took off, it just went like lightning on the same line as it hovered. 'I wrote it down in my diary. It was 6.45pm on the Friday night.

Three weeks before, on January 23, 1974, the villages of Llandrillo and Llandderfel, near Corwen, were rocked by a tremor measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale.

Reports of coloured lights and objects in the sky immediately afterwards, and unusual military activity in the following weeks, fuelled speculation that a UFO had crash-landed.

Farmer Huw Lloyd, 48, who was a teenager at the time, said: 'Whatever it was, it was kept quiet. I think there are things we should know about. And things that have happened have been covered up.'

Firefighter Adrian Roberts, who was thrown from his settee by the tremor in January 1974, told the programme makers: 'What are they hiding? There was a lot of military action in the area. Areas were secluded off from the public. It was about three months before anyone was allowed to go near the site.

'What people have seen and reported simply could not be made up.'

Retired North Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Elfed Roberts, who was a sergeant at the time of the UFO incident, was rushing to Llandrillo moments after the tremor with his superior when they saw the mysterious lights.

He said: 'As we were driving, all of a sudden we saw this green light in the sky ahead of us and it seemed to be an arcing light, but it was very sudden, totally unexpected, different to anything ever seen before.'
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Just watched the channel 5 program on this. I'm quite satisfied that it was just an earthquake with a bit of hype.

and let me guess
you think the earth quake caused ''earth lights '' and thats what they saw well the reports of the ufo looked nothing like earthlights heres a picture
of earth lights

I'm not a skeptic, but I know how people see different things. After watching this program I'm sure in MY mind that all this was was an earthquake.

I've honestly never heard of this account before; I'll have to read into it more.

No thats actually the aurora borealis you have posted there, a well known natural phenomenon, and not visible from Wales. Earth lights are another mystery entirely.

It is entirely possible that damage to electrical equipment, substations etc would cause strange lights, possibly a massive static buildup or any number of other possibilities that could occur during a tremor or quake.

On top of this, wales is well known for its military activity. The SAS, in those days, a very secret regiment would train in the Welsh mountains and hills, and because of its rugged terrain and numerous valleys was commonly used by RAF pilots for low altitude maneuvres.

Unfortunately I missed the program, I hope it is repeated.

UK citizens, please! I urge you, as a longtime friend, descendant, and admirer of your great nation: Don't try to have a Roswell like the US did! If you find a UFO, carry it to France and dump it.

saw the show but why now 34 years on? knowing that poor nurse suffered from all that hassle by telling the truth that she even moved away.
that gamekeeper could've backed her up then

pmsl

Just to correct and earlier point..The Aurora is visible, at times, in Wales...