The following article was published by The Mirror on June 22, 2015, and is archived here for reference. All copyrights are credited to their respective owners:
A rare sketch said to have been drawn by John Lennon appears to record an alien encounter the former Beatle experienced in America.
Russ Kellett, is known for investigating the 1974 UFO Berwyn Mountains incident in North Wales, involving theories of an extraterrestrial craft crashing in the area.
A few months ago he bought the sketch, supposedly by Lennon, reports the Daily Post.
It seems to detail an encounter the musician had with a flying saucer in New York – the same year as the North Wales incident.
Lennon, whose first wife Cynthia died earlier this year and once lived in Ruthin, was said to have made a number of drawings following the sighting.
He claimed he was standing on the balcony of his apartment on August 23 1974, with former girlfriend May Pang.
The pair claimed to have seen a flying saucer hovering silently over them.
In Lennon’s song Nobody Told Me he appears to refer to the incident with the lyric “There’s a UFO over New York and I ain’t too surprised.”
Mr Kellett, an avid collector of UFO material and a Beatles fan, said when he was the chance to acquire the sketch, he jumped at the opportunity.
He said: “A friend of mine told me it was becoming available from a private collector and I thought, this was a double dream for me.
“I am a massive collector of all things UFO and have a huge archive and am a collector of Beatles memorabilia.
“I have a leather jacket worn by John Lennon in 1969 up until 1974. So this was fantastic.
“It is one of a few he made he made of the incident.
“This one shows him on the balcony pointing into the sky at the object which says UFO on it.”
However, Mr Kellett remained tight-lipped over how much he paid for the sketch and said it is stored away in a bank vault.
Mr Kellett has been researching the Berwyn Mountains mystery for years.
On January 23, 1974, local people reported hearing a huge bang, felt earth tremors and saw a brilliant light in the sky above the range.
Families in the villages of Llandderfel and Llandrillo were settling down to watch television when they heard an explosion and the ground shook.
The eruption measured 3.5 on the Richter scale.
As people ran from their homes fearing another tremor, they saw a blaze of light on the mountainside.
A nurse who believed an aircraft had crashed drove to the site said she saw a pulsating orange and red glow on the hillside and other lights.
Mr Kellett believes at least one extraterrestrial UFO may have crashed that night in the mountains.
Meanwhile others believe the unusual occurrence was nothing more than a coincidental combination of an earthquake, a meteor shower and poacher’s lights on the mountainside.
Shortly after this story was published by The Black Vault, The Daily Post published a story on the 24th of June saying that the drawing was a fake:
John Lennon UFO sketch ‘a fake’ claims star’s former girlfriend May Pang
The former girlfriend of John Lennon is reported to have claimed a rare drawing of a UFO by the Beatles legend, acquired by an expert on one of North Wales’ greatest mysteries, is a fake.
Russ Kellett, is known for investigating the 1974 UFO Berwyn Mountains incident involving theories of an extraterrestrial craft crashing in the area.
Mr Kellett said a few months ago he bought Lennon’s sketch of an encounter he had with a flying saucer in New York – the same year as the North Wales incident.
However May Pang, who was with Lennon at the time of their alleged UFO sighting in New York, has reportedly told the online magazine examiner.com it is a fake.
She is reported to have said: “Seriously???!!!! This is not anything close to his drawing style. He never drew another one of the UFO sketch when he was with me. I have that one. He definitely would not draw one when he was living with Yoko and me in the pic.”
However Mr Kellett, an avid collector of UFO material and Beatles memorabilia, said it was known that Lennon had produced more than one sketch of their encounter in 1974.
He said: “Lennon is known to have produced four drawings of the encounter. May Pang has one, another is known to have sold for about £54,000 at an auction held by Cooper Owen, and there are two others. I have one.
“I know my stuff and the sketch I have is one drawn by John Lennon.”
Mr Kellett would not say how much he paid for the drawing, but said it was now being stored in a bank vault.
Lennon, whose first wife Cynthia died earlier this year and once lived in Ruthin, claimed he was standing on the balcony of his apartment on August 23 1974, with former girlfriend May Pang.
The pair claimed to have seen a flying saucer hovering silently over them.
In Lennon’s song Nobody Told Me he appears to refer to the incident with the lyric “There’s a UFO over New York and I ain’t too surprised.”
Mr Kellett has been researching the Berwyn Mountains mystery for years.
On January 23, 1974, local people reported hearing a huge bang, felt earth tremors and saw a brilliant light in the sky above the range.
There was an explosion and the ground shook, measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale.
As people ran from their homes fearing another tremor, they saw a blaze of light on the mountainside.
A nurse who believed an aircraft had crashed drove to the site said she saw a pulsating orange and red glow on the hillside and other lights.
Mr Kellett believes at least one extraterrestrial UFO may have crashed that night in the mountains.
Meanwhile others believe the unusual occurrence was nothing more than a coincidental combination of an earthquake, a meteor shower and poacher’s lights on the mountainside.
This post was published on June 29, 2015