Solway Firth Spaceman

Jim Templeton's photograph.

The Solway Firth Spaceman (also known as the Solway Spaceman and the Cumberland Spaceman) refers to a photograph taken by Jim Templeton in 1964 at Burgh Marsh, situated near Burgh by Sands and overlooking the Solway Firth in Cumbria, England. Templeton claims the photograph shows a background figure wearing a space suit and insists that he did not see anyone present when the photograph was taken. The image has attracted interest from ufologists and has become a source of international fascination.^[1]

Photograph

On 23 May 1964, Jim Templeton, a firefighter from Carlisle, Cumberland (now part of Cumbria), took three photographs of his five-year-old daughter while on a day trip to Burgh Marsh.^[1] Templeton said the only other people on the marshes that day were a couple of old ladies sitting in a car at the far end of the marsh. In a letter to the Daily Mail in 2002, Templeton stated, "I took three pictures of my daughter Elizabeth in a similar pose - and was shocked when the middle picture came back from Kodak displaying what looks like a spaceman in the background."^[2] Templeton insists that he did not see the figure until after his photographs were developed, and analysts at Kodak confirmed that the photograph was genuine.^[1]

Publicity

Templeton told reporters, "I took the picture to the police in Carlisle who, after many doubts, examined it and stated there was nothing suspicious about it. The local newspaper, the Cumberland News, picked up the story and within hours it was all over the world. The picture is certainly not a fake, and I am as bemused as anyone else as to how this image appeared in the background. Over the four decades the photo has been in the public domain, I have had many thousands of letters from all over the world with various ideas or possibilities - most of which make little sense to me." Templeton stated that he had not pursued or experienced financial gain as a result of distributing the photograph.^[2]

Templeton claims to have been visited after the photograph was published by two men from "Her Majesty's Government" who refused to show their identification, referred to each other as numbers, and asked him questions about the activities of local bird life and the weather conditions on the day of the photograph. Templeton claims that when he refused to admit the photo was of a passer-by, the men became angry and drove away leaving him stranded on the marsh five miles from home.^[1]

In a BBC Look North interview and a letter to The Daily Mail, Templeton also claimed that a Blue Streak missile launch at the Woomera Test Range had been aborted because the figures of two large men were seen on the firing range. Templeton alleged that technicians later saw his photograph in an Australian newspaper and found the figures to be "exactly the same type of man, same dress, same figure, same size".^[2][3]

Responding to a request from UFOlogists to know if the photo was of interest to the authorities, an MoD official said that the Templeton photo was of no interest to the MoD.^[4]

Jim Templeton continues to attend UFO conventions to discuss his photograph, he has also gone on to become a published poet with his book "Jelhead" and is well known on the poetry performance scene.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Lytollis, R. "E.T. phone Cumbria". Times & Star, 7 July 2007. Retrieved on 4 November 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Whitehaven News "[1] Famous UFO sightings from the past
3. ^ "Jim Templeton interview". BBC Look North. BBC. BBC One. January 10, 2008. No. 1/1.
4. ^ "Government not doing enough to investigate sightings, says Cumbrian UFO expert". News & Star. 13 August 2011. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/features/government-not-doing-enough-to-investigate-sightings-says-cumbrian-ufo-expert-1.867552?referrerPath=news/updated_city_council_agrees_airport_expansion_plan. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 

External links

• Thompson, A. "Famous UFO sightings from the past". Whitehaven News (16 August 2005).
• Story, Chris. "Suspected UFO sighting leads to Cumbria hotspot claim.". News & Star (25 February 2009).