Silpho Moor "Crashed Saucer" (1957).
discreditedcrashed_disc_artifactRendlesham Forest (RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge)
A ~45 cm, 15 kg metal disc inscribed with 'hieroglyphics', reportedly found on Silpho Moor near Scarborough in Nov 1957; it contained a copper 'book' bearing an alleged alien message. Widely judged a man-made hoax; fragments rediscovered in the Science Museum archive in 2017–18.
Frank Dickenson and friends reportedly saw a glowing object land; Dickenson later bought the recovered disc for £10. A copper booklet of 17 sheets was 'translated' by cafe owner Philip Longbottom as a warning from an alien named 'Ullo' to 'improve or disappear.' Lord Dowding examined and believed it genuine, but museum/university analyses (Natural History Museum; Claringbull at the Science Museum, 1963) found no signs of atmospheric entry and concluded it was earthly—likely built from a domestic hot-water cylinder. Jenny Randles called it Britain's most costly, well-organised hoax. David Clarke identified surviving fragments in a Science Museum cigarette tin (2017–18).