Friday, April 16, 2010

Strange Angels Part Two


The 'conversation' between Mrs. Hingley and the entities went on as oddly as it had started. They seemed to state in a fairly obscure way that they 'came from the sky,' the three beings flew to a picture of Jesus on the wall and began talking about "Jesus and his welfare, Tommy Steele (widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star), the place of the woman in the home, the Queen, children, babies, and back to Jesus again." The beings seemed to observe the room for a bit longer and she asked them if they would like something to drink. They asked for water, which Mrs. Hingley got for them, also thoughtfully adding holiday mince pies to their order! When the ever solicitous Mrs. Hingley tried to show them how to smoke a cigarette, they fled outside, with wings closed-but didn't leave behind their mince pies:-).

Through the window she observed "an orange glowing thing" parked in the garden (presumably the same craft she had spied earlier); when the "fairies" boarded, it took off towards the north. The whole incident had lasted about an hour.

Once the "fairies" had departed Mrs. Hingley "jumped" onto the floor, where she lay in agony. Finally, she managed to get into a chair. A tall figure robed in white appeared by her television set for a minute or two, then faded out of existence-as if the days events hadn't been enough already! At about 5 p.m., she felt "sufficiently recovered to make tea for her husband."

This case also presented some fascinating physical trace evidence: snow on the garage roof had melted away, and there was an 8ft (2.4 m)- long impression in the snow on the lawn in the garden. The impressed snow melted quickly "and grass would not grow there for more than a year afterwards." Other strange 'evidence' after the "fairies" departure included the radio and TV not working, cassette tapes that the beings had handled were scrambled, a 5-8 (12.7-20 cm)- diameter circle was etched into the glass back door, and Mrs. Hingley's gold wedding ring had turned white on the outside.

Mrs. Hingley herself suffered physical ailments from an aching jaw, horrendous headaches, blackouts, and sore eyes for weeks after the encounter. Mrs. Hingley also developed a 'wild talent' (moreso than she already possessed it appears from the reports) after the encounter. She now had telepathic powers! Albert Budden reports she was able to 'scan' others and obtain private information at times...The investigators [Stephen Banks, Martin Keatman and Andy Collins] were amazed when Jean suddenly told them the central details of an unrelated case they were working on."

It was in 1988 that Budden came to the conclusion that Jean Hingley had had a close encounter with an 'Earthlight' in an area of high electromagnetic activity, and that this had caused her to hallucinate. But let's say for the sake of argument that Budden is correct. What then caused the physical evidence? The original aftereffects she suffered. Her telepathy? Note: not that I am saying only an otherworldly encounter could have caused these!

In 1995 Budden published a book that painted Mrs. Hingley as a poorly educated orphan. HOWEVER-it also noted that she was a sharp-witted, intelligent, down-to-earth, and sensible woman. She had been judged to be trustworthy enough to have fostered a number of children. She had also had 'psychic' experiences all her life-her encounter with the "fairies" had just deepened her talent. The initial investigators also knew that she was very religious (as opposed to the States it would be a fairly uncommon sight to have a picture of Jesus in the living room). Andy Collins noted that, from her description, the winged 'aliens' had a strong resemblance to the fairy that those same aliens had so rudely and rather mockingly ("Nice?") shaken from the Christmas tree; he also reported that "a few days after the encounter the Christmas tree vanished from the living room. Two days later it reappeared in pieces in the back garden, without its ornaments...These gradually reappeared, over several days, just outside the garden.

It was discovered during the course of the investigation that Jean Hingley had been a member of a local, semi-fundamentalist church and had had a dispute with a group of people who went there also not long before the encounter. Other researchers noticed that the 'alien fairies' showed no respect-even derision-for the most important people and symbols of the most widely celebrated time in the Western church's calendar. The beings would continually bring the conversation back to Jesus ("and his welfare"). The similarities between the floating aliens and the Yule fairy (itself interchangable with an angel, according to one's belief structure) atop the Christmas tree, seems to allude to the Christmas spirit itself was showing how artificial-even inane it had become. The Christmas tree disappeared or was made to disappear and came back in pieces without its gaudy decorations. A commenter on the case who had noted Mrs. Hingley's selfless dedication to being a good hostess to the fairies, and the discussion about the Queen and the role of the woman in the house (even managing to make tea for her husband after this incredible experience) has said "it's hard not to see some manifestation of repressed domestic anxiety at play" here.

To be continued...

11 comments:

Michael said...

A fascinating article. I was reading some erotic homo fiction (you know my vice) and it featured some teenagers exploring a large woods behind their backyard. They found a rusty old fence with a sign that said KEEP OUT and that it was an old government installation. They of course DID trespass, and I was reminded how perhaps this story represents the decay of respect for the government over the years, that we see it as a rusted out shell, much like these fairies treated the Christmas Tree and the religion it has come to represent - a rusted out hollow shell of what if formerly was. Something to be trespassed if we are to find any true meaning.

Devin said...

Michael - thanks so much for your intelligent and kind comment!!!!!!
there is nothing wrong with erotic homo fiction :-)
I agree with your analysis of what the religion has become - not only a hollow shell- but used to promote hatred by the rabid right wing
sorry I am so late publishing your comment - I didn't realize I had one - usually email lets me know - and I havent been signing into blogger
if my connection stays (it has been out for over 12 hours today as far as i am aware of) i will try to get round to your blog this eve or am -
all the best in the world to you and Varen my friend!!!!!!!!!!

X. Dell said...

Hope you don't mind, but I just had to google Hingley after reading about her in the previous post.

I think I get where you're coming from here. Is the rational explanation here more accurate, perhaps, than others?

I don't know, of course, but it seems to me that when something is valid, it fits a number of forms of understanding. It's like knowing that a jigsaw puzzle piece is in its correct place. It doesn't simply conform to one set of understandings, but to many. The color and tone has to blend in to the pieces that you put it next to. It has to not only fit, but do so in a certain way. It's only after we've tested the pieces using more than one bit of knowledge that we're completely confident that the puzzle piece occupies its correct place.

In this manner, I wouldn't suggest an opposition of science and, say, ESP or anything else. I would have to feel that if its valid on another level, then the phenomenon would also be valid on a scientific level. The problem comes not from science itself, but the practice of science. after all, scientists are humans, and as such they cannot be completely objective. There are cliques, and favored viewpoints, not because science dictates it, but because scientists will it.

That being said, a logocentric response to Hingley's exerience could validly produce various hypotheses to test. So I really don't think it's a bad idea to propose Earthlights if one is inclined to either design a test for them, or test them as an educated guess, or weigh that explanation against others.

Yeah. I know you didn't propse that. Still, the scientific and technological possibilities that this encounter raises strike me as profound enough to ponder. For starters, I wonder if anyone saw a minute shift in the Earth's tectonic plates (the phenomenon usually associated with Earthlights). Like Jung, I would wonder if that's one of those weird things we see in life, which in days of yore might have been interpreted as sprites, pixies, elves, and so on.

I find Michael's comment interesting because it parallels a possible semiotic meaning behind Hingley's recollection of events.

Devin said...

Hi Xdell - thanks so much for your wonderful comment !!!!!
I enjoyed your thoughts about scientists and their objectivity and other things - I also thought Michael's comment was interesting in relation to the semiotic explanation- this is a bizarre case -well obviously i guess haha-
there is a bit more to this series=not much -sorry so slow getting it here-
your friend always!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

LOL! Devin where do you find these stories? The topics in the discussion coupled with her seemingly down to earth background do make me scratch my head.

I am at a loss for words my friend but this was a fascinating read nonetheless.

Alex Robinson said...

Hiya Devin
I was reminded of the strangeness of dreams in this tale, how they often seem so disjointed & have very weird components & yet we seem to accept them, at the time, as somehow normal!

The physical after effects do certainly suggest that this was more than a dream (or then again perhaps it was a dream that was more than reality!)

I am hoping that you are very well (& keeping cool :) xxoo

Middle Ditch said...

An interesting read as always Devin

Devin said...

Ricardo - Alex -and Middle Ditch- please accept my apologies in answering these so late- i am having connection probs again - and i just got on after being offline for awhile- it looks like the connection will stay - but I might be going out for a bit or a bite to eat haha- i have what i think will be the conclusion to this ready to type up - and will do it this am with any luck- and visit your blogs if u have updated- yes keeping cool here alex - until tomorrow haha- and next week:-( I will give the source at the end of the article Ricardo should have done that already - well if anything wish me luck if 2nite is my first official date since Nando haha;-)
all the best to all of you!!!!!!!!

X. Dell said...

Note to Ricardo: these are the kind of topics dramatic writers such as yourself could readily explore.

Anadæ Quenyan Effro said...

Yay! Look Devin, look! Our blogging bud, Greggerman, recently wrote a blog about yours over on his, Mythulinity. Whoa, bro. Now you, too, have reached mythological status. LOL! And ain't that what the other father of psychology, Carl Gustav Jung, said about strange cases like Mrs. Jean Hingley's, that they were a modern myth manifesting itself in the modern day world? Really, really odd case this one. Lookin' forward to its conclusion ~ (•8-D

Devin said...

Xdell and Anadae thanks so much for stopping by!!
if all goes well I am going to start typing the conclusion here in a few minutes - i am a lousy typist so it might take a bit for it to be here:-)that is so nice about Mythulinity Anadae - I will stop by and say thanks - haha was wondering if I dare look -I haven't been Mr run run blogger lately- all the best to you!!!!