The Ilkley Moor Figure
1987 · Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire · England
WHAT IT IS
A former police officer's photo of a small humanoid figure on the moor, taken during a reported missing-time episode. Much argued, never resolved.
THE CASE FOR
An ex-police officer's single frame of a small figure, with a reported compass anomaly and missing time; examination of the original reportedly found no evidence of double exposure.
THE CASE AGAINST
The figure is small, blurred and unresolvable — a person on the moor fits the pixels — and the abduction narrative attached to it emerged later under hypnotic regression, the least reliable form of recall.
WHERE IT STANDS
Disputed. Serious questions remain about how it was made or what it shows, and neither side has settled them.
STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 3 SEPT 2026
THE RECORD
- DATE
- 1987
- PLACE
- Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire · England
- RECORDED BY
- Philip Spencer
- TECHNICAL
- Single colour frame at long range · original reportedly examined and found unmanipulated · figure unresolved
