Historian seeks Tyneside UFO society descendants

Historian Neil Storey said this picture above Pallion from Tufos' archives stood out for showing unexplained phenomena

A historian is trying to find descendants of a society that collected hundreds of UFO sighting reports on Tyneside.

Neil Storey found Tyneside UFO Society's (Tufos) archives while researching in Newcastle Library.

Mr Storey, a social historian who lectures internationally, said there were hundreds of eye witness accounts from between the 1950s and 1970s.

He is giving a free talk about his research at the library on Thursday.

Neil Storey lectures internationally about social history

Mr Storey, who has written books on subjects including crime and World War Two spies, said he had an "open mind" about UFOs and was "not trying to prove or disprove anything".

He said there was a real surge in UFO sightings in the wake of World War Two when many RAF pilots and observers reported seeing unexplainable phenomena.

"There are things in the sky that we cannot explain," Mr Storey said, adding: "The quest for what they are continues."

He said experts had analysed some of the pictures in the Tufos archives and while some could be explained, for example someone had thrown an object into the air to be photographed or there was an eerie-looking lenticular cloud, others could not.

The Tyneside UFO Society collected hundreds of reports of sightings

He said one photo in particular - taken over Pallion in Sunderland in the late 1950s or early 1960s - was of special interest, adding: "That's the one I think is strange."

Mr Storey said he had tried to track down members of Tufos but failed, adding he was especially keen to speak to descendants of the society's secretary Harry Lord who catalogued many of the witness statements as well as writing articles for the society's magazine Orbit.

"I think it's all absolutely fascinating and is a part of our history that should be properly charted," Mr Storey said.

He is planning to write a book about the Tufos archive and said he would "love" to speak to anyone connected to it.