Bonsall UFO Video (2000)

The sighting

In October 2000 Sharon Rowlands, a Derbyshire woman in her forties, filmed an object above Bonsall Moor, near her home in Bonsall in the Derbyshire Dales. According to the Patrick Gross UFO site, she had previously been a disbeliever. Press accounts describe a roughly six-minute camcorder recording. Some later write-ups give a precise time of 21:15 on 5 October 2000, but I could not confirm that against a primary source, so only the month is treated as firm.

Rowlands described the object as resembling a giant disc "with a bite taken out of the bottom." Newspapers reported it as several miles across, with yellow, orange and blue lights, a dark centre and pulsing light. The footage reportedly shows the object hovering, shifting sideways, flashing and turning over before vanishing in a red flash. Rowlands said she was about two miles away when she filmed it.

The sale and the dispute

The Derbyshire Times and the Matlock Mercury reported that a US company, Kiviat Productions, had paid Rowlands £20,000 for the footage. The Patrick Gross site adds that NASA was "allegedly" interested, because the object resembled one seen during a space-shuttle mission. The sale is disputed. Santiago Yturria, who had supplied footage to the company, said no money changed hands. Robert Kiveat, linked to the company, said he was unaware of the story, that no deal had been completed, that a UK agent had acted on his behalf, and that the arrangement collapsed once the newspapers became involved. He had not seen the footage.

The spelling of Kiveat's name varies between sources, and the sale figure rests on press reports that the people involved dispute. It should not be treated as established. Any claim about the footage's value would need documentary evidence of a contract or payment.

Analysis and skeptical view

No official investigation has been found. Nick Pope, the former Ministry of Defence UFO desk officer, has said that he no longer investigates such reports officially and refers local witnesses to civilian groups such as the British UFO Research Association. The case therefore has no official government file that could be checked.

The main sceptical argument comes from a UFO researcher who viewed the full footage and judged the object to be closer to 50 feet across than the miles described in the press. That reading would place the object much nearer the camera, which makes a conventional explanation, such as a nearby light or a small object, more plausible. The same researcher called the footage "not sensational," and said the £20,000 figure was far more than it was worth. Without the original file, its metadata or independent analysis, neither the size nor the nature of the object can be settled.

Why it matters

The Bonsall video shows how a single amateur recording can gain fame and commercial value before anyone has tested it. It also sits among many British sightings that reached the public through regional and tabloid press rather than official channels. The story shows how quickly claims of money and government interest spread once a newspaper runs them, and how hard they are to verify afterwards.

Credibility is rated contested. The witness appears sincere and the footage exists, but its scale, the sale and its significance are all open questions. The main sources are regional press reports and a fan-run UFO site, so the claims are presented with attribution rather than as settled fact.