There is very little in the historical record about Broad Haven. There are several old farms and churches nearby, but the village itself barely features in records until the 19th century when it first began to attract visitors. The lack of interest continued until a brief flurry of notoriety in the 1970s when The Sun carried a prominent story ‘Spaceman Mystery of the Terror Triangle’
This was based on a 4 February 1977 incident when 14 school children claimed a UFO had landed in the neighbouring field and a silver-suited figure had descended. Their teacher ignored them, but the pupils claimed they saw the craft again after school. They were ignored by teachers and parents alike, so the primary pupils handed in a formal report to the police with a demand the incident be investigated properly. Their sceptical headmaster asked them to draw the craft and was surprised to find the pictures were strikingly similar: a saucer-shaped UFO with a dome on top.
Soon after the Coombs family at nearby Ripperston Farm reported a number of UFO sightings from their car and a 7-ft silver-suited being with a black visor outside their window. They also complained of constant car and television breakdowns and cows mysteriously moving from one field to another despite closed gates.
There is also a clear link to Glebe House. Its then owner, Rose Granville, claimed to have seen a saucer-shaped UFO outside the window of the Haven Fort Hotel which she had recently bought. She claimed to have seen white boiler-suited humanoid figures emerge from the UFO to inspect the ground and gather material. She rushed to fetch hotel residents to see the spectacle, but both UFO and the figures had gone by the time she returned. Somewhat distressed, Rose wrote to her MP and was visited by an RAF officer who politely listened to her story and professed himself mystified.
Although the media quickly dubbed this flurry of reports ‘The Broad Haven Triangle’, hoaxers were certainly at least partially responsible. Silver suits are heavily used at nearby oil refineries and several locals have since admitted taking part in pranks. Also, anyone who has been to the now-defunct Haven Fort or met Rose’s daughter, Francine (as I have) might want to take eye-witness accounts from such sources with a pinch of salt.