Robert Taylor and Dechmont Woods
The account
A forestry worker was grabbed by two spiked spheres that came out of a craft in a clearing.
What investigators found
Police investigated it as an assault and found no culprits; a medical theory points to a neurological seizure.
The story
On the morning of November 9, 1979, forestry worker Robert Taylor, 61, was inspecting woodland near Livingston when, he said, he saw a large dome-shaped object in a clearing. Two smaller spheres covered in spikes reportedly rolled toward him and tugged at his trousers. Taylor noticed a strong smell and passed out.
He returned home with torn clothes and scratches, and Scottish police opened an assault investigation, something rare in UFO cases. There were marks on the ground that were never definitively explained. One theory is that Taylor suffered a neurological seizure with hallucinations, but he always stood by his account.