PAUL HARESNAPE: The Exe Valley Dragon

Hi guys,

Been following your blogs since reading Nick Redfern's Three Men Seeking Monsters and have purchased several of your publications through Amazon.

Having lived in mid-Devon and now residing in Exeter, I took particular note of an article Richard Freeman posted a while back on dragons that made reference to the legend of the Cadbury Castle (Exe valley) Dragon. I have been to Cadbury Castle on many occasions (my first girlfriend lived nearby!) and the views on a clear day are stunning. I thought it a rather charming legend that this creature winged it's way across the Exe valley each night, illuminating the clouds and sky with its fiery breath whilst guarding its treasure.

Having got stuck into Richard Freeman's Dragons - More Than A Myth? I began to idly wonder if there had actually been any recorded sightings of fiery lights in the Exe valley (I'm sure we would all have known about any actual dragon sightings!). It has to be said that I wasn't expecting such a dramatic and recent sighting as I made my Google search:

Western Morning News 24/09/09:

'COULD this image provide evidence of extraterrestrial life?

The strange light was seen hovering for more than an hour over houses in Exeter.

Amateur astronomer Lee Betts, 29, believes it could be visitors from outer space – or that the sighting is at least unexplained.

Mr Betts took the photographs with the help of his telescope in the bedroom of his home in Newton St Cyres.

He saw the red cigar-shaped object hovering around 1,000ft off the ground four miles away, towards Thorverton, late on Monday night.

"I couldn't believe it at first," he said.

"The shape was about 100ft long and there were four lights coming from it initially.

"I saw it at the back of my house, which faces Thorverton, so I got my telescope set up and magnified the image 20 times and then took this picture. All this happened at around 8.45pm and it was still there an hour later.

"I've never seen anything like this before – it's unexplained.

"The shape moved slowly across the skyline and as I looked through my telescope it seemed to pivot on its central axis. It was very strange.

"It then sort of rolled around and a bright light appeared at one end of the shape.

Then, without warning, a sudden flash of light like a shooting star went across the sky."

Mr Batten, who lives with his fiancée, said he was pleased with the outcome of his photographs.

"The shape was about four miles away in the direction of Thorverton Hills," he said.

"I have been an amateur astronomer for the past three years and sightings like this are all new to me.

"Luckily, I could magnify my telescope which enabled me to take this picture with some accuracy."

He said the sky was different to normal on Monday.

"Clouds were illuminated for some reason and when I told my brother what I had seen he said the sky was also strange over Bristol where he lives," he said.

A police spokesman said they had not received any reports of sightings of a UFO in Devon."'

[bold text my addition]

A quick check on an O.S. map puts this sighting pretty much bang where the legendary dragon is said to have flown i.e. 4 miles from Newton St Cyres in the direction of Thorverton. This sighting also appeared in the Express and Echo and The Sun, and was actually described as a 'fiery' light rather than a 'red' light; the image shown on the attached report would appear to support the former. Not surprisingly, the Press have adopted the UFO angle on this and there is no doubt a simple explanation for what he saw that involves neither aliens nor legendary winged creatures.

However, as I sit and type this on a moonlit winter's night, I can't help but wonder if he did indeed observe the Exe valley dragon as it winged its way high above the countryside between Cadbury and Dolbury, lighting up the night sky with its flaming breath....

Keep up the good work, chaps!

Paul Haresnape