Explanations
It has been suggested by investigative science writer Steuart Campbell that Taylor actually witnessed a mirage of Venus, which induced an epileptic fit causing him to hallucinate the whole encounter. According to Robert Taylor, he had never experienced epilepsy before or after the event.
The indentations have been described as being that of heavy construction equipment. CID Detective Sergeant Ian Wark investigating the case checked all the forestry equipment used in the area; none of it had tracks that matched and there were no construction vehicles in the vicinity.
Earlier during his investigation of the Livingston incident Steuart Campbell suspected that Robert Taylor had observed an exotic form of natural phenomena termed “black ball lightning”. This is an apparent variation of conventional ball lightning that somehow acquires a dark hue, patchy discolouration and/or an opaque aspect. However, while seemingly consistent with the sightings’ short duration and providing a potential explanation for the “sea mines”, their behaviour and possibly some of the physiological effects, the theory has many notable drawbacks. To begin with, the physical traces had no associated scorching or burning of the type one would expect of such an effect. Other aspects of the “sea mine” forms suggest they were physical objects capable of grasping Taylor, gripping and tearing his trousers and seemingly dragging him a short distance towards the object. It is equally of note that the witness had close contact with these forms without experiencing sensations of heat, burning or an electrical discharge of any kind, his dog also seemingly being unharmed. Finally (perhaps the most significant factor of all) the prevalent meteorological conditions were not notably conducive with the formation of ball lightning.
A theory by author David Slater, proposes that Taylor’s experience may have been a belladonna induced hallucination that triggered memories of a recently aired Doctor Who episode in which a spaceship of similar appearance featured. It suggests the ground markings likely have a prosaic explanation such as post holes left over from a den that once occupied the site. The illustrated on-line article, Spaceships, Spheres and the Devil’s Herb, is admittedly speculative.
Read more about this topic: Robert Taylor Incident
Famous quotes containing the word explanations:
“Financiers are great mythomaniacs, their explanations and superstitions are those of primitive men; the world is a jungle to them. They perceive acutely that they are at the dawn of economic history.”
—Christina Stead (1902–1983)
“We operate exclusively with things that do not exist, with lines, surfaces, bodies, atoms, divisible time spans, divisible spaces—how could explanations be possible at all when we initially turn everything into images, into our images!”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“In the nineteenth century ... explanations of who and what women were focused primarily on reproductive events—marriage, children, the empty nest, menopause. You could explain what was happening in a woman’s life, it was believed, if you knew where she was in this reproductive cycle.”
—Grace Baruch (20th century)