Vocabulary

funny	forecast	unidentified
used to	right (3)	foot/feet (2)
accent	defense	frightened
fun	base (2)	disappear
though	through	government
across	surprised	walk through
shiny	step (2)	octagonal
column	controls	instrument
ill	purpose	take off (2)
scream	thought	high-pitched
follow	strange	climb over
hide	land (2)	fascinating

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Journalist: Mr. Burton, you say that you have seen a UFO. Is that right?

Mr. Burton: Yes. Absolutely right. It happened just over a year ago.

Journalist: And where was this?

Mr. Burton: Near my home in Oldershot, in the south of England. I live near the big military base in Oldershot.

Journalist: What time of day was it?

Mr. Burton: It was about one o’clock in the morning. I was out fishing. The weather forecast said it was going to be a warm, clear night, with no clouds — and that’s perfect for fishing.

Journalist: And what happened?

Mr. Burton: Well I saw a bright light coming towards me at about 300 feet. And then it started to land. It was behind some trees, but I could see it clearly because there was a full moon.

Then I saw two forms coming towards me. And when they were about five feet away from me, they just stopped and looked at me for a good ten or fifteen seconds.

Journalist: What did they look like?

Mr. Burton: They were quite small, about four feet tall, dressed in green suits from head to foot. And they had helmets of the same color with a red visor — so I couldn’t see their faces. They both carried space guns.

Journalist: Did they speak to you?

Mr. Burton: Yes, the one on the right said, ‘come this way please.’
Journalist: Weren’t you frightened? I mean, weren’t you surprised that they spoke English?

Mr. Burton: They spoke in a funny accent. It sounded more like a machine talking than a person. No I wasn’t frightened. I don’t know why.

The one who spoke started to walk towards the light, and I followed him with the other one behind me.

We got to a wall and the first form just WALKED THROUGH IT! I couldn’t believe it! I had to climb over it. And then we got to the spaceship.

Journalist: What did that look like?

Mr. Burton: It was about 45 feet across, and silver; very, very shiny. And there were round windows all around the side.

Journalist: Did you go inside?

Mr. Burton: Yes, I did. There were steps going up and we went into an octagonal room. I stood there for about ten minutes. The walls, the floor and the ceiling were all black. I couldn’t see any controls or instruments. But there was a central column going up from the floor to the ceiling, about four feet wide, right in the middle of the room.

Journalist: Where there any more of these forms?

Mr. Burton: No, just the two. Suddenly one of them said, ‘stand under the red light.’ I couldn’t see any red light. But then I moved to the right, and then I could see it on the wall, just under the ceiling.

I stood there for about five minutes. And then a voice said, ‘what is your age?’ I said, ‘74.’ Then they told me to turn around.

After about five more minutes, one of them said, ‘You can go. You are too old and ill for our purposes.’ So I left and went back to the river.

Journalist: Did the spaceship take off?

Mr. Burton: Yes. I heard a very high-pitched noise — like a scream — and the thing took off straight into the sky, and disappeared. I sat by the river and watched it go. This was about two o’clock.

Journalist: Then what did you do?

Mr. Burton: The next morning I went to the police. And in the afternoon someone from the Ministry of Defense came to my house to interview me. He told me to keep quiet about the whole thing, and tell absolutely no one. I thought this was very strange. But I did as he told me.

Journalist: Why have you decided to tell people about it now?

Mr. Burton: Because I want people to know what happened to me. I didn’t used to believe in UFOs, but now I know they exist! I think governments are trying to hide something. People have a right to know.

Journalist: Thank you Mr. Burton very much. A fascinating story.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

101. Mr. Burton was talking with some friends in a pub (bar). Is this true or false?

102. Was he searching for UFO’s at night? When and where did Mr. Burton say he saw a UFO? Describe the weather and the scene.

103. What happened?

104. The aliens looked like Earthlings (humans). Is this right or wrong? What did the aliens look like? Did they speak perfect English?

105. Did Mr. Burton take them to his house?

106. The spacemen all of Mr. Burton’s money, and took him with them back into space. Is this correct or incorrect? Why did they release Mr. Burton?

107. Did Mr. Burton tell anyone? What did they say? Why did he speak to journalists?

108. “I live near a big military base.” What could this mean?
 
 
 
A. Have you or your friends seen a UFO?

B. Are there lots of news reports about UFOs?

C. Do you think UFOs exist? Do you believe UFOs exist?

D. What are some possible explanations for UFOs?

E. Would you like to go in a spaceship? Would you like to travel in a spaceship?

F. What will happen in the future?

G. What should or could people, scientists and governments do?