Sam the Sandown Clown

Sam the Sandown Clown (or simply the Sandown Clown) is a name given to an entity described by two children, a seven-year-old girl identified pseudonymously as Fay and an unnamed boy of the same age, that was said to have been encountered near a foot bridge in the areas between the Sandown Airport and Sandown & Shanklin Golf Club ajoining Lake Common, near the village of Lake, on the Isle of Wight during early May 1973.

Encounter

The entity was described in some detail, related by the two child witnesses to have been "nearly seven feet tall" with no neck ("for his head appeared to be wedged straight onto his shoulders"), its face (or mask) having "triangle markings for eyes, a brown square of a nose, and motionless yellow lips" with "round markings" on "paper-white cheeks" and "a fringe of red hair" along the forehead. The entity was otherwise dressed in blue gloves, ripped white trousers, and a likewise ripped green tunic with a red collar, the collar being "interlocked" to a "yellow, pointed hat" covering all but the face with a "round, black knob affixed to the top" and "'wooden' antennae" attached to either side, "wooden slats" protruding out from the sleeves of the tunic and legs of the trousers. During the encounter, upon removing the "hat," the entity was seen to have "round, white ears and sparse, brown hair;" while the hands and feet of the entity had three digits each.

Some fifty yards (~46 metres) from the bridge where the entity was initially sighted, there stood a metallic, two-level "hut" with entryways but no windows, broadly comparable to a container office at a construction site. The children were invited inside, where they further observed both the upper and lower levels, relating that the lower level featured high ceilings and interior walls that were "'wall-papered' in blue-green and covered with a pattern of dials," the space being equipped with "an electric heater and simple, wooden furniture," while the upper level was "less spacious" and had a metallic floor.

According to the children, they spent what seemed to be half-an-hour or more with the entity. It first communicated using a notebook, writing a series of words and then pointing to them, as the words were not placed in a "conventional sequence," introducing itself thusly: "Hello and I am all colours, Sam." This method of communication was brief, as the entity thereafter spoke, though its mouth did not move. The children questioned the entity, asking if it was "really a man" — "No." — or if it "was a ghost" — "Well, not really, but I am in an odd sort of way." — then finally demanding "What are you then?" — to which it answered simply "You know." The entity went on to explain that it had no name, that there were others like it, and that it was "frightened of people" and that they might hurt it, the entity being unwilling or unable to retaliate. Shortly after this round of questioning, once inside the hut, the children observed as the entity ate berries, using an "odd conjuring trick" whereby the berry was inserted into an ear, reappearing out of the eye, before travelling into the mouth.

During the time of their encounter, Fay noted, the children had also observed two workers nearby repairing a post, and that these workers did not notice the entity nor the children.

Reading

• Oliver, Norman (Jan. & Feb. 1978), "Report — Extra! Ghost or Spaceman '73?", BUFORA Journal 6 (5), https://archive.org/details/BUFORA_Journal_Volume_06_No_05_JanFeb_1978