Clifford Waycott

Waycott was a Devon & Cornwall Police constable, based at Okehampton. On the morning of October 24, 1967, he was on night patrol with PC Roger Willey in patrol car Delta Nine. They were travelling on the A3072 between Hatherleigh and Holsworthy at about 4:01 a.m. when they noticed the object.

The contemporary accounts identify Waycott as 33 years old at the time.

What Waycott said he saw

Waycott's description is valuable because it differs slightly from Willey's.

The object appeared to him as an extremely bright white light, with a somewhat diffuse or blurred appearance. In the contemporary ITN interview, he described it as being like looking through wet or rain-covered glass. He emphasized that the light wasn't simply a piercing point of light.

The two officers agreed on the important physical characteristics:

It was very bright.
It appeared to be at approximately treetop height when first observed.
It appeared to be moving ahead of their vehicle.
They perceived it as cross-shaped.
They heard no sound from it.
It appeared capable of moving away from them very rapidly.

One of Waycott's most interesting observations concerned the object's apparent acceleration. In the ITN interview he described the acceleration away from them as "terrific."

Waycott was the radio communicator