TODAY marks 40 years since school children in Broad Haven sparked a massive spike in interest from UFO enthusiasts after an unusual sighting.

Interest in what happened in Broad Haven in 1977 has never dwindled and will be celebrated with a special conference today.

The Swansea UFO Network is holding a Welsh Triangle 40th Anniversary Conference examining what happened on February 4 1977.

A whole class of school children from Broad Haven Primary School saw an unusual craft land in a field next to the school as well as mysterious silver figure walking about.

Their stories were dismissed as fantasy but the children were so adamant they had seen something unusual they handed in a petition to the police station. Their head teacher later asked them to draw the UFO and was amazed at how similar their pictures were.

Randall Pugh was instrumental in bringing the story to the attention of the media and it became an overnight sensation.

The case was extensively investigated at the time and first appeared in the Western Telegraph sparking world-wide interest in what turned out to be the start of a major series of sightings in the area – dubbed ‘The Welsh Triangle’.

Dubbed Called the “West Wales flap” of 1977, the incident was second only to the “Warminster Thing” in British UFO history.

According to documents released in 2005 a secret military investigation was launched into claims that alien craft and their tall humanoid occupants were taking a particular interest in the local coastline.

Organisers of next month’s conference are looking for witnesses to UFO sightings in south-west Wales during the 1977 ‘flap’ to tell people what they saw and experienced.

The conference will be held at Broad Haven Village Hall, 10am to 5pm. Speakers confirmed so far include author Neil Spring (The Watchers), David L. Richards (UFO Wales) and special video link with Peter Paget, author of the Welsh Triangle and UFO-UK.

There will also be a visit to the UFO sighting location at the exact time it happened 40 years ago.

Tickets are £10, email Emlyn on swanseaufonet@yahoo.com to book.