Over a period of two years Roo Lewis photographed the Welsh town of Port Talbot which, according to actor Michael Sheen, has an ‘extremely high number of UFO sightings’. However, the resulting book Port Talbot UFO Investigation Club is not a study of UFO sightings but instead uses the phenomena as a starting point to explore the people, landscape and folklore of the town.
“My grandfather, a proud Welshman, grew up in Pembrokeshire. When visiting, we would head West on the motorway passing Port Talbot on the way. My brother and I had our noses pressed up against the window staring at the space station-like structures which we now know to be Blast Furnace 4 and 5. Pub stories in Port Talbot boast of Ridley Scott’s inspiration for the opening scene of Blade Runner—the steelworks ‘flaring’ at night ejecting huge flames into the clouds—a skyline beautiful on fire. It’s a wildland with a wild heart and everyone just walks around like it’s normal.
“Music legends, television stars, scientists, sports professionals and Hollywood actors including Richard Burton, Antony Hopkins and Michael Sheen—who claims Port Talbot is a hub for UFO sightings—all hail from the town. I wondered what was it about this place that produced so many icons and why did the aliens want to visit it so often?
“There is magic to this town—a romance in the history, the people, the rhythm, the folklore. Growing up Richard Burton was banished from his home when practising his projection (an event too loud for a small house) so instead he would go outdoors sounding off across the valleys. They say you can still hear his voice rolling around the mountains.
“My investigation has been about Welsh power and the drive to succeed. The power of hope—we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Do the lights in the sky represent hope?
“This monograph isn’t a study in UFO sightings, rather, this is the vehicle I use to tell positive stories of the weird and wonderful—of those who remind us what it is to be human. It’s about dreaming. It’s about being lost and found all at the same time.
“My father used to say, it’s important to judge something for what it is—not what it isn’t. Port Talbot is a dreamland—the town revolves around the steelworks like living room furniture pointing at the television set. But within a few minutes’ walk you can go from the top of a mountain over sand dunes to the longest beach in Wales. Every summer the sea glows a fluorescent blue hue from visiting plankton. All under the watchful eye of one of the largest integrated steelworks in the world. The human story is very much alive—it’s in the air, the hearts and literally carved into the landscape with twisted metal pointing skyward. If you care to look the other way you might see something amazing.
“The project is a love letter to the wonderful town of Port Talbot and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be showing at Oriel Colwyn.
“God bless Port Talbot and God bless beautiful Wales.”
– Roo Lewis
Port Talbot UFO Investigation Club – Published by GOST Books (2023)
Images from the book have been shown at the National Portrait Gallery, London and the Royal Academy, London.
The project has been featured by the BBC, The Guardian, Dazed & Confused, AnOther Magazine and many more.
