Cold Cases: Case 5: The Sandown Clown
Uncanny
BBC
4.7 • 3.8K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Spring 1973, the Isle of Wight, and two young children have an truly weird encounter.
In marshland near Sandown Airport they meet a 7-foot creature with a yellow hat, three-fingered hands, and triangles for eyes.
He calls himself ‘All Colours Sam’. Was Sam an otherworldly visitor, or merely the product of a child’s imagination? And is there any connection to an epidemic of UFO sightings over the Isle of Wight at the same time?
The truth is out there - Danny, Ciaran and Evelyn investigate.
Presented by Danny Robins Experts: Evelyn Hollow and Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe Story sections by Simon Barnard Research by Ryan Whalen and Nancy Bottomley Filming and editing by Robb Leech Editing and sound design by Charlie Brandon-King Theme music by Katherine Priddy Theme co-produced by Jennifer Ann Keller Incidental music by Evelyn Sykes Commissioning executive: Paula McDonnell Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts Produced by Simon Barnard and Victoria Lloyd
A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | Can I just say? |
| 0:07.6 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast. |
| 0:10.0 | It's such a wonderful listen. |
| 0:11.7 | So nice. |
| 0:12.5 | There are loads more like it on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:14.8 | Different paces, different heights, the roof is buckling. |
| 0:17.9 | Where you can also listen to live sports commentary. |
| 0:20.2 | It's right foot goes for goal. |
| 0:21.6 | Oh! |
| 0:22.7 | And then enjoy even more podcasts full of analysis and reaction to the big stories. |
| 0:27.7 | The stat that is astonishing is they ended with the lowest amount of possession. |
| 0:31.2 | And she's had to live with that. |
| 0:32.8 | So if you love sport, a passion, it's almost like a religion. |
| 0:35.8 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:37.8 | Sort of expecting that every week now. |
| 0:42.5 | Hello and welcome to another cold case. |
| 0:46.8 | Today, we are taking you back to the 1970s. |
| 0:50.8 | A man called Norman Oliver sits alone in his study. He is the editor of the Journal of the |
| 0:56.9 | British UFO Research Association. He's used to getting reports of objects half-glimped in the sky. |
| 1:02.9 | But this letter is different. It was a truly unbelievable encounter, the letter writer says. |
| 1:08.1 | I believe that my daughter was telling the truth. Norman turns the page and a drawing of a truly weird figure stares back at him. |
... |
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