John Palmer describes himself as just an ordinary bloke, but he has been mocked by those around him, and ridiculed on social media, after claiming to have seen an NHS dentist near his home town of Lowestoft.
John told us, “My family don’t believe me, and I’m getting a lot of ribbing at work, but I know what I saw. There was this bright light and I felt numb and couldn’t speak. To cap it all I remember my wallet getting lighter, but not by much. That was the weird thing.”
Professor Jane Whitehouse at the University of East Anglia has investigated many such claims. “Suffolk seems to have become a magnet for these sightings, and the explanations for them vary”, she told us. “Mistakes often arise during other normal encounters, such as with a chiropodist, or a proctologist or even a weather balloon. But, in extreme cases, people will claim to have been abducted and have had some form of oral surgery performed.”
Sightings now are perhaps rarer than in the past, but the debate over NHS dentists can still get inflamed. Conspiracy theories are rife, most claiming the Government is aware of their existence and have a file, but trying to extract further information is like pulling teeth.
As for John he can’t wait until the fuss dies down. “All I can do is take the joshing and keep on smiling.” he says. And what a nice smile it is.
