UFO hunters have a wacky idea that’s straight out of this world — Scotland’s mysterious stone circles were built to defend against alien invasion.
The bizarre claims are set to be unleashed by alien experts who think monoliths and monuments dotted around the country could only have been built to fend off extra-terrestrial terror.
The alien expert singled out the Skara Brae settlement and Maeshowe, an ancient cairn, both on Mainland Orkney, as suspect sites.
Paranormal obsessive Ron Halliday, who organises the Scottish UFO and Paranormal Conference which takes place this month, reckons sketches on stones by ancient Picts could hold the answer.
Mr Halliday said: “There are Scottish objects and sites that could be related to ancient aliens.
“There are some Pictish stones with pictures of folk kind of fleeing away from things.
“ I thought maybe this kind of thing represents an attack from the sky.
“There are questions about whether Skara Brae or Maeshowe on Orkney were intended as protection from nuclear war and an ancient battle with aliens.”
Mr Halliday, who has been a paranormal investigator for 30 years, thinks the truth has been covered up.
He added: “These structures could represent something entirely different from what some archaeologists make out they are.
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“In my mind, the background to some of these ancient structures has never been satisfactorily explained.”
He said he also thinks brochs — stone towers — could also be linked to alien invaders and reckons the mysteries surrounding their origins are akin to the building of the pyramids.
He said: “These could be signals to aliens to attract their attention or to recognise that we knew there were aliens out there and that we had been visited by them.
“There’s piles of speculation about it, so here’s another possible explanation. These things may have been built to signify, to attract or defend or protect.
“There’s a whole lot of stuff that we will be covering at the conference that will be challenging. It will be interesting and stimulating for folk.”
The paranormal gathering, held in Glasgow on June 15, on is now in its tenth year.
Experts will also give talks on the Bonnybridge UFO enigma, psychic attacks, phantom ladies and ghosts.