Rolling Stone ex Jo Wood is known for her interest in all things alternative, but her own close encounters of the extraterrestrial kind take this passion to another level. Crazy or credible? You decide…
The first time I saw a UFO, I was on a beach in Recife on the eastern coast of Brazil more than 20 years ago, but I’ll never forget that night. I was on holiday with my Rolling Stone ex-husband Ronnie, when one evening around midnight I heard him shout, ‘Jo, come outside!’ I assumed something awful had happened and raced out of our beach hut.
‘Growing up, I’d always been fascinated with aliens and other galaxies. My father was interested in space travel, so I must have got it from him,’ says Jo Wood
Hovering over the ocean was this strange object. There were lights shining down from it that reflected off the water. I watched as it slowly rose up and glided sideways across the sky. Then suddenly – whoosh – it zoomed off at supersonic speed and was gone.
It was like nothing I had ever seen on earth – nothing manmade can move like that. The next day, news of the UFO was on the front page of the local paper. We weren’t the only ones who had seen it that night.
But this wasn’t my last UFO sighting. Years later I was on a Stones tour plane, 36,000 feet above South America, when a blue-green orb floated alongside the window. My son Tyrone, who was 15 at the time, saw it too. I had the same feeling as I did on the beach in Brazil: that it was not from this planet.
Growing up, I’d always been fascinated with aliens and other galaxies. My father was interested in space travel, so I must have got it from him. I remember seeing him reading a magazine and a particular headline caught my eye: ‘Was God an astronaut?’ It really captured my imagination – was that a halo around his head or a space helmet? My sense of curiosity about outer space and alien life grew and grew. I’d often lie in bed and wonder: what’s out there? The universe is so big – bigger than we can imagine. We can’t be the only living beings. That would be incredibly lonely.
‘In each episode of my podcast, Alien Nation with Jo Wood, I interview a guest about their experiences of the extraterrestrial and their opinions on the theories out there’. JO WEARS SHIRT AND TROUSERS, ARKET. TRAINERS, JIGSAW. EARRINGS, SUE RYDER.
After my UFO sightings, I devoured American documentary series, such as UFO Files and Ancient Aliens, and read every book I could find on the subject. It became an obsession. So when my friend, the radio producer Mike Hanson, asked me if I wanted to make my own podcast, I knew that it had to be about aliens. With so many theories and counter-theories around about extraterrestrial life, I feel I’ve only just scratched the surface. So I want to talk to other people; to hear their stories, discover what they believe in and learn from them.
In each episode of my podcast, Alien Nation with Jo Wood, I interview a guest about their experiences of the extraterrestrial and their opinions on the theories out there. Singer Robbie Williams was such an interesting guest. He’s had a lot of paranormal experiences, such as the time he stayed in a house on a plague site in London and was tormented by dark energy. He once saw a UFO outside the Beverly Hills Hotel – a huge black square with yellow stripes hanging in the air. Another time, he saw a golden orb in the sky in the San Fernando Valley in California.
‘I don’t think that aliens have bad intentions – if they were going to harm us they would have done so long ago. If anything, I think they’re watching over us, hoping that we’re going to turn things around and not destroy the Earth,’ says Jo Wood. T-SHIRT, AMAZON. EARRINGS, WHISTLES
Other guests on the podcast include the poet and playwright Murray Lachlan Young. He saw a formation of objects moving at high altitude over Dartmoor that suddenly took off, one by one, in erratic squiggles and then flashed out of the sky. He told me all about the theories of the late author Carlos Casteneda, who believed that there are shadow creatures – non-physical, interdimensional beings – that come to Earth to feed off humans’ negative emotions. I’ve chatted about alien-hybrid babies with my friend the musician Brix Smith Start; we both believe that aliens have bred with humans. And I learned all about reptilian shapeshifters (aliens who live among us, said to assume the identities of world leaders) from actor Dan Aykroyd, who was in Ghostbusters.
Not all my guests are celebrities. One of my favourite episodes is with the author and UFO researcher Kathleen Marden. Her aunt and uncle were Betty and Barney Hill, an American couple who famously were reportedly abducted by aliens in the 1960s [see below for their story]. It was one of the first majorly publicised abduction experiences and their story became a bestselling book, The Interrupted Journey, and a TV movie, The UFO Incident. The couple inspired Kathleen to become a ufologist – someone who studies reports and evidence of UFOs – and to interview other abductees.
Personally I would love to meet an alien. Lots of abductees suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, but I don’t think I would be scared. Sometimes I think, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if they zapped me up for a quick meeting?’ I think there are lots of different types of aliens out there – from the classic ‘greys’ with the big heads and eyes to ones that can morph to look exactly like humans and secretly live among us. I’m sure I know a lot of aliens; there are some pretty weird people out there.
I think these alien races have been visiting Earth for a long time. For example, there’s a place in Bolivia called Puma Punku with huge stones that are thousands of years old but cut precisely into geometric shapes. Experts still can’t explain how an ancient human civilisation would have the technology to do that. Some people believe an alien race called the Annunaki used to live there, mining gold to take back to their home planet. It’s a similar thing with the pyramids. Perhaps they are evidence of a past alien visitation too.
I think that some aliens might be studying us. Others might just be visiting, like tourists – ‘Let’s go and have a look at that blue planet over there’. I don’t think that aliens have bad intentions – if they were going to harm us they would have done so long ago. If anything, I think they’re watching over us, hoping that we’re going to turn things around and not destroy the Earth. Take the recent backlash against plastic. Maybe they’re putting these ideas in our heads, nudging us in the right direction, helping us to change for the better. If I were abducted, I’d say, ‘Hi! I’m Jo, what do you need me to do?’ I’d ask them how we can fix our planet.
I’m convinced the authorities have more information on alien life than they are letting on. I think governments around the world have found alien spacecraft but they’re keeping it a secret until they can fully understand the technology. There’s one man in particular I’d love to have on my podcast – Bob Lazar. Back in the 1980s he says that he worked as a physicist near Area 51, the top-secret military base in Nevada, USA [see opposite], where many people think the government keeps UFOs that they’ve found. Bob says his job was reverse-engineering one of nine flying saucers they have there, figuring out how it worked. He describes the interior of the spacecraft as being completely smooth, without a single hard edge. The US government has always denied that Bob worked for them, but when I watch interviews with him online, I believe him – he knows too many details to be making it up.
I am absolutely aware that people will read this, or listen to my podcast, and think I am nuts. It doesn’t bother me. Alien life is a subject that I’m really interested in, but we can’t all share the same beliefs. Life would be pretty boring if we did. I don’t mind having banter with sceptics; in fact, I’m inviting an academic who doesn’t believe in aliens on to the podcast so that we can have a good argument.
Once, I was pilloried on Twitter because I said that aliens might have come to Earth and tweaked DNA in the primates we evolved from. People told me I was full of rubbish. But I think that generally people are becoming more open-minded. When I talk about my UFO sightings, some will say, ‘Oh, Jo, come on, it was just a drone.’ But more often they’re willing to believe it might be true. I think this shift in attitude is due to social media; people share their alien sightings and it makes other people feel more confident about doing the same.
‘Even though I know I was born on this planet, I feel that maybe my ancestors, or a part of my DNA, might have come from a different one’. JACKET, & OTHER STORIES. SHIRT AND TROUSERS, JIGSAW.
I follow a lot of accounts on Instagram, such as @ufo_hunter_uk and @ufolovers, which post videos of UFO sightings from around the world. Yes, some of these might be fake – but there are just so many, I think some of them must be real.
I’m not sure if certain people are more likely to have alien encounters than others, but I think that if you’re closed off to the idea of alien life you probably won’t see anything. And before you ask, I don’t think it has any connection to drugs. When I took them, I never saw anything. It’s only since my head has been clear that I have.
I often stand outside my house when the weather is clear, staring at the night sky, thinking, ‘Come on, show yourselves.’ Even though I know I was born on this planet, I feel that maybe my ancestors, or a part of my DNA, might have come from a different one. My friend Brix calls it a ‘star seed’. I love learning about our universe, exploring what civilisations might have come before us. Humans have been on Earth for a tiny fraction of its history. Thinking about the bigger picture gives me perspective. We get so consumed in our day-to-day lives that we forget to look up at the stars and realise it’s a miracle that we even exist. We’re like little ants spinning around on a rock in the middle of space. How insane is that?
The universe holds endless possibilities, and none of us has all the answers. But when it comes to the ultimate question – are we alone? – I really hope that the answer is no.
- Alien Nation with Jo Wood, produced by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions, is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify UK and all major podcast platforms
STYLING: CHLOE BEENEY. MAKE-UP: NADIRA V PERSAUD USING COSMETICS A LA CARTE. HAIR: HEATH MASSI AT FRANK AGENCY.