Somewhere in the Skies - The Mince Pie Martians w/ Zelia Edgar

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

Three glowing, winged beings. A quiet English home. And six missing mince pies. Zelia Edgar explores the 1979 encounter of Jean Hingley, who reported that three small luminous entities floated into her home after an orange glow filled her garden, assuring her, “We will not harm you.” The beings examined her Christmas tree, discussed Jesus, requested water, and departed in a strange hovering craft, allegedly leaving trace evidence and electrical disturbances behind. Was this a UFO encounter, a modern fairy visitation, or something that blurs the line between folklore, religion, and high strangeness? Subscribe to Just Another Tin Foil Hat: https://www.youtube.com/@JustAnotherTinFoilHat Please take a moment to rate and review us on Spotify and Apple. Book Ryan on CAMEO at: https://bit.ly/3kwz3DO Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/somewhereskies ByMeACoffee: http://www.buymeacoffee.com/UFxzyzHOaQ PayPal: [e-mail] Substack: https://ryansprague.substack.com/ All Socials and Books: https://linktr.ee/somewhereskiespod Email: [e-mail] SpectreVision Radio: https://www.spectrevision.com/podcasts Opening Theme Song by Septembryo Closing Song by Per Kiilstofte Copyright © 2026 Ryan Sprague. All rights reserved. #SomewhereInTheSkies #HighStrangeness #ParanormalPodcast #AlienEncounters #BritishUFO #FairyFolklore #UFOHistory #StrangeEncounters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get this new must-have concealer at Sephora or at Sephora.com today. At 7 o'clock in the morning, Jean Hingley waved her husband off accompanied by her Alsatian hound. She noticed a strange light in the garden, and thinking that the carport light was on, went to turn it off. However, she realized the light was already off, but a strange orange glow had settled over the garden, when Jean realized that she could no longer move, and three strange beings floated inside her home right beside her. Welcome to just another tinfoil hat with your host, Zilia Edgar. Join Zilia as she walks us through some of the most bizarre UFO cases and incidents of high strangeness. Today we will be discussing the fascinating case of the Mintz Pie Martians.

I just could not resist the timeliness of this case, which occurred January 4th of 1979. And really, I kind of wanted to start the new year off with something extra special and extra weird. And this fits that, though. I mean, this is the most deliciously strange and piteous encounter since Simonton's alien pancakes. So speaking of the New Year, too, I wish everyone tuning in here a very happy new year. And I hope you did not ring it in the same way I did, which was being sick. I missed out on the festivities last night, but I'm feeling a lot better today. And recording this case is a perfect way to start 2025 off right here on just another tinge oil hat.

January 4, 1979. Mrs. Jean Hingley of Bluestone Walk, Rory Regis, West Midlands, UK, had just waved her husband Cyril off to work at about 7 o'clock in the morning, with her Alsatian dog by her side, when she suddenly noticed a light on in their small garden. Thinking that Cyril had left the carport light on, she went down to the garden and found that, as a matter of fact, the carport light was off.

So she turned around and still saw the whole garden illuminated in an orange glow which faded to white. She continued into the house, when she heard a sound which she described as z, z, z. Suddenly, she saw three glowing entities float past her and through the open door. She claimed that these entities each stood a little over three feet high, with beautiful rainbow wings. They floated about a foot off the floor,

and she described them as looking like slight winged men in silvery green tunics with silver waistcoats with silver buttons, pointed hands, pointed feet, and pointed little caps, all in the same silvery, greenish color. She also said that the hat had a lamp on it. In the sketch here, you can see that there's this little bulb-like thing on top of their hats, and over the top of their heads was a thing that Jean described as a transparent fishbowl, which went all the way down to their shoulders.

Jean went into detail on the wondrous beauty of their wings, which she said were oval-shaped and seemed to glow in supernaturally gorgeous color, and were covered in dots that she compared to braille. Jean, a religious woman, as we will come to see in the following story, compared the wings to Joseph's coat of many colors. In striking contrast to the beautiful wings and kind of the silvery outfits that they were wearing, Jean described the beings' faces as waxy white and almost like a corpse, with inconsequential noses and just straight lines for mouth, and then these glittery black diamond eyes. As Jean was watching these beings float into her home, she realized first that she was frozen in place, unable to speak.

She then noticed that her dog also seemed to be affected by whatever this force was. She said that he hobbled over to his drinking bowl, his hair standing on end, and then simply flopped down onto the floor with his eyes open. After a time, she felt as though she was lifted up. She said that it felt like she was floated into the lounge where the beings were. She described it almost as a depersonalization, a feeling that she was someone else, and that she was somehow simultaneously, as she said, in heaven while also being at home.

Once she arrived in the lounge, she claimed that she heard the Christmas tree shaking and that the lighting there was so bright that she had to cover her eyes. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw the three small beings kind of floating around the lounge, touching anything they could get their little pointed hands on, Christmas cards, the clock, the furniture, the radio. And finally, she was able to speak. She asked them what they wanted with her. And when they replied, she said it seemed as though they manipulated the buttons on their clothing. and each one spoke at once, the voice coming sort of from their chest as opposed to their faces, where the lips did not move. You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet.

How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost. Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your oceanfront room. Just steps from the water. The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to.

20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. All they said was, we will not harm you. Now, the rest of the conversation reads almost like a fairy tale. They told Jean that they came from the sky. And as they started to mess with the Christmas tree again, they shook it so hard that the angel or fairy at the top actually fell off. Gene was still too paralyzed to move so she couldn't go and pick it up. But instead, she told them that the tree was to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, to which these little Martians said, we know all about Jesus. Now, the religious motifs of this conversation are prevalent and almost heavy-handed, I would say. They, you know, the beings look at a newspaper, which had an

honors list of all the people who had been made lords and said, there is only one lord. They claim to have been to Australia, New Zealand, and America, but people there were not interested. Gene asked if she should tell the people of earth about them, to which they replied, yes. They also claimed that they had been here before will come again and quote, everyone will go to heaven. There are beautiful colors there. Jean told them that they should have visited the queen or some real lady, to which they replied, you are a lady. Among all of this religious discussion, they bounced on the couch to the point that Jean said it seemed almost like they were acting like children and told them to be careful. When she did so, she said that their lights brightened intensely, and she felt as though they could

have harmed her if they wanted, so she decided to be friendlier with them. Now, in spite of this, She also referred to them as gentlemen and said that they had friendly eyes, and at one point even told them nice to see you to which they simply responded, nice. They studied a pack of cigarettes and picked up a tape for a tape recorder. At which point Gene decided to offer them a drink, they simultaneously requested water. So she brought a glass for each of the small beings on a metal tray, along with one for herself to, as she said, show that it wasn't poisoned. She said that the tray seemed to be magnetically attracted towards them. Now, as they were given the water, they went to lift up their masks to drink it, but upon seeing Jean watch them, they turned their lights up. Now, she claimed that she didn't actually see them drink the water, but when they put the glasses back down, the water was simply gone.

After some more conversation, Jean went to get them the infamous mince pies. She placed six on a plate, and each being kind of lifted the mince pie to them as though, as she said, their hands were magnetic. Not like they grasped it, but just like they somehow like picked it up, you know, almost like, you know, like a magnetic doll or something like that. They were still looking at the cigarettes at this point, and Jean, ever the gracious host, offered to show them how people smoke them. So she lit a match and lit one of the cigarettes, at which point the little trio leapt back and began floating away and out the back door.

She quickly put the cigarette out and followed slash floated after them, calling out for them to come back. When she made it to the back door, she saw an orange-colored object, kind of hovering over the back garden. Gene claimed that this object was roughly a lips shaped, about 10 feet long and four feet high, and covered in what she described as shining plastic. It had circular portholes on one of the sides,

and what she called a scorpion tail topped with a wheel. Now, interestingly enough, in the sketch, it appears very similar to the weird bulb on top of the being's caps. Her visitors were still holding on their mince pie souvenirs as they entered the object, which flashed twice. Jean took that almost as a send-off like a goodbye, and then took off over the fence.

At this point, the dog ambled over and began wandering around the garden as though it was looking for the strange beings. Jean didn't claim any fear from this incident. As a matter of fact, she claimed that it made her feel blessed, warm, and happy. She saw a deep mark in the garden where the spaceship had been, and after talking to a neighbor, decided to call the police. They said that they would come and check it out, and in the meantime, she called her husband, and told him that winged visitors had been to his house. see her. He asked birds, and she, shaking and crying, replied, no, men with wings. He couldn't leave work and at the moment laughed it off, suggesting that she go get her hair done and tell the hairdressers about it, which she eventually did. The police also did come and take a look and said that

Jean appeared pale as though she had received some sort of shock. And something was up for about a week after the incident. Jean claimed that her eyes were so sore that she had to wear dark glasses and take time off work as she didn't feel well. Now, this wasn't the only effect. from the incident. The tapes that had been handled by the beings were ruined, and the clock and radio in the home had also stopped after this encounter. Now, the police did get a hold of the UFO Investigation Service, who had researchers come and measure the ground impressions and take soil samples. Now, as I warned you, this is a kitsy, trippy little case, and bears striking resemblance to the infamous alien pancakes, the Joe Simonton encountered. Although in that case, Simonton supplied

the strange visitors with water, and they in turn gave him panties. The exchange of hospitality in both cases is an archetypal experience as old as mythology. You know, it's easy to see the comparison of such supernatural beings coming into the house, and especially in this case, being welcomed with the offer of food and drink as synonymous with the concept of theosenia. Hospitality towards a stranger who ends up being a god or supernatural being in disguise. I mean, we see this across cultures, of course, the Greek tale of Baucus and Philemon is probably the best known example of this. Now, in addition to this, there was also the strong tradition of leaving gifts of food and drink to the good folk of the British Isles. Now, a very interesting concept here is the one detail that Gene noted, that when the entities went to drink the water that she gave them, they made as though they were going to lift up their helmets and then they did not.

Now, in my opinion, this calls to mind the tradition, almost the veiled nature of deities and other denizens of the other world. Again, this is rife throughout folklore, throughout modern paranormal encounters throughout mythology, that people are not allowed to see their true face. Instead, they always seem to be hiding behind something, even something as seemingly transparent as these fishbowel helmets. Now, it seems to me that this is some sort of symbolic giveaway, that what people are seeing in these situations is not actually what the truth is. What they're experiencing isn't what it appears to be. The fear that the little beings experienced regarding fire reminds me of so many other paranormal encounters where fire or light in general spooks off anomalous entities. The immediate and simultaneous reaction of all three beings to the fire, in this case, the cigarette being lit, reminds me so much of the Cisco Grove encounter. We're not only two different types of entities, these so-called biological-looking euphonauts and their robotic companions.

But the gosh-darn mothership, again, as it was called by the witness, jumped back as the witness lit small objects, cash bits of cloth, finally his hat on fire. Now, in this case, the simultaneous speech of the entities is also of note. Although they appeared as three separate beings, their simultaneous actions fall neatly in line again with the Cisco Grove encounter, but also with the Robert Honeycutt encounter of Loveland. Yes, the same Loveland of Frogman fame, in which a witness claimed to see three entities which moved in unison. All of these cases seem to me to kind of be a giveaway that the perceived separation of entities or the difference between entities and object may simply be illusory, and it all is just one. kind of anomaly of its own appearing as these separate or different entities or objects.

It's very interesting to note too that the beings and craft also bear striking similarity. Not only were they both luminous, but you also have this similar motif of this kind of weird bulb-like thing, first on the top of the beings caps, and then we see this reflected in the scorpion tale of the craft. Also of note, Jean happened to mention that her home was surrounded by quarries and wasteland. Again, two of the very best places to catch a glimpse of any sort of anomaly, according to famed researcher John Keel. The religious discussion in my mind seems to kind of be reflecting Jean's beliefs back at her, effectively clothing this experience, which she would otherwise have a very difficult time accepting, in some of her own expectations, her own Christian iconography. Even going so far as to refer to the wings as like the coat of many colors, we see that this is kind of what makes her, I can't say comfortable with the experience, but kind of.

In my opinion, there's very little to distinguish a paranormal experience from a spiritual experience, and the only division then to distinguish that from a religious experience is terminology. And that's the terminology, of course, that the experiencer gives it. In this case, when I make the kind of comparison also to a fairy tale, it's evident in referring to Jean as a, quote, real lady, that they are establishing her sense of importance in the event, a motif, again common in folklore, mythology, religion, and high-contact paranormal encounters. Now, sadly, Jean Hingley died just three years after this experience, and full disclosure, this may be simple coincidence, but I definitely thought it was worth mentioning. I can't help but think of the appearance of these three corpse-faced beings, so intent on discussing heaven with her as some sort of omen.

On the topic of the waxy facades of Jean's little visitors, it really calls to mind the shadowy boundaries between the good folk or fairies and the dead. As a matter of fact, in most of the folklore there is, there is very, very little. to distinguish one from the other. The fairy faith is rife with encounters of deceased loved ones in the company of fairies, or fairies appearing as death omens. Now, for as much as we might like to firmly toss this case into the completely subjective or hallucinatory category, we have some tricky stuff to contend with, namely the trace evidence. As with so many anomalous encounters, electrical devices are common victims to anomalies of any sort, and here the radio and clock stopped, and the reels of tape held by the strange beings were destroyed and rendered unusable. In a

In addition to that, you have this weird trace evidence in the garden. As I've said so many times before, these events seem to exist at their own liminal point between objective occurrence, trace evidence and electrical disturbances, and subjective, you know, almost hallucinatory experience, these tiny floating fairy beings discussing Jesus while playing with a Christmas tree. Now, whatever these strange beings were, by all accounts, Jean Hingley was a really salt of the earth type person, not given to flights of fancy or practical jokes. And that idea that someone just kind of going about their daily life can have it invaded by these

strange beings that drink your water, like with your Christmas tree and then take your mince pies. I mean, truly, it is as wonderful as it is frightening. Well, if you enjoyed this episode on the minced pie Martians, please like. And if you're new to this field of crop circles, go ahead and subscribe to see what weirdness the future may have in store. Till then, you can keep up with me on my free blog at patreon.com slash just another tinfoil hat. And be sure to check out somewhere in the skies, not only some of the very best in anomalous listening, but also you can catch the audio versions of Just Another Tinfoil hat on there every other Friday.

For today, I am Zilia Edgar, signing off, and Happy New Year. This has been Just Another Tinfoil hat with Zelia Edgar. Be sure to rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. For full video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to Just Another Tinfoil Hat on YouTube. Thank you for listening. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. We roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for citizens back.