In March 1963, dozens of students and teachers at a school in Yorkshire were said to have witnessed a terrifying and apparently inexplicable event. A 16-year-old girl, Eileen Welch, reportedly rose high into the air before crashing back to the ground. According to the story, 37 witnesses gave remarkably similar accounts — yet no scientific explanation was ever found.
A Normal Morning Outside a Yorkshire School
On the morning of 18 March 1963, 16-year-old Eileen Welch was chatting with her friends outside her high school in Yorkshire, England.
It was only a few minutes before the first lesson of the day. Dozens of students were milling around outside the school, talking and waiting for the bell to ring.
There appeared to be nothing unusual about the morning.
Eileen stood with her friends, holding an armful of books. She was telling them about what she had done over the weekend.
Then, without warning, she began to scream.
Eileen Suddenly Began to Rise
At almost the exact moment Eileen screamed, one of her friends reportedly watched her begin to rise into the air.
There was no visible object lifting her.
Nothing appeared to be attached to her.
According to the account, Eileen simply began rising inexplicably above the ground.
She continued upwards until she was reportedly about 30 feet — roughly nine metres — in the air.
Eileen screamed as she was suspended high above the school grounds.
Her friend stared upwards in disbelief. Around her, other students also began looking towards Eileen.
Dozens of people were said to have watched as the teenager remained in the air, apparently held there by an unseen force.
For a brief moment, Eileen was suspended above them.
Then she fell.
A Terrifying Fall in Front of Students
Eileen suddenly came careering back towards the ground.
She struck the ground with tremendous force.
The scene immediately descended into panic.
Students screamed. Someone began running towards the school building, shouting for somebody to call an ambulance.
Eileen was clearly in agonising pain.
She had suffered multiple broken bones and severe internal injuries.
Emergency responders rushed her to hospital, where doctors and medical staff did everything they could to save her life.
But her injuries were catastrophic.
Just two hours after she had reportedly fallen from around 30 feet, Eileen Welch died.
She was 16 years old.
Police Questioned 37 Witnesses
Police returned to the school and began investigating what had happened.
What detectives heard from witnesses was difficult to believe.
Investigators reportedly questioned 37 students and teachers who had been outside the school that morning.
According to the story, they all described essentially the same event.
Eileen had suddenly risen into the air.
She had travelled approximately 30 feet upwards.
She remained suspended there briefly.
Then she came crashing back to the ground.
Initially, police struggled to accept the eyewitness accounts.
People did not simply rise into the air and fall back down without an obvious cause.
Detectives believed there had to be more to the story.
Yet the witnesses reportedly remained convinced about what they had seen. Their accounts were said to be remarkably consistent, and they spoke with apparent certainty.
Faced with dozens of similar statements, investigators began considering whether a rare natural phenomenon could have been responsible.
Could a Mini Tornado Have Lifted Eileen?
One theory centred on the weather.
Police reportedly considered whether an unusual atmospheric event — perhaps a small tornado or exceptionally powerful gust of wind — could have lifted Eileen into the air.
Several meteorologists were said to have been brought into the investigation.
However, their conclusions created another problem.
According to the account, meteorologists determined that the event described by the witnesses was effectively scientifically impossible under the reported weather conditions.
For wind to lift a person in the manner described, it was estimated that speeds of at least 110mph would have been required.
No winds anywhere near that speed had been reported in England that morning.
But there was an even bigger issue with the weather theory.
Eileen had not been standing alone.
Why Was Eileen the Only Person Affected?
At the time of the alleged incident, Eileen was surrounded by other students.
Her friends were standing close to her. Dozens of other pupils and teachers were also outside.
If an extraordinarily powerful gust of wind had been strong enough to lift Eileen 30 feet into the air, meteorologists reportedly reasoned that other people and objects nearby should also have been affected.
Students might have been knocked over.
Others could potentially have been lifted.
Loose objects should have been thrown through the air.
Yet, according to the witnesses, none of this happened.
Only Eileen rose from the ground.
Everyone else remained where they were.
For investigators, this apparently made the weather explanation extremely difficult to support.
The Mystery of Eileen Welch Remains Unexplained
According to the story, none of the 37 witnesses later changed their accounts.
They continued to maintain that they had seen Eileen Welch inexplicably rise approximately 30 feet into the air, remain suspended briefly and then crash back to the ground.
No accepted scientific explanation was found for the event as it was described.
The proposed weather theory could not explain why no extreme winds were recorded or why Eileen appeared to be the only person affected.
More than six decades later, the alleged death of Eileen Welch continues to be presented as an unexplained mystery.
What could have lifted a 16-year-old girl high above a crowded school ground?
Why did dozens of witnesses reportedly describe the same terrifying scene?
And, perhaps most disturbingly, why was Eileen the only person affected?
According to the account that has circulated about the case, those questions have never been conclusively answered.
The mystery of what allegedly happened to Eileen Welch remains unresolved.