The Ilkley Moor incident centers on Philip Spencer, a former police officer who said he crossed the moor early one morning in 1987 and saw a small figure on the hillside. He managed to take one photograph before the figure moved away and a craft rose into the fog. Spencer later realized he had lost time and that his compass was suddenly pointing in the wrong direction. Under regression he described being taken aboard the craft and shown scenes of Earth, which became part of the case. The photo, the missing time, the compass change, and the abduction account are the core elements of what is now known as the Ilkley Moor encounter.