He recalls the surprise of the apprentices when police and Army responders blew one saucer up and dropped another.
David Clarke, media law expert at Sheffield Hallam University and a consultant and curator for the National Archives UFO project, believes the response to the hoax was flawed.
"One of the saucers when they actually drilled into it, because it was full of this compacted, sort of papier-maché mess, actually exploded and showered the police officers with this stuff.
"If it had been some kind of radiation hazard, how would they have dealt with that? It would have been a disaster area.
"And what did they do? Just washed it down the drains."
JOHN KEELING
The "landings" led to a major police and Army response
Dr Clarke and Mr Southall agree that in 1967 the public imagination was already gripped by UFO fever - at the time the Ministry of Defence was receiving near-daily reports of sightings.
But despite this climate, the apprentices did not expect the huge media response, which included international coverage and double-page spreads.
"It was more than we hoped for," Mr Southall said.
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