| |
The 1980 Rendlesham Forest Incident
Rendlesham
Forest will always be known as the UK's answer to Roswell, being
as it is the only other UFO incident that has received official
recognition from the government and military in both the UK and
the USA. It is the most significant UFO incident ever to have occurred
in the UK and one of the most significant anywhere in the world.
To date there are a number of very strong witness testimonies from
key mulitary personel.
"
I have no doubt that something landed at this U.S. Air Force base
and I have no doubt that it has got the people concerned in to a
considerable state. The Ministry of Defense has doggedly stuck to
it's normal line, that nothing of defense interest took place. Either
large numbers of people , including the commanding general at Bentwaters,
were hallucinating, and for an American Air Force nuclear base ,
this is extremely dangerous - or what they say did happen."
-
Admiral Lord Hill-Norton
former chief of the British Defense Staff
Background:
In
1980 two air bases owned by the RAF, namely RAF/U.S.A.F Bentwaters
and RAF/U.S.A.F Woodbridge were leased to the U.S. Air Force and
reputedly held the largest stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons
in non-communist Europe.
At approximately 2-00a.m. on the 27th December 1980,an unidentified
object was picked up by radar at RAF Watton in Norfolk (UK). The
object went off the screen in the area of Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk.
RAF/U.S.A.F Bentwaters also tracked the unidentified object - Bentwaters
being in the direct vicinity of Rendlesham Forest.
At approximately 3-00a.m. two U.S.A.F security guards observed unusual
lights outside the back gate of RAF Woodbridge and three patrolmen
were sent to investigate. These three men reported seeing a strange
, glowing object seemingly of metallic appearance and of a triangular
shape. They reported it being approximately two to three meters
across the base and two meters tall, giving off a bright white light
which illuminated the entire forest. Also it had a pulsing red light
on top and a bank of blue lights underneath - it was hovering but
apparently had legs. When the men approached the object it maneuvered
through the forest and out of view, to be briefly seen again an
hour or so later near the back gate.
The
object seen that night left small radiation traces on the ground
and nearby trees. It also left indentations in the soft ground and
damage to the trees as it manouvered. All this is recorded in the
OFFICIAL documentation and on the audio tape.
According
to USAF security patrolmen on duty, "the object was described
as being metallic in apperance and triangular in shape, approx.
2-3 meters across the base... it illuminated the entire forest with
a white light, and had a pulsing red light on top and a bank(s)
of blue lights underneath." In November, 2002, the British
Ministry of Defense released the "Rendlesham File" of
documents related to and confirming the Rendlesham Forest incident.
Lt.
Charles Colonel Halt ,Deputy Base Commander at Woodbridge,armed
with a tape and a number of other servicemen witnessed the
events as they unfolded - a detailed tape recording being
made.
click to download
the HALT audio tape (.mp3 file - 3.6meg)
click
to read the HALT audio transcript
download the
HALT audio transcript
|
|
| A
full report dated 13th January 1981 was sent to the British
Ministry of Defense by Lt. Colonel Halt. The M.O.D.'s ultimate
response was : "The department satisfied itself at the
time that there was no reason to consider that the alleged sighting
had any defense significance." |
|
Department
of the Air Force
Headquarter 81st Combat Support Group (USAFE)
APO NEW YORK DY735
13
Jan 81
Reply to Attn of: CD
Subject: Unexplained Lights
To:
RAF/CC
1.
Early in the morning of 27 Dec 80 (approximately 0300L),
two USAF security police patrolmen saw unusual lights
outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge. Thinking an
aircraft might have crashed or been forced down, they
called for permission to go outside the gate to investigate.
The on-duty flight chief responded and allowed three
patrolmen to proceed on foot. The individuals reported
seeing a strange glowing object in the forest. The Object
was described as being metallic in appearance and triangular
in shape, approximately two and three meters across
the base and approximately two meters high. It illuminated
the entire forest with a white light. The object itself
had a pulsing red light on top and a bank(s) of blue
lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs.
As the patrolmen approached the object, it manoeuvred
though the trees and disappeared. At this time the animals
on a nearby farm went into frenzy. The object was briefly
sighted approximately an hour later near the back gate.
2.
The next day, three depressions 1 1/2" deep and
7" in diameter were found where the object had
been sighted on the ground. The following night (29
Dec 80) the area was checked for radiation. Beta/gamma
readings of 0.1 milliroentgens were recorded with peak
readings in the three depressions and near the center
of the triangle formed by the depressions. A nearby
tree had moderate (.05 - .07) readings on the side of
the tree toward the depressions.
3.
Later in the night a red sun-like light was seen though
the trees. It moved about and pulsed. At one point it
appeared to throw off glowing particles and then broke
into five separate white objects and then disappeared.
Immediately thereafter, three star-like objects were
noticed in the sky, two objects to the north and one
to the south, all of which were about 10 degrees off
the horizon. The objects moved rapidly in sharp angular
movements and displayed red, green and blue lights.
The objects to the north appeared to be elliptical through
an 8-12 power lens. They then turned to full circles.
The objects to the north remained in the sky for an
hour or more. The object to the south was visible for
two or three hours and beamed down a stream of light
from time to time. Numerous individuals, including the
undersigned, witnessed the activities in paragraphs
2 and 3.
Charles
I. Halt, Lt. Col. USAF
Deputy Base Commander
|
|
|
click
the actual FOIA document (right) for a larger copy |
|
The UK MOD Rendlesham File
Official
UK MoD Documents, UK Ministry of Defence
Official documents relating to the Rendlesham Forest / Bentwaters
1980 UFO incident, released by the UK Ministry of Defence
in November, 2002.
download part1(adobe
pdf approx. 2.0 meg)
download
part2 (adobe pdf approx. 2.0 meg)
download
part3 (adobe pdf approx. 2.0 meg)
download
part4 (adobe pdf approx. 2.0 meg)
download
part5 (adobe pdf approx. 2.0 meg) |
|
|
