One of the best documented and most significant military encounters with a UFO occurred in Rendlesham Forest, near Ipswich, England, just outside the perimeters of two US air bases, RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters - site of one of NATOs largest nuclear-weapons stockpiles.
Although the events occurred over several nights, and there is now a dispute over the exact dates, the reliability of the witnesses and the clarity and consistincy of their accounts put this one at the top of the British UFO charts. The report filed by deputy base commander Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt and released almost three years after the event under the Freedom of Information Act, ranks high in the annals of credible and amazing UFO incidents.
At approximately 3.00 a.m. on the 27th of December 1980, two USAF security guards saw unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge. Three patrolmen were sent to investigate. They reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest, described as metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, approximately two to three meters across the base and two meters tall, illuminating the entire forest with a white light.At any rate, there seems to be no disagreement over the first hand reports and the geiger-counter readings. Something strange did indeed occur that December in Rendlesham Forest.
It had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. It was hovering on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it manoeuvred through the trees and disappeared. It was briefly sighted again about an hour later.The next day, three depressions were sighted on the ground where the object had appeared, and the area was checked for radiation. Beta/Gamma readings of 0.1 milliroentgens were recorded, with peaks at the spotwhere it had landed.
Later that night , an intense red light was seen moving and pulsing through the trees. It broke into five separate white objects and disappeared. Three star like objects were then seen in the sky, moving rapidly in sharp, angular motions and displaying red, green and blue lights. Despite the high weirdness going down, the Ministry of Defence report was dismissive:
" In view of its reported small size, it is considered highly unlikely that the object was a piloted vehicle. In addition, it is highly improbable that any violation of UK airspace would be heralded by such a display of lights. As such we are satisfied that the incident is of no defence significance."
Admiral Lord Hill-Norton, former chief of the British defence staff, disputes this conclusion. He told Granadas Network First documentary team:
" I have no doubt that something landed at this US Air Force base, and I have no doubt that it has got the people concerned into a considerable state. The Ministry of Defence has doggedly stuck to its normal line, that nothing of defence 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 happened did happen. In either of these circumstances, there can be only one answer: that it was of extreme defence interest to the UK."
Nick Pope, a ministry of Defence employee who, for three years, was in charge of their UFO investigations, also boggles at the apathetic MOD party line:
" You had a number of US Air Force personnel at a very important base in Suffolk having seen a structured craft moving through Rendlesham Forest. It almost appeared to be leading them on a merry chase through the woods.
It was ahead of them, and at one stage it was directly above them in the clearing and fired down a bright light. This activity went on probably over a period of about three nights. On one occasion the deputy base commander came out with his personnel and took readings with a geiger counter.
I thought, ok, yes, but you get background radiation readings everywhere. I gave the Defence Radiological Protection Board the readings from Colonel Halts memo and said, "What do you think of those readings?" And they said, "Well, ten times the normal reading. What happened there?"Larry Warren, then a 19 year old US Air Force security officer, was one of the witnesses at Woodbridge. He has since brought his story to the media, but only after enduring, he claims, what smacks of a classic government hush up.
After attempting to phone home and describe what he had witnessed, he became persona non grata. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1981, but when he changed his mind and tried to reapply several months later, his re-entry was barred.
His record has become classified, but he later found out that it showed that he cannot fully extend his right arm, which he says is not true at all.Warrens account differs from Halts in one significant aspect: he claims the occurrence was documented on video and in stills...
None of this material has ever surfaced.
Nick Pope:
"Ive heard the stories, but Ive never seen any videos or stills. The story is they were taken to Ramstein base in Germany, but Ive certainly not seen any of the material.
I've seen Colonel Halts memo, and he was able to confirm that yes, he was there, that the memo was for real, that it all happened as he described, and that they encountered this strange craft in the forest.
My conclusions: Type of craft: unknown. Origin: unknown. Purpose of craft: unknown, I guess."When the case made headlines three years later, an odd embellishment about an alien encounter was added. Larry Warren claims this was planted to undermine the stories credibility.
