Rendlesham is an extensive pine forest containing a lighthouse and some other buildings.
In 1980, the forest was allegedly used by the National Security Agency (NSA), one of the United State's most covert intelligence units. Stories of top secret experiments were widespread. The official function of the site was given as one for research into over-the-horizon radar, systems to detect targets at very long ranges, during the Cold War.
First Sighting of Rendlesham Forest UFOs
On December 26, USAF security patrolmen John Burroughs and Budd Parker were on duty by the east gate of RAF Woodbridge when they noticed an alien craft. It hovered down and landed in the forest.
Officials tried to convince the patrolmen that an airplane had crashed, but there was odd electricity in the air and a sudden light flash before the airship rose upward. The following morning, evidence of the UFO's presence was found. Tree tops were broken, there were three holes in the ground in a triangular formation and infrared radiation was found.
The Rendlesham Forest UFO Returns
On December 27, there was an officers' party at RAF Bentwaters. Lieutenant Bruce Englund told Base Commander Ted Conrad that the UFO was back.
Conrad asked his deputy, Lt. Col. Charles Halt, to investigate the matter. Halt gathered a team of specialists and took a Geiger counter to measure radiation and a dictaphone to record notes. A security cordon was set up around the woods to prevent any curious airmen or villagers from getting in the way. An hour earlier, security patrol saw strange lights floating in the sky above the forest, but they suddenly disappeared. Radio communication to the base and with each other showed static interference, similar to that which was experienced the previous night.
Suddenly, the UFO returned. It was sighted at 1:48 a.m. by men who were deep in the forest. A glowing light rested on a pillar of yellow mist moments before it split into an array of rainbow colors, like those from a prism. They chased the craft it for an hour before it shot up into the sky. Hundreds of military personnel and civilians witnessed the mysterious incident.
Rendlesham UFO Sighting Detected by Radar
USAF Police saw a dim reddish light opposite the lighthouse over an eerie mist on the ground. It transformed into a triangular object that covered an area of approximately thirty feet and had on top of it a sharp pyramid about 20 feet high. The solid object had a rough surface. Perceptions and time were distorted; everything moved at a dreamlike pace.
At RAF Neatishead, an unidentified object appeared on radar. It returned no signal and outperformed the RAF's aircraft. There was a major investigation. Neatishead and RAF Watton radar tapes were requisitioned a few days later.
When USAF intelligence officers visited Watton to collect the tapes, they claimed that a UFO crashed into the forest and this was witnessed by senior officers from their base. They also reported that aliens had been seen floating in beams of light underneath the spacecraft.
Rendlesham UFO, Cover of Silence and an Observation
US Deputy Base Commander Charles Halt and his British liaison officer, Squadron Leader Donald Moreland, were in meetings with their respective governments. It was decided to not release information to the public. Soon, top-secret flights were at the Bentwaters and Woodbridge bases. Staffs from covert US intelligence agencies were involved in the meetings. Halt, Burroughs, and other witnesses, weren’t allowed to attend.
Was it the beginning of a cover up? There were various explanations for the incidents, including the lighthouse being seen from the forest, an experiment to ascertain what the men's reactions would be to a threat near a nuclear base and a meteor.
How can officials explain scientific radar recordings? Physical evidence of the landing and/or crash includes broken tree tops, three holes in the ground in a triangular formation and infrared radiation where the sightings occurred. Witnesses were credible. What makes sense is that something landed or crashed and the powers that be are trying to cover it up for reasons known only to them.
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Source:
- 100 Strangest Mysteries, Matt Lamy, (MetroBooks, 2005).
Jill Stefko - I'd rather deal with the paranormal than human abnormal - having dealt extensively with both.
