Rendlesham Forest incident facts for kids
Fence at the site of the former East Gate of RAF Woodbridge, where the incident began in December, 1980. The original East Gate was much smaller.
|
|
| Date | 26 December and 28 December 1980 |
|---|---|
| Time | 03:00 GMT (23:00 EDT) |
| Location | Suffolk, England, United Kingdom |
| Also known as | Britain's Roswell |
The Rendlesham Forest incident was a series of strange events that happened in December 1980. People reported seeing unexplained lights near Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England. These events became connected to stories about UFO landings.
The sightings took place right outside RAF Woodbridge. This was a base used by the United States Air Force (USAF) at the time. Air Force staff, including Lieutenant Colonel Charles I. Halt, said they saw things they described as a UFO.
This event is the most famous UFO sighting in the United Kingdom. It is also one of the best-known UFO stories worldwide. Some people compare it to the Roswell UFO incident in the United States. Because of this, it is sometimes called "Britain's Roswell."
The UK Ministry of Defence said the event was not a threat to national security. So, they never investigated it as a security issue. People who doubt the UFO story say the lights were just normal things. They suggest the lights were a fireball (a bright meteor), the Orfordness Lighthouse, and bright stars.
Contents
What Happened: The Main Events
First Night: December 26
Around 3:00 AM on December 26, 1980, a security patrol saw lights. They seemed to be coming down into Rendlesham Forest. This was near the east gate of RAF Woodbridge. Scientists believe these lights were from a piece of space rock. It was burning up as a fireball (meteor) over southern England at that time.
The airmen first thought it was a crashed aircraft. According to a report by Lieutenant Colonel Halt, they went into the forest to check. They saw a glowing object that looked metallic. It had colored lights. As they tried to get closer, the object seemed to move through the trees. Animals on a nearby farm also became very agitated. One airman, Sergeant Jim Penniston, later said he touched a "craft of unknown origin." However, this was not mentioned publicly at the time. Other witnesses did not confirm it.
A short time later, local police were called. They arrived around 4:00 AM. But they reported that the only lights they could see were from the Orford Ness lighthouse. This lighthouse was several miles away on the coast.
After sunrise on December 26, airmen went back to the forest. They found three small marks on the ground. These marks were in a triangle shape. There were also burn marks and broken branches on nearby trees. At 10:30 AM, the local police were called again. They came to see the marks. The police thought the marks might have been made by an animal.
Second Night: December 28
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt, the base's deputy commander, visited the site. He went with several airmen in the early hours of December 28, 1980. They used a special device to check for radiation. They took readings in the triangular marks and nearby. They found a very small amount of radiation. This was slightly higher than the normal background level. They also found a similar small burst of radiation over half a mile away. Halt recorded everything on a small tape recorder.
During this investigation, they saw a flashing light. It was across a field to the east. This was almost in line with a farmhouse. The witnesses had seen a similar light on the first night. The Orford Ness lighthouse is visible even further east, in the same direction.
Later, Halt reported seeing three lights in the sky. They looked like stars. Two were to the north and one to the south. Halt said the brightest one stayed in place for two to three hours. It seemed to shine a beam of light down sometimes. Astronomers have said these star-like lights were actually bright stars.
Where It Happened: The Location
Rendlesham Forest is a large area of trees. It is owned by the Forestry Commission. It covers about 5.8 square miles (15 square kilometers). It has mostly pine trees, but also some areas with other trees, open land, and wet areas. The forest is in the county of Suffolk. It is about 8 miles (13 km) east of the town of Ipswich.
The incident happened near two old military bases. These were RAF Bentwaters, just north of the forest, and RAF Woodbridge. RAF Woodbridge extends into the forest from the west. It is bordered by the forest on its north and east sides. At the time, both bases were used by the United States Air Force.
The main events, including the supposed landings, took place in the forest. This area starts about 0.3 miles (0.5 km) east of the East Gate of RAF Woodbridge. This is where security guards first saw the mysterious lights. The forest goes east for about one mile (1.6 km). It ends at a farmer's field called Capel Green. More events supposedly happened there.
The Orfordness Lighthouse is about 5 miles (8 km) further east of the forest's edge. People who doubt the UFO story say this lighthouse was the flashing light the airmen saw. At that time, it was one of the brightest lighthouses in the UK.
Key Information and Reports
The Halt Memo
The first official document released to the public was a memo. It was written by Lieutenant Colonel Charles I. Halt. He sent it to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This memo is known as the "Halt memo." It was made public in the United States in 1983. This happened because of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The memo was dated January 13, 1981, and titled "Unexplained Lights." The two-week delay might explain why some dates and times were slightly off. The memo was not a secret document.
David Clarke, a journalist, looked into this memo. He found that the MoD did not investigate the incident very deeply. He also found no other reports about the incident from the US Air Force or the UK. Halt has since said he believes he saw something from outer space. He also thinks it was kept a secret.
The Halt Tape Recording
In 1984, a copy of a tape recording was given to UFO researchers. This tape is known as the "Halt Tape." It records Halt's investigation in the forest as it happened. You can hear him taking radiation readings. You can also hear him describing the flashing light among the trees. He also talks about the star-like objects that stayed in the sky and twinkled. A researcher named Ian Ridpath has written down everything on the tape. He also offers a link to listen to the audio.
Eyewitness Accounts from December 26
In 1997, a researcher named James Easton got the original statements from the witnesses. These were the people involved in the sightings on the first night. One witness, Ed Cabansag, said in his statement: "We thought the lights were beyond the forest. We saw nothing when we went through the woods. We would see a glow near the beacon light. But as we got closer, we found it was a lit-up farmhouse. We got to a spot where we could tell that what we were chasing was only a beacon light far away." Another person, John Burroughs, also said: "We could see a beacon moving around. So we went towards it. We followed it for about two miles before we could see it was coming from a lighthouse."
Burroughs also reported a noise "like a woman was screaming." He said, "you could hear the farm animals making a lot of noises." Halt heard the same noises two nights later. This noise could have been made by Muntjac deer. These deer live in the forest and are known for their loud, high-pitched bark when they are scared.
The Halt Affidavit
In June 2010, retired Colonel Charles Halt signed a sworn statement. In this statement, he again described what had happened. He then said he believed the event was from outer space. He also claimed that both the UK and US governments had covered it up. However, people have pointed out differences between this statement and what Halt recorded in his memo and on his tape at the time.
In 2010, the base commander, Colonel Ted Conrad, gave a statement. He said, "We saw nothing like Lieutenant Colonel Halt's descriptions. Not in the sky or on the ground." He also said, "We had people in place to check Halt's story, but none of them could." Conrad criticized Halt for his claims. He said Halt "should be ashamed and embarrassed." Conrad also disagreed with Sergeant Jim Penniston's story. Penniston claimed to have touched an alien spacecraft. Conrad said he interviewed Penniston at the time. Penniston did not mention any such thing then. Conrad also suggested that the whole incident might have been a trick.
An article from 1983 mentioned Colonel Ted Conrad. It said he recalled five Air Force police officers seeing lights. They thought it was a small plane landing in the forest. Two of the men followed the object. They found a large craft on three legs. It had no windows but was covered with bright red and blue lights. Each time the men got within 50 yards, it would float six feet in the air and move away. They followed it for almost an hour. It went through the woods and across a field. Then it took off very fast. Colonel Conrad started a short investigation. He went into the forest and found a triangular pattern. He thought it was made by the tripod legs. He interviewed two of the eyewitnesses. He concluded, "Those lads saw something, but I don't know what it was."
Suffolk Police Records
The Suffolk police were called to the scene on the first night. They were called again the next morning. But they did not find anything unusual. On the first night, they reported that the only visible lights were from the Orford lighthouse. They thought the marks in the ground were made by animals. The police file on the case was released in 2005. This happened under the UK's Freedom of Information Act. You can find it on their website.
The file includes a letter from Inspector Mike Topliss. He wrote in 1999 that one of the police officers went back to the site in daylight. He wanted to see if he had missed anything. Topliss wrote, "There was nothing to be seen. He still does not believe the event was real." He added, "The area was lit by strong light beams. These came from a landing beacon at RAF Bentwaters and the Orfordness lighthouse. I know that at night, in certain weather, these beams were very clear. They certainly caused strange visual effects."
Ministry of Defence File
People thought there was a large file about the incident at the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This led to claims of a cover-up. Some believed it was part of a bigger plan to hide information about UFOs. This was supposedly done by both the United States and British governments. However, when the file was released in 2001, it was mostly letters and answers to public questions. The documents did not show a deep investigation. This matched the MoD's earlier statement. They had said they never took the case seriously. The released files include an explanation from defence minister Lord Trefgarne. He explained why the MoD did not investigate further.
The UFO Trail
In 2005, the Forestry Commission created a special walking path. They used money from a lottery. This path is in Rendlesham Forest. It is called the UFO Trail because of public interest in the incident. In 2014, the Forestry Service asked an artist to create a sculpture. It was placed at the end of the trail. The artist said the sculpture looks like drawings of the UFO supposedly seen at Rendlesham.
Different Ideas About What Happened
A Change of Opinion
Jenny Randles first reported this case in a newspaper in 1981. She also wrote the first book about it in 1984. In 2010, she said she had doubts. She no longer believed the incident was caused by visitors from outer space. She suggested that an unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) of unknown origin might have caused some parts of the case. But she noted: "Some mysteries remain. However, we can probably say that no unearthly craft were seen in Rendlesham Forest. We can also confidently argue that the main events were misunderstandings. People saw everyday things in unusual situations."
Was It a Hoax?
In December 2018, David Clarke, a British UFO researcher, reported a claim. This claim suggested the incident was a trick. It was supposedly set up by the SAS. This was a revenge plan against the US Air Force. The story said that in August 1980, the SAS parachuted into RAF Woodbridge. They wanted to test the security of the nuclear site. The US Air Force had recently improved their radar. They detected the black parachutes of the SAS men. The SAS troops were questioned and treated roughly. They were even called "unidentified aliens."
To get revenge, the SAS supposedly gave the US Air Force their own "alien event." The story claimed that "as December came, lights and colored flares were set up in the woods. Black helium balloons were also tied to remote-controlled kites. These carried things into the sky and were controlled by radio." However, David Clarke's investigation found that this story was also a hoax.
See also
- Lakenheath-Bentwaters incident
- UFO conspiracy theory
- Unidentified flying object
- Paulding Light
- List of reported UFO sightings
- UFO sightings in United Kingdom
- The Rendlesham UFO Incident, a 2014 film based on these events
- The Rendlesham Forest incident is part of BBC Radio 4's 2019 adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness. The event is shown in the second episode.
Images for kids
-
Letter from Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt to the UK Ministry of Defence.
-
Map of the local area
-
A photograph of the supposed landing site
-
Forest clearing in the UFO Trail at Rendlesham Forest
