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The Rendlesham Forest UFO - What really Happened?
(Source)
'there were strange lights out in the forest. To me, it almost looked like Christmas lights at first, a Christmas display. At that point we looked at each other and we decided that we'd better go out and take a closer look because we weren't sure what we were dealing with. What we were looking at wasn't real'
(Source) (The bolded text above is my own writing)
"Master Sgt. Chandler contacted the shift commander's office, and within a minute or so I got the go-ahead to proceed off base with two other security policemen. We were told to leave our weapons behind, so as to not violate the Status Forces Agreement with the British. (As this was an American Base) I and Airman First Class John Burroughs and Ed Cabansag, also an Airman First Class, got into our Jeep and proceeded out the East Gate, then down a logging road adjacent to the perimeter", recalls Penniston.
(Source)
"we started on foot towards those lights. At the same time we could hear the animals were getting very upset. At that point we got a radio transmission, they had just got in contact with Heathrow [Airport]. An object had been seen over our base and had disappeared on radar." Jim Penniston confirms the radar related message which they received from CSC, "they [CSC - John Coffey] notified me that they were tracking an unidentified bogey about 15 minutes ago and they confirmed it with contact with eastern radar and Heathrow in London and the approximate location was about 5 miles off base when they lost contact with it."
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(Source)
"no landing gear was apparent, but it seemed like it was on fixed legs. I walked around the craft, and finally, I walked right up to the craft. I noticed the fabric of the shell was like a smooth, opaque, black glass. The bluish lights went from black to grey to blue. I was pretty much confused at that point. I kept trying to put this in some kind of frame of reference, trying to find some logical explanation as to what this was and what was going on. It was dead silent. No animals were even making noise anymore. The nearer we got to that thing the more uneasy I felt...it was as if I was moving in slow motion."
Some of his notes that he claimed to have took during this incident.
The top portion is producing mainly white light, which encompasses most of the upper section of the craft. A small amount of white light peers out the bottom. At the left side centre is a bluish light, and on the other side, red. The lights seem to be moulded as part of the exterior of the structure, smooth, slowly fading into the rest of the outside of the structure, gradually moulding into the fabric of the craft'.
"As I was taking notes, I also memorized what was in front of me for what seemed like hours, but was in fact only minutes. Finally, I unleashed my camera-case cover and brought the camera up to focus. I began snapping photo after photo.
[Soon] I had already taken all 36 pictures on my roll of film. On the smooth exterior shell there was writing of some kind, but I couldn't quite distinguish it, so I moved up to it. It was three-inch lettering, rather symbols that stretched for the length of two feet, maybe a little more."
(Source)
"I touched the symbols, and I could feel the shapes as if they were inscribed or etched or engraved, like a diamond cut on glass."
Some notes he made of the symbols again at the time of this incident.
The white light flooding out from the top of the unknown object was almost blinding. "The craft moved up off the ground, about three feet, still with absolutely no sound. It started to move slowly, weaving back through the trees at a very slow pace, maybe a half a foot per second.
(Source)
It took about a couple of minutes for it to maneuver itself back to a distance of about 100 to 150 feet, then it rose up just over the trees, about 200 feet high. There was a momentary pause and then literally with the blink of an eye it was gone. All with no sound. That still boggles my mind"
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(Source)
Although the memorandum which Lt. Colonel Halt sent to the MoD speak of an object on legs. It reads "the object was hovering or on legs." Would the object look more like this?
(Source)
Sceptics have claimed that it would be silly for an object from 'outer-space' to travel all to earth with flimsy legs to support it. This new evidence suggests that the object was never on 'flimsy legs' in the first place. Using a mirrored image of the plaster cast, I have been able to recreate the depressions that would have been made an object of such shape had been pushed into the floor.
"We were about halfway into the shift, I guess, when we noticed some lights in the sky that, didn't seem to follow any pattern of aircraft we'd seen", explains Battram.
The lights needed to be investigated, especially because of the UFO incident which had taken place in the same area only one day earlier.
(Source)
They contacted Central Security Control. After alerting the fire department, CSC gave Battram and his group permission to precede off-base.
(Source)
[Englund] came in and he was quite shaken and insisted upon speaking to myself and the base commander [Colonel Conrad] about a matter of utmost urgency. He said, "it's back" and we all looked at each other , "what's back" I said and he said, "the UFO is back!."
Lt. Colonel Halt: We are getting readings on the tree. You’re taking samples from on the side facing the suspected landing site?
Lt. Englund: Four clicks max.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Up to four. Interesting. That’s right where you’re taking the sample now.
Lt. Englund: Four
Lt. Colonel Halt: That’s the strongest point on the tree?
Sgt. Nevilles: Yes sir, and if you come to the back, there’s no clicks whatsoever.
(Source)
Lt. Colonel Halt: No clicks at all, in the back
Sgt. Nevilles: Maybe one or two
Lt. Colonel Halt: It’s all on the side facing the [landing site obviously]...interesting.
"we got the radiac instruments out, we were taking readings and while we were doing this, the police lieutenant said 'look!'. (see the Halt tape a few posts below)
(Source)
It was a strange glowing object, it appeared to be 100-200 metres away. I couldn't explain it. It was moving behind the pine trees, zig-zagging around it kind of winked at us."
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Lt. Colonel Halt: Strange. One again left. Let's approach the edge of the woods at that point. Can we do without lights? Let's do it carefully, come on... OK we're looking at the thing, we're probably about 2-3 hundred yards away. It looks like an eye winking at you, it's still moving from side to side and when we put the star scope on it, it's sort of a hollow centre right, a dark centre, it's...
Lt. Englund: It's like a pupil...
(Source)
Lt. Colonel Halt: It's like the pupil of an eye looking at you, winking...and the flash is so bright to the Star scope, err.... it almost burns your eye.
[Break in tape]
"we're verging the fence line, the object continues to move through the trees, it proceeds a bit, goes out across the farmer's field, to the left of the farmers house and appears to be shedding molten metal, it's dripping off it.
(Source)
It pulsated, although it were an eye winking at you and around the edges, it appeared to have molten metal dripping off it, just like falling to the ground, but I didn't see any evidence of anything on the ground. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, none of us could."
Lt. Colonel Halt: 3.15: Now we've got an object about ten degrees directly south...
Sgt. Nevilles: There's one to the left
Lt. Colonel Halt: 10 degrees off the horizon, and the ones to the north are moving, one's moving away from us.
Sgt. Nevilles: It's moving out fast
Lt. Colonel Halt: They're moving out fast.
Sgt. Ball: There's one on the right chasing away too.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Yeah, they're both heading north. H..h...here he comes from the south; he's coming in toward us now!
(source)
Sgt. Ball: [SNIP].
Lt. Colonel Halt: Now were observing what appears to be a beam coming down to the ground!
Sgt. Ball: ...Colours...[SNIP]
Lt. Colonel Halt: This is unreal!
Lt. Colonel Halt: 3.30: And the objects are still in the sky, although the one to the south looks like it's losing a little bit of altitude. We're turning around and heading back toward the base. The object to the...the object to the south is still beaming down lights to the ground.
[Break in tape]
(source)
Lt. Colonel Halt: 0:400 Hours one object still hovering over the Woodbridge base at about 5-10 degrees off the horizon. Still moving erratic and similar lights beaming down as earlier.
(Source)
"as we were watching this, there were disaster preparedness officers out here with Geiger counters, going in an almost half-clockwise motion around this thing on the ground."
(Source)
"it moved in, in a downward arc, so fast. Stopped and hovered about 20 feet off the ground. It was the size of a basketball, American basketball. [It was] self illuminated, not quite red, yet that's the closest I can describe it."
Please continue reading into the next post.
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(Source)
"Then a light moved out of the side of the object and split into three. Within the light you could see clearly what looked like eyes, facial features, bright clothing and some other device, but the legs and the lower extremities, I couldn't make out - It was almost as if the light was translucent."
(Source)
"What happened next was basically a face off. If there was any communication, it was telepathy... who can say, I don't know. I've never said those things [Handshakes, and the like]."
(Source)
"there was a sound, a sound like a tree braking, I don't know what it was. These things ['beings'] retracted under a delta type of thing, their arms moved up and then after a stand off for a minute - it was very tense - they moved back closer, and I'm standing right there watching - I was about 20-25 feet away."
Fawcett: When it moved, when it took off, did you hear anything or feel anything?
Bustinza: When it took off, it was, like, hovering. It went up and, like, took off at about a forty-five-degree angle, and if you would have blinked, you would have missed it.
Fawcett: That fast?
(Source)
Bustinza: That fast. And we got a cold draft of air that lasted about a good ten seconds. You know, like when you get a good blow of dust or wind. No noise though; I do remember that.
Read the ENTIRE Interview here
Penniston recounted the same events that he remembered consciously. Nothing new surfaced. The session did, however, turn up a jump in time: Penniston described being near the craft, examining it, and then suddenly standing 30 feet away next to Airman First Class John Burroughs, one of the men dispatched to investigate the scene with him.
(Source)
That sequence of events left about 45 minutes unaccounted for. He and his colleagues decided to try another hypnosis session two months later to explore that seeming discrepancy.
During the second hypnotic regression, the psychologist takes Penniston back to the debriefing by two Office of Special Investigation (OSI) agents, and he recounts the scene and events just as he recalled them consciously. But then, according to Penniston's memory under hypnosis, those two agents leave the room and two other officials, one American and one with a British accent, come into the room and ask Penniston to again recount the story.
They ask him, he says, if he would mind being given a shot of something and then telling his story again while they tape-record it. Penniston agrees, "if that's what it takes." But he also tells his interrogators that he doesn't like shots.
In a dramatic and striking scene on the videotape, Penniston lifts his arm for a shot of sodium penthathol and the agents question him repeatedly about the trajectory of the craft, its speed and approach. Penniston calmly repeats over and over that he did not see any of that, that the craft was already on the ground when he saw it.
(Source)
The interrogation continues, and Penniston answers the officials' questions about the craft itself and the symbols he found on one side. He recalls the two agents talking to themselves, saying there was "no point in going further," that they knew what had happened and now the question was how to contain the situation. "They know about what I've seen. They knew it already," Penniston says under hypnosis.
As the regression continues, the psychologist begins questioning Penniston about possible "beings" in the craft and he begins to answer. On the tape, it seems that Penniston knows the answer to just about every question the psychologist asks. "I look at this and find it hard to believe it's me," said Penniston during one viewing of the tape.
Under hypnosis, Penniston describes the alien visitors, saying that they are "travelers from our future." They have been coming here in teams, each team assigned a different "tasking," a different mission. Each team targets certain people when it comes back to our time, rather than just encountering people randomly.
When the psychologist asks him why, Penniston -- still under hypnosis -- says, "They've got a serious problem. The world isn't like it is now. It's darker, in bad shape. It's very polluted and much colder." He goes on to recount that the visitors from the future also have serious social problems and difficulties with reproduction. Accordingly, one of the travelers' main tasks is to obtain sperm and eggs and chromosomes in order to keep the species alive. The species in question, he says in response to the psychologist's question, is "us. They're humans."
(Source)
"The problem here," says Penniston to Rayl after the videotape ends, "is I don't know if this information is real in any sense, if it's been planted in my mind or if any of it is actually rooted in truth as we know it."
Please continue reading into the next post.
Thank You.
Youtube shortened version of the Halt Tape
The full tape
Google Video Link |
Heres the (as far as Im aware) entire transcript of the Halt Tape
"Received dispatch from CSC to rendezvous with Police 4 AIC Burroughs, and Police 5 SSgt Steffens at east Gate Woodbridge. Upon arriving at east gate directly to the east about 1 and a half miles in a large wooded area. A large yellow glowing light was emitting above the trees. In the centre of the lighted area directly in the centre ground level, there was red light blinking on and off 5 to 10 second intervals. And a blue light that was being for the most part steady.
After receiving permission from CSC, we proceeded off base pass east gate, down an old logging road. Left vehicle, proceeded on foot. Burroughs and I were approx. 15-20 meters apart and proceeding on a true east direction from logging road.
The area in front of us was lighting up a 30 metre area. When we got within a 50 metre distance, the object was producing red and blue light. The blue light was steady and projecting under the object.
It was up the area directly extending a metre or two out. At this point of positive identification I relayed to CSC, SSgt Coffey. A positing sighting of the object...1....Colour of lights and that it was definitely mechanical in nature.
(Source)
This is the closest point that I was near the object at any point. We then proceeded after it. It moved in a zig-zagging manner back through the woods, then lost sight of it. On the way back we encountered a blue streaking light to the left only lasting a few seconds. After 45 min walk, arrived at our vehicle." (not signed)
John Burroughs - Witness Statement Page 1
John Burroughs - Witness Statement Page 2
"On the night of 25-26 Dec at around 3:00, while on patrol down at East Gate, myself and my partner saw lights coming from the woods due east of the gate. The lights were red and blue, the red one above the blue one, and they were flashing on and off. Because I've never seen anything like that coming from the woods before we decided to drive down and see what it was. We went down east-gate road and took a right at the stop sign and drove about 10-20 yards to where there is a road that goes into the forest. I could see a white light shining into the trees and I could still see the red and blue one.
We decided we better go call it in so we went back up towards East Gate and called it in. The whole time I could see the lights and the white light was almost at the edge of the road and the blue and red lights were still out in the woods. A security unit was sent down to the gate and when they got there they could see it too. we asked permission to go and see what it was. We took the truck down the road that leads into the forest.
As we went down the east-gate road and the road that leads into the forest, the lights were moving back and they appeared to stop in a bunch of trees. We stopped the truck where the road stopped and went on foot. We crossed a small open field that let into where the lights were coming from, and as we were coming into the trees there were strange noises, like a woman screaming. Also the woods lit up and you could hear the farm animals making a lot of noises, and there was a lot of movement in the woods.
All three of us hit the ground and what ever it was started moving back towards the open field and after a minute or two we got up and moved into the trees and the lights moved out into the open field. We got up to a fence that separated the trees from the open field.
(Source)
You could see the lights down by a farmer's house. We climbed over the fence and started walking toward the red and blue lights and they just disappeared. Once we reached the farmer's house we could see a beacon going around, so we went toward it. We followed it for about 2 miles before we could see it was coming from a lighthouse. We had just passed a creak and were told to come back when we saw a blue light to our left in the trees. It was only there for a minute and just streaked away. After that we didn't see anything and returned to the truck."
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"On 26 Dec 80, SSgt Penningston and I were on Security #6 at Woodbridge Base. I was the member. We were patrolling Delta NAPA when we received a call over the radio. It stated that Police #4 had seen some strange lights out past the East Gate and we were to respond. SSgt Penningston and I left Delta NAPA, heading for the East Gate code two. When we got there SSgt Steffens and A1C Burroughs were on patrol. They told us they had seen some funny lights out in the woods. We notified CSC and we asked permission to investigate further.
They gave us the go-ahead. We left our weapons with SSgt Steffens who remained at the gate. Thus the three of us went out to investigate. We stopped the Security Police vehicle about 100 meters from the gate. Due to the terrain we had to on by foot. We kept in constant contact with CSC. While we walked, each one of us would see the lights. Blue, red, white, and yellow.
The beckon light turned out to be the yellow light. We would see them periodically, but not In a specific pattern. As we approached, the lights would seem to be at the edge of the forret. We were about 100 meters from the edge of the forrest when I saw a quick movement, it looked visible for a moment . It look like it spun XXgXX(?) left a quarter of a turn, then it was gone.
I'm advised SSgt Penningston and A1C Borroughs(?). We advised CSC and proceeded In extreme caution. When we got about 75-50 meters, MSgt Chandler/Flight Chief, was on the scene. CSC was not reading our transmissions very well,, so we used MSgt Chandler as a go-between. He remained back at out vehicle. As we entered the forrest, the blue and red lights were not visible anymore. Only the beacon light, was still blinking.
We figured the lights were coming from past the forrest, since nothing was visible when we past through the woody forrest. We would see a glowing near the beacon light, but as we got closer we found It to be a lit up farm house. After we had passed throught the forrest, we thought it had to be an aircraft accident. So did CSC as well. But we ran and walked a good 2 miles past out the vehicle, until we got to a vantage point where we could determine that what we were chasing was X only a beacon light off In the distance.
(Source)
Our route through the forrest and field was a direct one, straight towards the light. We informed CSC that the light beacon was farther than we thought, so CSC terminated our Investigation. A1C Burroughs and I took a road, while SSgt Penningston walked straight back from where we came. A1C Burroughs saw the light again, this time it was coming from the left of us, as we were walking back to our patrol vehicle. We got in contact with SSgt Penningston and we took a walk threw where we saw the lights. Nothing. Finally, we made it back to our vehicle, after making contact with the PC's and informing them of what we saw. After that we met MSgt Chandler and we went In service again after termination of the sighting."
J . D . Chandler - Unnecesary witness Statement Page 2
"At approximately 3.00hrs, 26 December 1980, while conducting security checks on RAF Bentwaters, I monitored a radio transmission from A1C Burroughs, Law Enforcement patrol at RAF Woodbridge, stating that he was observing strange lights in the wooded area just beyond the access road, leading from the East Gate at RAF Woodbridge. SSgt Penniston, Security Supervisor, was contacted and directed to contact Burroughs at the East Gate. Upon arrival, SSgt Penniston immediately notified CSC that he too was observing these lights and requested to make a closer observation After several minutes, Penniston my presence.
I departed RAF Bentwaters through Butley Gate for RAF Woodbridge. When I arrived, SSgt Penniston, A1C Burroughs and Amn Cabansag had entered the wooded area just beyond the clearing at the access road. We set up radio relay between SSgt Penniston, myself and CSC. On one occasion Penniston relayed that he was close enough to the object to determine it was definitely a mechanical object.
He stated that he was within 50 metres. He also stated that there was lots of noises in the area which seemed to be animals running around. Each Penniston gave me the indication that he was about to reach the area where the lights were he would give an extended estimated location. He eventually arrived at a 'beacon light', however, he stated that this was not the light or lights he had originally observed. He was instructed to return.
(Source)
While on route out of the area he reported seeing lights again almost in direct pass where they had passed earlier. Shortly after this, they reported that the lights were no longer visible. SSgt Penniston returned to RAF Woodbridge. After talking to the three of them, I am sure that they had observed something unusual. At no time did I observe anything from the time I arrived at RAF Woodbridge."
Fred Buran - Unnecesary witness Statement Page 2
"I do hereby voluntarily and of my own free will make the following statement without having been subjected to any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful inducement. The following statement is general in nature and may be inaccurate in some instances due to the time-lapse involved and the fact I was not taking notes at the time oft he occurrence. At approximately 03:00 hrs, 26 December 1980, I was on duty at bldg. 679, Central Security Control, when I was notified that A1C Burroughs had sighted some strange lights in the wooded area east of the runway at RAF Woodbridge.
Shortly after the initial report A1C Burroughs was joined by SSgt Jim Penniston and his rider, AMN Cabansag. SSgt Penniston also reported the strange lights.I directed SSgt Coffey, the on duty Security Controlled to attempt to ascertain from SSgt Penniston whether or not the lights could be marker lights of some kind, to which SSgt Penniston said that he had never seen lights of this colour or nature in the area before. He described them as Red, blue, white and orange.
SSgt Penniston requested permission to investigate. After he had been joined by the Security Flight Chief, MSgt Chandler, and turned his weapon over to him, I directed them to go ahead. SSgt Penniston had previously informed me that the lights appeared to be no further than 100 yds from the road East Gate of the runway. I monitored their progress (Penniston, Burroughs and Cabansag) as they entered the wooded area.
They appeared to get very close to the lights, and at one point SSgt Penniston stated that it was a definite mechanical object. Due to the colours they reported I alerted them to the fact that they may have been approaching a light aircraft crash scene. I directed SSgt Coffey to check with the tower to see if they could throw some light on the subject. They could not help.
SSgt Penniston reported getting near the object and then all of a sudden said they had gone past it and were looking a a marker beacon that was in the same direction as the other lights. I asked him if he could have been mistaken, to which Penniston replied that had I seen the other lights I would know the difference. SSgt Penniston seemed somewhat agitated at this point.
They continued to look further, to no avail. At approximately 3:43 hrs, I terminated the investigation and ordered all units bad to their normal duties. I directed SSgt Penniston to take notes of the incident when he came in that morning. After talking with him face to face concerning the incident, I am convinced that he saw something out of the realm of explanation for him at that time.
I would like to state at this time that SSgt Penniston is a totally reliable and mature individual. He was not overly excited, nor do I think he is subject to overreaction or misinterpretation of circumstances. Later that morning, after conversing with CPT Mike Verrano, the day-shift commander, I discovered that there had been several other sightings. Any further developments I have no direct knowledge of."
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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 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 to 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 maneuvered through the trees and disappeared. At this time the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy. The object was briefly sighted approximately an hour later near the back gate.
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 three depressions. A nearby tree had moderate (0.05 - 0.07) readings on the side of the tree facing towards the three depressions.
Later in the night a red sun-like object was seen through 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 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 of 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 8-10 power lens. They then turned to full circles.
The objects in the north remained in the sky for an hour or more. The object to the south was visible for two to 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.
(Source)
Charles Halt (signed)
Charles I. Halt. Lt Col, USAF
Deputy Base Commander
Suffolk Constabulary holds the following documents on the above incident, which occurred on 26 December, 1980, in Rendlesham, Suffolk:
1. Suffolk Constabulary Command and Control incident log serial number 10E1 26/12/80/0411. Report from USAF Law Enforcement Desk, RAF Bentwaters of unusual lights in the sky beyond East Gate to RAF Woodbridge.
2. Suffolk Constabulary Command and Control incident log serial number 31A4 26/12/80/1030. Report from USAF Law Enforcement Desk, RAF Bentwaters of an alleged craft landing site, two miles east of the East Gate of RAF Bentwaters.
3. Copy of Suffolk Constabulary letter dated 23 November 1983 to an enquirer.
4. Copy of Suffolk Constabulary letter dated 27 October 1988 to an enquirer.
(Source)
5. Copy of Suffolk Constabulary letter dated 28 July 1999 to an enquirer.
6. Copy of Suffolk Constabulary facsimile note dated 18 January 2001 to the Home Office providing an answer to a Parliamentary Question about Suffolk Constabulary’s involvement in the 1980 Rendlesham incident.
John Burroughs - Airmen first class at time - present on first night
"There is no way that many people were fooled by that lighthouse...There is just no way that we were fooled, something actually went on on out there."
Jim Penniston - Staff Sergeant at time - present on first night
[Arguing with Vince Thurkettle] "You know, we've worked out here for months. We know where the lighthouse is, it's just so ridiculous to bring that up."
Charles Halt - Deputy base commander at time - present on second night
"The whole time this was going on, we could see the lighthouse, the lighthouse was about 33-35 degrees off where this object was this seen....A lighthouse doesn't move through the forest, the lighthouse doesn't go up and down, it doesn't explode, doesn't change shape, size, doesn't send down beams of light from the sky."
Edward Cabansag - Airman at time - present on first night
"It [the UFO] was to the right of the lighthouse" "... It wasn't the lighthouse."
Charles Halt - Deputy base commander at time - present on second night
"I knew where the lighthouse was. This thing was not it. I saw the lighthouse as well but I never mentioned it [on the tape]. Why should I? Everybody present knew what that was!"
"A lighthouse doesn’t move through the forest; the lighthouse doesn’t go up and down, it doesn’t explode, doesn’t change shape, size - doesn’t send down beams of light from the sky”.
"I don't want to talk to people that tell me I was looking at the lighthouse... I could see the lighthouse... I knew where the lighthouse was. That's ludicrous."
"They [the sceptics] weren't there that night, I certainly wish some of them had been - they might have had a different opinion of things. But they're entitled to their opinion, they certainly are. I know what happened. I was there."
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Steve La Plume - Airmen first class at time - present on second or third night
"I mean, come on here, this is not rocket science. I saw something, Busty [Adrian Bustinza] saw something, [Larry] Warren saw something.
Everyone there saw something. Perhaps on different nights, perhaps with a different perspective but we did not see a light house and mistake it for a bloody UFO.
[...] I am personally offended by the fact that anyone can even think that we are so stupid as to believe what we saw was a dammed light house[...]"
Larry Warren - A1C - present on second or third night
"The British press always brings up astronomer Ian Ridpath's insane lighthouse theory as the cause of the UFO incidents. USAF security police are highly trained people, and I'm sure all Bentwaters veterans must find Ridpath's ramblings insulting in the extreme".
Gregory Battram - A1C at time - present on second/third night
"I just wish I knew why those things landed and what they wanted - isn't that the most important question? No lighthouses and theories from people who don't have a clue..."
(Source)
Vince Thurkettle - forester at time - first to suggest the lighthouse theory.
He spoke to Georgina Bruni, "they [the sceptics] take a cluster of facts and only pick up on those that suit the situation"
Even the lighthouse keeper does not subscribe to the lighthouse theory.
He spoke to Georgina Bruni, "... some time the skeptics have been pestering me in an attempt to get to support their theory. I cannot do it. I know what my lighthouse looked like from the forest. I have seen it in all weathers. It just could not do what those airmen and local people describe the UFO as doing..."
On Monday night, after dark, I ventured into Rendlesham Forest with the astronomy writer, Ian Ridpath, a scientist who has almost made a career of explaining the incident.
He took me to the place where the airmen reported seeing flashing lights in the sky. There, we were greeted by the sight of the Orford Ness lighthouse a few miles away.
Mr Ridpath was certain that this was what the witnesses to the mysterious lights in the forest were looking at. It is still there now - its light rotating every five seconds.
(Source)
"It's too good a story to allow to die. It's a combination of events which, when put together, sound inexplicable," he told me.
"But when you look at them individually, the bright light flashing away across the field was the Orford Ness lighthouse; the bright lights that hovered in the sky for several hours were in fact bright stars."
Mystery explained. It was an easy mistake for young Americans a long way from home to make.
To assess the credibility of that idea requires some background information. Firstly, the object that re-entered was not what most people would think of as a ‘real’ satellite. It was in fact the upper stage of the carrier rocket that launched Cosmos 749 over five years earlier, in July 1975.
(It is usual for the top stage of a launch rocket to go into orbit with the satellite, and is a major contributor to the amount of ‘junk’ in orbit). As such it was a dead, inert cylinder of metal, and there would have been no way to command it down even if anyone had wanted to do so. What’s more, the re-entry started 1,500 miles away over North Africa.
(Source)
The real Cosmos 749 satellite had in fact re-entered three months earlier, in September 1980. It was an electronic eavesdropping satellite but it was not the type of satellite designed to be brought back to Earth, nor was it nuclear-powered. And the British Astronomical Association research paper referenced in paragraph one makes it clear that Jenny’s claim that the incoming object somehow changed course is simply wrong.
1. Conde can't recall the date of his alleged prank. If this is
so then how can he claim he was responsible for the 1980
incident?
2. Conde says there was fog on the night in question, but there
was no fog during any of the incidents that week.
3. He says he played his loudspeaker, but the UFOs were silent.
4. The car he used for the prank was a 'battered 1979 Plymouth
Volare.' Let us not forget that incident took place in 1980,
which means the so called battered police vehicle would have
been less than a year old at that time.
5. Conde claims he played the prank on the taxiway! The incident
did NOT take place on or near the taxiway, but inside the
forest. And let us not forget that the UFO was first seen
falling into the forest, which prompted those at the East Gate,
John Burroughs and his sergeant, Bud Steffans, to think it was a
downed aircraft. The lights, of course, were not going up into
the sky, but were falling down from the sky.
6. Conde says he was unaware of the Rendlesham mystery until he
looked up his old base on a US military website. If this is the
case then how could he claim that as far as he was aware they
found nothing above background [radiation] levels?
7. USAF personnel usually work in pairs when patrolling the base
in vehicles. I'm assuming he was patrolling the base, and if so
then he most likely would have had a partner that night. Who was
that person and why has Conde failed to mention him?
(Rest of this article is mentioned along with the link to it in the next post.)
Please continue reading into the next post.
Thank You.
(Source)
8. When asked about the metallic spacecraft and [ground]
depressions Conde pointed out that a large helicopter had landed
the previous night, apparently with three landing skids. Conde
obviously hasn't seen the USAF photographs of the landing site
showing the three ground indentations being examined by a
British police officer and USAF Captain Mike Verano.
Writing on 23 February 1981 R C Horscroft, ADI/DI52 said “The value of 0.1 milliroentgens (mr), I assume that this is per hour, seems significantly higher than the average background of about 0.015 mr”.
Spoke to Giles Cowling at the Defence Radiological Protection Service re the radiation readings recorded at the time of the Rendlesham Forest incident. 0.01 would be the general level of background radiation, so the 0.1 reading is about 10 times what would be normal. [Ian’s note: this would be true if 0.1 were a steady level, but as we know it refers only to a random peak.]
“However, military radiation detectors are geared for high level readings, so low-level readings may be difficult to record accurately, as the scale will be small at the bottom of the meter.* We don’t have details of what instrument was used.
“It is just possible to hoax such an event. A university lab might well have some radioactive source with a very short half life, and could could use it so as to give readings which would not be recorded a few days later.
(Source)
“The level of radiation of 0.1 is completely harmless.
“ *Especially if the needle was fluctuating.”
My earlier inquiries had shown that the radiation monitor used by Halt and his team would have been of the type known as an AN/PDR-27. On behalf of Frank Close, NRPB contacted the American manufacturers of the AN/PDR-27, who stated that Halt’s peak measurement of 0.1 mR/h was the “bottom reading on the lowest range” of the monitor and was “of little or no significance”.
(Source)
They noted further that these instruments are designed to be used to monitor workplace fields or radiation levels after sizable nuclear incidents and are therefore not suitable for environmental monitoring at background levels. On the basis of this information from the manufacturers, NRPB concluded that using such an instrument to establish a level of 10 times background is not credible.
Please continue reading into the next post.
Thank You.
The Rendlesham Forest Incident - Part 1
The Rendlesham Forest Incident - Part 2
The Rendlesham Forest Incident - Part 3
The Rendlesham Forest Case - Part 1
The Rendlesham Forest Case - Part 2
The Rendlesham Forest Case - Part 3
The Rendlesham Forest Case - Part 4
The Rendlesham Forest Case - Part 5
The Rendlesham Forest Case - Part 6
"The problem here," says Penniston to Rayl after the videotape ends, "is I don't know if this information is real in any sense, if it's been planted in my mind or if any of it is actually rooted in truth as we know it."
The supposed photos that were taken of the object are still no where to be found correct? Classified?