Rendlesham Forest…, A Christmas Story from 1980 - Can We ‘Let it Be’?

reply to post by mirageman


Thanks for the fascinating thread, mirageman! Rendlesham Forest is one of my favorite sightings... possibly my most fave, and you have managed to include many details I didn't have knowledge of before. I've been following this thread closely. I hope you'll continue to add info, as you get a chance. Thanks again and great job!

gemineye
reply to post by mirageman

 

Thanks for the fascinating thread, mirageman! Rendlesham Forest is one of my favorite sightings... possibly my most fave, and you have managed to include many details I didn't have knowledge of before. I've been following this thread closely. I hope you'll continue to add info, as you get a chance. Thanks again and great job!

Thanks for the comments. I haven't been around for a while, just got back from 2013 and all that .

This case has fascinated me since it was first reported (when I was still a schoolkid). It's a fairly unique case as the strange sightings went on for at least 3 nights and there are also other events that took place before and after. I have a stack of files, videos and podcasts I've been collecting for about a decade so am trying to put them to some use.

Whilst the other (earlier) threads cover the main details of the story well, I thought it might be time to put some of the lesser known information out there and raise questions that radio and TV shows seem to ignore.

I will update this thread in the next day or two with some more information so don't worry. Even if there's only you still reading it

Perhaps already noted in this thread, but around march this year, Penniston and Burroughs (co-written by Nick Pope), will release a new book with their side of the story. They claim it includes the full story with untold facts.

www.therendleshamforestincident.com...

Nice summary by TS by the way.

Further Addition to OP :

Adrian Bustinza – Silent Knight?

Adrian Bustinza is an often ignored witness in the Rendlesham tale because he has rarely spoken about the incident. He has seemingly disappeared off the radar but he did give interviews to both Georgina Bruni and to Larry Fawcett (LF) which is included in Larry Warren’s book “Left at East Gate” and also available in full at this link :

www.tinyurl.com...

Bustinza’s story is almost as fantastic as Larry Warren’s. Whilst people like Colonel Halt have dismissed Warren as being, at best ,on the fringes of what was happening, he cannot so easily brush aside Adrian Bustinza’s presence. As posted earlier Bustinza can be heard confirming his call sign as Alpha Two on Halt’s tape. There is no doubt he was out in the forest with Halt’s team.

So back to his intriguing interview.

Here are some of the more interesting snippets:

In an early part of the interview, Bustinza confirms that he was called off base on the night Colonel Halt took charge of things. What is interesting is that he mentions he still had a side arm although M16s were removed.

LF – Larry [Warren] had told me here in the beginning that he was at Bentwaters during the time of the incident and that he was on a guard post and a jeep pulled up with a Lieutenant Englund and I believe yourself was in the jeep.

AB – Right…………….

LF – OK. You got out of the vehicles. They took the weapons away from you.

AB – Well, they didn’t take mine………… I had a side arm also….. They did take our big weapons away, which were M16s.

This next segment confirms the presence of helicopters which is later confirmed as the 67 ARRS. Although to my knowledge no noise can be discerned on the “Halt Tape” to back this claim it is possible it has been edited out or simply the tape recording was switched off if helicopters were in proximity. Remember that for events that took over 4 hours there is less than 20 minutes of recording on Halts tape

LF – And you started to go into the woods like in a line…. Were there any bobbies there or British police or anything?

AB – Not at the beginning.

LF – OK. As you were going through now, Larry [Warren] said all of a sudden, they could see lights coming through the woods and he could also hear helicopters over above.



AB – Yes, a squadron, pararescue squadron was activated.

LF – Pararescue. Where were they from? Woodbridge?

AB – Woodbridge they weren’t very far away as a matter of fact.

LF – Do you know how many were up at the time?

AB – I recall Major Zickler said, scramble two, I believe he said.

Bustinza also says there were around 30 people circling a field including British personnel. Unlike Larry Warren he was not certain that video/film cameras were being used.

LF – OK. As you got into the field, Larry said the field was ringed by military people and British personnel…… Is that right?

AB – Yes.

LF – How many do you figure there were?

AB – Oh, I estimate at least thirty people.

LF – Now, Larry said that he saw movie-picture cameras.

AB – Movie-picture cameras? ……Well, yeah they were, but I didn’t know they were movie pictures or not. I did see a couple flashes.

Things get even more interesting as Bustinza talks of the encounter with the UFO in the field.

It was circular shaped it looked like a pancake. It was thick in the middle, and it would narrow out toward the edges. I seen lights, all kind of lights. It would have been a beautiful sight, you know. The lights were so bright that I could only see certain parts of the craft, and there were a bunch of little gadgets on it, too, like some planes got, and other little gadgets that I never even seen on aircraft before.

He appears to stop short of confirming seeing the “alien” beings that Larry Warren speaks about. But then adds in that something similar happened to him in California.

LF – Right. All of a sudden he could hear the helicopter or somebody say, “Here it comes.” And they looked up, and over the pine trees came a red ball of light. And this red ball of light like went over the top of this mist in the middle of the field and all of a sudden it exploded into a lot of colors, but there was no sound. Do you remember that?

AB – Yes, I remember that. That’s the main, the cream of the crop I would say.

LF – OK. After the colors dissipated, Larry said, there, was this machine there. This “thing,” what he called it. ……We put Larry under regressive hypnosis. Now, what came out under hypnosis was, while he was in the field and he was standing next to that machine, he was like petrified–frozen–that he couldn’t move, you know? And he could see beings, small type of creatures. And they were talking to an officer there. …….?

AB – Lieutenant Colonel Halt.

LF – Halt. OK. And he said the beings were conversing with Halt. And at this point, something happened on the other side of the craft because all the beings like got defensive. They all lined up. Larry said he could hear a commotion on the other side of this machine, and all the beings’ eyes got real big, and they all lined up in a straight line, real quick, like a defensive move. And then they dissipated a little bit, you know. It seemed to calm down whatever was going on on the other side of the ship. At this point, one of the beings floated over the top and came over by him, and that’s the last thing he remembers. Does it sound anything like you remember?

AB – OK. Oh, boy, let me see. I remember the conversation. I don’t remember word-for-word conversation, OK?..... What was going on? I was shocked.

LF – You saw the beings?

AB – I just couldn’t believe what was going on. I thought I was in a dreamworld or something. … totally helpless. Even though there was plenty of personnel there and they want you to feel secure, and considering the kind of job we did, one would feel secure, but you feel like your whole body, your whole privacy has been invaded………. I remember Colonel Halt said–I remember Larry. I don’t know why they picked Larry, but I remember Larry was going up there, and I was so scared I don’t know what to think. I was in a foreign country, you know.

LF – Yeah. Larry said you made a comment, and you said something like, “Oh, no, not again!” Yes. And Larry said, “What do you mean?” And you said, “I went through this.”

AB –..It was in California where it actually happened….. Mather Air Force Base. Yeah. There, we didn’t really see much we were all out on the perimeter. The alert pad and bright lights lit up the whole area, and there was something in the middle of the pad but hovering about, oh, forty, fifty feet above in the air. Real shiny lights. You couldn’t even look up at it really–bright, bright lights all around. And then it just disappeared. We called it in; they just started laughing at us.

continues below >>>

Adrian Bustinza then goes on to reveal that he could not actually see who Colonel Halt was talking to but that he thought Halt was saying he would contact the Electronics Division and that they possibly would have to get the parts “from another world”.

Apparently something was flown in from Germany on a C-130 transport that landed at Bentwaters. Bustinza claims he set up security for it.




When he later spoke to Georgina Bruni in the 1990s for her book Bustinza denied the speaking about Halt getting parts from “another world”. However he did expand on the story and admit he was interrogated in an underground facility after the incident and threatened not to speak because "bullets are cheap".

When pushed to confirm if small beings were at the landing site as Larry Warren maintains Bustinza said:

“We were in denial. We went through a denial stage on this. I’m not ready to talk about it. I know Larry was upset because he thinks I let him down by not talking about the underground, but I’m not ready to talk about this.”

Source: Georgina Bruni - You Can't Tell the People

www.tinyurl.com...

Adrian Bustinza was alongside John Burroughs as they chased after the lights in the forest and stumbled as Burroughs disappeared into the light for a brief moment.

Another lesser known fact is that Georgina Bruni gave a lecture at the International UFO Conference at Leeds University 2001 organised by Graham Birdsall. This was after publication of her book “You Can’t Tell the People”. Here she revealed that Adrian Bustinza had been in recent contact and confirmed Larry Warren’s story and that three alien beings were with the craft in the clearing.

This information throws even more controversy on Rendlesham. Was this really an alien encounter or is Adrian Bustinza another witness who can't be relied upon for accurate information?


I'll keep adding a bit more information every few days for those still interested. However if anyone feels they can add/correct anything please do.

Blah blah blah....

If I've learned nothing else it is that any official version of anything woo woo is BS. If they were concerned it was aliens they'd call it swamp gas. If they knew or thought it was US military than its UFO's.

Since they are pushing the UFO meme than rest assured its black ops project.

Addition to OP :

The Civilian Witnesses to the Rendlesham Incident

Many forget that the US military were not the only ones to witness something strange going on in Suffolk during the Christmas holiday period of 1980. A number of local people are also on record as having seen something strange. Here are some who have gone on record.

Gary Collins



Although unclear of the exact date, Gary Collins was making his way home through Capel Green during the Christmas holidays when the road was covered with a bright light. He pulled over and saw a large object, triangular in shape, about 60m up in the air. He estimated the object to be about 10m across and giving off a quiet but noticeable humming noise. He described the craft as having port holes underneath and that it seemed liquid was dripping from the craft like ice when it melts. Something Colonel Halt reported during his sighting.

When Gary visited the forest the following day he said he was stopped by a road block consisting of two US military trucks and told that there had been an aircraft accident. Gary was friendly with a group of US servicemen and was told by one of them that a UFO had landed in a field and a group of of them had surrounded the object whilst “strange entities” appeared to be repairing it. Afterwards he claims that he never saw the guy again and could not contact him. Is his story true? We just don’t know as he came forward in the late 1990s when a lot of information on Rendlesham had already been put out there.

Source : www.tinyurl.com...

Gerry Harris

Gerry Harris lived in a small house with a clear view of both Woodbridge and Bentwaters. Late on the 25th/26th December 1980 as he was about to turn in for the night he noticed a number of lights “going and moving about this way and that way” above the tree line of the forest for about 45 mins. Then two of the lights sped off and vanished. Another light hovered and then went straight down into the trees as if it had crashed. Gerry recalls that there was noticeable activity on the bases which was very unusual at this time of night especially around Christmas. He also saw what he assumes was the original light that sank into the forest climb back up above the tree line and then disappear in seconds.

Harris owned a vehicle repair business near the bases and many of the American servicemen were customers of his. Two vehicles owned by USAF security police were in his shop for minor repairs over the Christmas period. However once New Year arrived he found it strange no one had contacted him about collecting them. Eventually after making his own enquiries he was told by their wives that their husbands had been “re-located” after witnessing something they should not have seen.



Sources : www.youtube.com...

http:/www.tinyurl.com/odq2g9q


Gordon Levitt

Gordon Levitt , a game warden, lived in Orford near Woodbridge on the edge of Rendlesham Forest. He was out walking his dog on what he believes to have been the 27th ,28th or 29th December when he saw a UFO that looked like an upside-down mushroom with a greenish-white glow. The craft was silent and heading in the direction of RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge. Although his dog began acting strangely at the time there is no truth in the reports across the web that his dog died shortly after the encounter.

Source (partial) : www.ufoevidence.org...




Roy Webb



Roy Webb was a local antique dealer on his way home with his wife and daughter from a Christmas get together with family. In the early hours of Boxing Day (26th December) they were approaching Woodbridge when their daughter Haley, spotted something in the sky that appeared to be following their car.

They pulled over and stopped the vehicle and the saw what they described as a silent, red globe that appeared to stop and hover for a minute or so and then disappeared in the blink of an eye. ‘One minute it was there, the next it was gone’. The family continued on their way home unaware for years of the incident unfolding around them.

Source : www.tinyurl.com...

Listening to the Halt tape...it mentions that they're taking samples. What happened with that stuff?

reply to post by 1ofthe9


Great point and even Nick Pope (our man at the MoD) has asked this question in the past.

In any proper analysis of this, one has to go back to the raw data, and that means looking again at Halt’s memo and the new transcript of Halt’s tape.... On this latter point, another interesting question is what happened to the various soil and sap samples that Halt had his team collect?

Source : click here

I know Larry Warren had some soil samples (in the late 1980s)tested but I am at a loss to remember hearing or reading about any samples that Halt had analysed. I don't think he's ever mentioned it in interviews.

So if anyone can correct me on that please do.

Excellent thread Mirageman! Love all the info being assembled like this and in a clear manner. The background cold war stuff and a bit of speculation could be left to posts after the posts on the case however...IMO. Not a big deal thou.

Time for 2 cents...well maybe 3 cents...

I'm going to skip over the first sighting for now and focus on the second one...with Commander Halt and the tape.

Several accounts of 3 lights hovering over the forest as well as a guard tower full of guys watching it as well. For me it's pretty well established those 3 lights were there and 2 flew off while 1 landed.

mirageman
Who had given the original permission for them to leave the base is somewhat unclear.

Halt's involvement on the second sighting rings true to me. As Commander given a second chance to get to the bottom of something strange like this he would NOT have passed on it. The day after the first sighting lights in the forest would have been the talk of everyone on the base for sure. Your issues with SOFA and military personnel leaving the base don't seem as strong an issue to me. Accounts of heavy weapons remaining on base ring true, along with sidearms being retained. While any guns off the base is a strict no-no, the Commander of that base being present if they got caught would protect every soldier. British forces or police if involved would absolutely demand any weapons be returned to the base, but until locals arrived the base Commander would want side arms along. He'd be willing to take some heat for that decision and he would get support up the chain of command without a doubt. No inconsistency in the story on these issues for me.

mirageman
Colonel Halt has often repeated the story of strange objects flying around in the skies above and beams of light coming down onto the base.

There are literally a Gazillion reports of strange objects flying around the skies of bases. While skeptics can argue each and every case, the massive number of first hand eyewitnesses reporting the phenomenon provides substantial evidence for me. I don't doubt the base has searched that forest many, many times before these incidents and after them.

mirageman
There was a request from RAF Watton for a radar report at 3:00am. But no major alert was called on the base, nor was a request for air support made.

A major alert being called on a base is a very serious incident. Especially such a critical base that is known to be hiding nukes. A commander doesn't make that decision without a very strong reason. That's 'lose your job' level of mistake, especially with the incident being 'UFO' related. Lights in the forest beside the base don't even come close to causing a major alert. There simply is no way Halt does that. His taking about the largest sized contingent he could get away with off base is the right call.

mirageman
Afterwards, given the significance he now places on the incident, Halt seemingly procrastinated and did not compose his memo to the British Mod about the incident until the 13th January 1981.

No surprise in the delay. His full report would have been completed pronto but it would have taken time to be vetted. What was told to the British would have to be cleared given a full understanding of what the British already knew so the report would jive with what they knew. There is no way a Commander of that base procrastinates...not even a second.

mirageman
Colonel John Alexander’s reply was:

As for going on alert; alert for what reason? Most of the events happened off the base and there was no threat to the base or the weapons stored there.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Remember that US bases around the world have experienced strange lights and such hovering over them for many years now. The Commander's proper response to this type of issue would be well understood by Halt. Alexander is bang on this one.

mirageman
Note they left their weapons behind because they were on UK soil, and SOFA did not allow weapons off base. As for close air support, doubt any was available nor would it have been useful.

For a US base commander to call in air support over British territory a full alert would have to have been called. Escalating the situation to that extreme level would probably have required a firefight of some sort or worse. While Halt would surely have had the resources, he would have had a bunch of other, less problematic options than sending up air support.

mirageman
This is an intriguing answer and reinforces my view that whilst these events were happening that Lt. Colonel Charles Halt was not that keen to draw too much attention to events which he later describes as being covered up by the UK and US .

Absolutely. UFO reports don't enhance careers and over-reaction to them would end careers.

mirageman
A couple of years earlier in 2010 Tim Eggercic, who was working in the Weapons Storage Area (WSA) at Bentwaters on the night in question, doubted Halt’s story that beams of light were coming down directly where he was located and confronted Halt directly on a radio show back in 2010.
...
On the show, Halt claims to have a witness confirming something penetrated the airspace above the WSA .Tim Eggercic maintains that he saw nothing to threaten the security of the area . Later Eggercic does mention that, Rick Bobo, in the observation tower reported a “big huge spaceship in the air towards Woodbridge hovering for hours…probably directly south from the WSA”.

Halt would have been getting reports from all over the base but the Weapons Storage Area would have been ultra sensitive. Halt wouldn't forget or exaggerate that level of report. It's possible that something 'penetrated the airspace' of the WSA but didn't hang around long. A strange light doing that could generate a report to Halt but not a full on alert as no threat to the base remained when the post was questioned about the report. Again the post would have strong incentive to downplay the initial 'lights' report when questioned if it went off into the forest, given career problems those reports generate. I don't see Eggercic's story and Halt's as being incompatible.

Sorry for the long reply but there is lots to discuss! Again...excellent work collecting the details!!!

reply to post by noeltrotsky


Thanks for the well thought out comments. It's a complex case to unravel and I do believe Colonel Halt knows more about this case than he has ever made public. I think Halt was very aware of the SOFA agreement and he was also intent on going out into the forest to clear up the mess, debunk the story and get the men back to their bases as fast as possible. But then he became involved in it all.

Adrian Bustinza's testimony is also interesting as he can be heard on the tape Halt recorded but his story goes way beyond that of the good Colonel.

I've still got some more information to look through when I get time. I'll also add some references to podcasts, documents etc at a later date.

mirageman
I do believe Colonel Halt knows more about this case than he has ever made public.

I agree wholeheartedly. He's got good reason to limit what he says. The tape starting and stopping is 'normal' for keeping verbal notes like how he used it. But compressing a huge time period into such a short session seems unlikely...especially with so much action going on.

mirageman
Adrian Bustinza's testimony is also interesting as he can be heard on the tape Halt recorded but his story goes way beyond that of the good Colonel.

That's an excellent point. Bustinza might be revealing more truth than anyone here. Any fact checking around his story could yield more results.

I haven't read many of the posts in this thread, so forgive me if this has already been noted......

I received a Christmas present from my uncle and aunt this year. It was the complete Season 1 collection of UFO Hunters on DVD. I have watched the first seven episodes, and one of these concerned the Rendlesham Forest incident. To be honest, I have heard enough about this case to last a dozen lifetimes, but I watched it anyway. To my surprise, it included some information that I found rather interesting. They visited the Orford Ness Lighthouse keeper, and asked him if it would have been possible for the base personnel to see the beam of light from the lighthouse from the edge of Rendlesham Forest (where they apparently watched the "red light" depart from the scene). The lighthouse keeper told them that it would have been impossible, because there is a large metal sheet on the rear side of the light that reflects the beam back out to sea, rather than letting it sweep the countryside. This made perfect sense to me, and made me wonder why I have never seen anyone mention this before.

I repeat.......the beam of light from the Orford Ness lighthouse is not visible from Rendlesham Forest, because it is blocked from doing so by a large metal sheet that is designed to reflect the beam back out to sea.

also it was not the lighthouse, as what some witnesess claimed they say was a red light, which was described as being looking like an eye. So I won't buy the lighthouse theory.

reply to post by Mogget


Well I wasn't going to pick up on that damned lighthouse until I felt I was close to be able to collect my thoughts on all the information I have gathered.

But thanks for the addition Mogget. It's an interesting and valid snippet of information.

Now the problem is trying to stay neutral here and evaluating whether the claim that "the beam of light from the Orford Ness lighthouse is not visible from Rendlesham Forest". Of course it's tempting believe the "facts" we want to believe and ignore those awkward things that may throw doubt on what we want to believe. The fact is the Orfordness lighthouse presents an unavoidable problem in this case.

In fact anyone who lives near the coast may well be aware of how certain atmospheric conditions can make things on the horizon look a lot larger and closer than they actually are and other optical illusions take place to fool the observer.

Unlike some of the other data which relies solely on witness testimony, to a large extent the lighthouse is actually testable evidence, and despite some upgrades to the lighthouse it's still there and hasn't moved since 1980 (or in fact since it was built).

The light from the Orfordness lighthouse is actually visible from parts of the forest and especially the area where Colonel Halt was standing when he saw an object in the farmers field near the farm house.

Sgt. Neville's says on the Halt recording "There’s two lights. One light to the right and one light to the left." on the Halt Tape."

Were they really just looking at a farmhouse with an exotic Christmas light display and the lighthouse to the right?

Gary Heseltine, a retired Yorkshire policeman, has done a lot of work on the case and in this video will prove the lighthouse can be seen in the forest.



Heseltine has actually spent a lot of time questioning Colonel Halt and his conclusion may also surprise you! Given his police background I believe him to be a very credible guy.

The lighthouse story began with a Forestry worker Vince Thurkettle who can be seen discussing it in this interview here from the early 2000s.



However in more recent times he has chosen to distance himself from these claims due to confusion over the alleged landing site.

Basically unless all the major witnesses are badly mistaken and/or lying then the lighthouse is actually irrelevant.

Some problems I have with Bustinza's story...

The 'meeting' appears to be planned in his story. Bustinza is saying he heard the helicopters say 'Here it comes' and then everyone saw the arrival of the UFO in the field. There were already 30 or so people there including British forces (but not police yet). The claimed presence of 2 US helicopters loaded with US paratroopers is also ALREADY present before the UFO arrival because they announce the UFO arrival.

On many levels this seems tough to swallow. If this was a planned meeting I simply can't imagine British forces allowing the US to take lead in providing security on the ground and in the air over British soil. Unless the 'planned meeting' was made without British knowledge and they came out to the site due to all the commotion going on and were surprised as everyone else...it seems pretty absurd.

I can't imagine the US ordering 2 helicopters loaded for battle to conduct unplanned operations over a forest in Britain. Possibly the relationship is closer than I understand, but that is a long stretch for me. Now if a landing was 'planned' by a US base commander there it would have been 'planned' to happen on the US base, not right beside it. There he has way more leeway in action and support. He can control the situation a million times better.

I don't know. I like a fair bit of Bustinza's story but I can't quite swallow it all.

mirageman
... evaluating whether the claim that "the beam of light from the Orford Ness lighthouse is not visible from Rendlesham Forest".
...
Basically unless all the major witnesses are badly mistaken and/or lying then the lighthouse is actually irrelevant.

I agree. There are so many witnesses that talk about stuff way beyond a simple red light in the forest that I think it is a waste of effort to focus on if the lighthouse can be seen or not at the landing site.

Gary Heseltine, a retired Yorkshire policeman, has done a lot of work on the case and in this video will prove the lighthouse can be seen in the forest.

I wonder how bright that is as seen with the naked eye?

reply to post by Mogget




Basically the lighthouse is the small glowing dot in the centre of the above picture.

Here's a link to the 1983 interview with Vince Thurkettle showing the lighthouse blinking behind him . Not sure where he was standing in relation to it though.

noeltrotsky
Some problems I have with Bustinza's story...

The 'meeting' appears to be planned in his story. Bustinza is saying he heard the helicopters say 'Here it comes' and then everyone saw the arrival of the UFO in the field. There were already 30 or so people there including British forces (but not police yet). The claimed presence of 2 US helicopters loaded with US paratroopers is also ALREADY present before the UFO arrival because they announce the UFO arrival.

On many levels this seems tough to swallow. If this was a planned meeting I simply can't imagine British forces allowing the US to take lead in providing security on the ground and in the air over British soil. Unless the 'planned meeting' was made without British knowledge and they came out to the site due to all the commotion going on and were surprised as everyone else...it seems pretty absurd.

I can't imagine the US ordering 2 helicopters loaded for battle to conduct unplanned operations over a forest in Britain. Possibly the relationship is closer than I understand, but that is a long stretch for me. Now if a landing was 'planned' by a US base commander there it would have been 'planned' to happen on the US base, not right beside it. There he has way more leeway in action and support. He can control the situation a million times better.

I don't know. I like a fair bit of Bustinza's story but I can't quite swallow it all.

Bustinza's tale is certainly controversial and I am struggling to tie this in with the fact that he was out there with Colonel Halt.

On the Halt tape you can hear :

Lt. Colonel Halt: 3.15: Now we’ve got an object about ten degrees directly south… .........

Lt. Colonel Halt: ... H…here he comes from the south; he’s coming in toward us now!

Sgt. Ball: Sh*t.

Lt. Colonel Halt: Now were observing what appears to be a beam coming down to the ground! [Excited discussion in background]

Sgt. Ball: …Colours…Sh*t.

Lt. Colonel Halt: This is unreal! ..Tape pause.....

Which sounds like this maybe the same events that Bustinza is recalling. Halt then reports he's returning to base at 3:30. Which leaves a gap of around 13 minutes. As to what happened in that time we are left to speculate.

The involvement of the 67th ARRS (and helicopters) is linked in with another theory which I will have to pick up at a later date. Even though there does not seem to be any evidence that helicopters were scrambled at all.

The presence of British personnel is also something not mentioned by any other witnesses other than Larry Warren although Penniston mentions being questioned by an agent with a British accent.

If this was all planned then we have to ask what was planned and why was it planned for the Christmas period just outside a NATO airbase in England?

I'll have to go over some files before I add to this thread.

However if you (or anyone else) has anything to add then please do.