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

a reply to: Guest101

Some great points.

....‘Care towards his staff’ may have been the reason why Halt never mentioned this in public, to protect Bonnie from too much public attention.....

I could accept that if he had stated he was trying to protect the officer concerned. But the fact that he claims to have only known about what was going in 2009 would mean he was still not being entirely honest with us once again.

Why does the Halt tape suddenly jump to the second farmer’s field as soon as a strange object is hovering a few 100 yards from them?

Halt’s answer: “Suddenly, it exploded -- not a loud bang, just booompf -- and broke into five white objects that scattered in the sky. We went to the end of the farmer's property to get a different perspective.”

The Halt Tape doesn't seem to agree with that part.

................
MASTER SERGEANT BALL: Pieces are shooting off.
LT COLONEL HALT: Pieces of it are shooting off.
MASTER SERGEANT BALL: at about 11 o clock... [referring to its position]
LT COLONEL HALT: There's no doubt about it; this is weird.
MASTER SGT BALL: Look to the left
SGT NEVILLES: There's two lights. One light to the right and one light to the left.
LT COLONEL HALT: OK... pieces are falling off it again
MASTER SERGEANT BALL: It just moved to the right... went off to the right
LT COLONEL HALT: Yeah ... strange, Auh.
LT ENGLUND: Went off to the right.
LT COLONEL HALT: Strange. Ahhh. One again left.

A couple of other observations I would make are :

1) What became of the tree sap samples that Halt had taken at the 'supposed' landing site? They are clearly recorded on the tape.

2) In 2010 Halt's story was rebuffed by Base Commander Col. Ted Conrad

" Lt. Col Halt's report of more lights both on the ground and in the sky brought quite a few people out of their houses at Woodbridge to see what was there. These people included myself, my wife, Lt Col Sawyer (the Director of Personnel), his wife, and several others listening to my radio and looking for the lights Halt was describing. Despite a sparkling, clear, cloudless, fogless night with a good field of view in all directions, we saw nothing that resembled Lt Col Halt's descriptions either in the sky or on the ground".

"There were no conspiracies, no secret operation, no missile accident, and no harsh interrogations by OSI [Office of Special Investigations, USAF]. I was in a position to know about the OSI. It was a special organisation with a special mission. They had their own chain of command, but in practice the OSI commander kept me informed of any ongoing investigations they had. Someone reporting unexplained lights would not normally have been subject to OSI attention. They were after serious lawbreakers, including drug traffickers, security risk, and the like. “If I have any regrets, it is that I should have challenged Lt Col Halt's account of the events on the night of 28 December. However since I wanted to avoid the appearance of shaping the story, I was reluctant to require any changes to his letter to Don Moreland.

Source : drdavidclarke.blogspot.co.uk...

How do we explain the incidents described by Halt on his tape if the Base Commander is saying he can not corroborate any of the reports Halt was making on the radio?

a reply to: mirageman

Can not or will not?

That's always the question.

Kev

originally posted by: mirageman
a reply to: Guest101

Why does the Halt tape suddenly jump to the second farmer’s field as soon as a strange object is hovering a few 100 yards from them?

Halt’s answer: “Suddenly, it exploded -- not a loud bang, just booompf -- and broke into five white objects that scattered in the sky. We went to the end of the farmer's property to get a different perspective.”

The Halt Tape doesn't seem to agree with that part.

I’m referring to another part of the tape:

LT COLONEL HALT: OK we're looking at the thing, we're probably about two to three hundred yards away. It looks like an eye winking at you, it's still moving from side to side and when you put the starscope on it, it, it's sort of a hollow center right, a d-dark center, it's...it's...
LT ENGLUND: It's like a pupil...
LT COLONEL HALT: Bit like a pupil of an eye lookin' at you, winking. And the flash is so bright to the starscope, that err... it almost burns your eye.
(BREAK IN TAPE)

[This is the moment where, according to Halt, “Suddenly, it exploded -- not a loud bang, just booompf -- and broke into five white objects that scattered in the sky. We went to the end of the farmer's property to get a different perspective.”]

LT COLONEL HALT: We've passed the farmer's house and are crossing the next field and we now have multiple sightings of up to five lights with a similar shape and all, but they seem to be steady now rather than pulsating a glow with a red flash.

So the tape corresponds to Halt’s description, but Halt never recorded the silent explosion on the tape. Did he forget this, or was the tape edited?

I don't know what to make of Conrad's story. Did he really allow a UFO memo to the MOD while he disagreed with the contents on such a sensitive subject? That wouldn't make him a very good Base Commander ... He seems to be downplaying the incident a bit.

a reply to: mirageman

Maybe he didn't want her in the story at all. Did I just read correctly that she "threw her gun" and ran off?

I know there's been confusion and discussion about weapons going off base but its one thing taking a weapon and another to let go of it and run off.

That's not something that someone in authority would like getting out.

a reply to: Guest101

OK thanks for clarifying it.

Conrad seems to have been better protected than Halt from all the hullabaloo by remaining somewhat detached from the incident. Even though he must surely have been aware of everything that was going on.

Why leave Halt to write a memo to the Brits? Why wait to alert the MoD until Jan 13th with a memo? We know Halt's excuse that he wanted to wait for Don Moreland to return from a holiday in Wales. But that seems to be just wasting time to avoid anything being found. And why did the Halt memo never ask for any action to be taken by the MoD? Even though Halt protests they never did anything about it?

All smacks of someone high up knowing what was really going on but wanting whatever really happened to not be investigated by the British authorities at all.

originally posted by: Tulpa
a reply to: mirageman

Maybe he didn't want her in the story at all. Did I just read correctly that she "threw her gun" and ran off?

I know there's been confusion and discussion about weapons going off base but its one thing taking a weapon and another to let go of it and run off.

That's not something that someone in authority would like getting out.

Well it's unclear as to the exact circumstances.

John Burroughs said on the Paracast radio show back in 2010

They sent the shift commander out. She went out into the woods to see what the lights were again and her vehicle stalled out. It quit running. Some kind of blue light flew through her vehicle. She totally lost her composure as it had upset her a lot and they sent her home for the evening. At that point I decided I was going to go back out that night and see what went on....I hung out with some guys at the dorm. At that time we had no idea there was going to be another incident."

He mentions nothing about any weapons.

However on the old Rendlesham Forum Burroughs says

........ in between what happened to Jim, Ed and I and the night Halt was out there was when Lt Tamplin went out into the woods on Friday night into Sat morning. I found out about it because I went up to the desk Sat morning and saw the report. I also have received a E-Mail from someone who remembers Ball and the Lt in the Woods.....

Another quote is from amateur astronomer & science writer Dee Bunker ....errr Ian Ridpath.

...

Well, Halt has come straight back and stands by his original story re the sequence of events he has recounted:

>> It was definitely the third night as John Burrows claims. I had not heard of anyone out the second night until some recent claims. I do remember someone commenting that Bonnie Tamplin lost her GAU-8 (M-16) about that time under strange circumstances. The reason we had the "Christmas Party" after Christmas was all the facilities were booked until the 27th. Besides it was more than a Christmas Party. It was to recognize the accomplishments during the year and present awards/thanks. That's why Conrad stayed at the party (to make presentations) and I went out.


Source : Rendlesham Forum (archived)

.

a reply to: Guest101

Why is the beam shining down on Burroughs not on the tape? Well, firstly Halt had said to Butler and Street that an airman had climbed the craft as you stated. I think this is just an alternative version of him walking into the light.

Could it be that this incident occurred at the point the Halt tape cuts out. The point that the Skycrash authors were told the craft made aggressive moves against the airmen and Halt said "it's a m"(achine).

I think we can all doubt these "missing"'tape quotes but disregarding that, it's hard to argue that they fit in VERY well with the missing time and the lights shining down.

originally posted by: Tulpa
a reply to: ctj83

I've just read about Dot and Brenda's first investigative foray into the woods and I don't recall ever reading about the mishap with the car, which suddenly accelerated up to 70 mph, going down a track. After they regained control and continued on their journey, spoke to the people in a local cottage and gleaned a little info, they decided to return along the same route.
The car went super fast again in the same spot. The car was taken to a garage and checked over but with no problems discovered.

Rather curiously, Georgina Bruni and Vince Thurkettle also had an incident occur with Vince's vehicle when they returned from a purported landing site. From "You Can't Tell the People":

The route and site that Vince Thurkettle took me to seems to match the one that Penniston described, and, furthermore, practically the same location was described by Adrian Bustinza. But if I was excited about finding the landing site, more was to come.

On our way back to Vince’s vehicle we could hear a humming sound which appeared to be coming from inside it. I had left a bag in the back seat and Vince asked me if I had a tape machine or radio that I had forgotten to switch off. But then he looked shocked, exclaiming that his lights were on. Although it was broad daylight I enquired if he could have accidentally turned them (on) before we left the vehicle. He was adamant that this was not the case and pointed out that he had locked the vehicle, which was equipped with an alarm, and there was no sign of a break-in.

Although he was calm, it was clear that the incident had unnerved him ... Neither Vince nor I could explain the weird humming sound or indeed what had switched on his vehicle lights. All I could think of saying was that maybe they, whoever they were, were trying to tell us that we had at last found the landing site. We both had a giggle about that but I think he understood that I was most probably being serious. One thing is certain, of all the people I would have hoped to convince, it would have to be Vince Thurkettle. Maybe someone of something out there had the same idea.

There is trickery afoot. Perhaps there is something resident in or surveilling that area. I find if quite hard to get my head around a military guy nearby flicking a switch on something and causing that to happen, and for effects to be localised to the car (e.g. to cause it to speed up, or for the lights to come on).

a reply to: mirageman

Halt isn't sure the tape is genuine...

1996 Interview between Brenda Butler And Colonel Halt (Haunted Skies Vol 8)

"What fell off an aircraft that was so sensitive that it had to be covered up?"

Halt: "No comment"

"Why, on your first tape, ar there no forest noises, birds, or the sound of men walking? We have gone through the forrest a night with a Walkman, and we got noises on our tape. We could hear rabbits and deer running about, birds flying out of frees and our own footsteps quite clearly."

Halt: "I had them cut out of the the tape"

"I think the that the tape was made in a building, as there is an echo-like sound rebounding off a wall"

Halt: "Maybe, I don't know."

a reply to: ctj83

Unbelievable!

He made the bloody thing.

The better copies kicking around on the web are supposedly 2nd generation from the original Sony mini-cassette. If the tape was not genuine then what is he implying?

The only thing I can think of is that he saying someone edited it and applied noise reduction. If that was the case it leaves mention of Burroughs and Bustinza on the tape. Something that Halt probably wouldn't have wanted.

Finally why would Brenda say?

Why, on your first tape

Was there another tape after all?

originally posted by: ctj83
a reply to: Guest101

Why is the beam shining down on Burroughs not on the tape? Well, firstly Halt had said to Butler and Street that an airman had climbed the craft as you stated. I think this is just an alternative version of him walking into the light.

Could it be that this incident occurred at the point the Halt tape cuts out. The point that the Skycrash authors were told the craft made aggressive moves against the airmen and Halt said "it's a m"(achine).

.

Can you place it in any better context where Halt said "it's a m(achine)?

Because he could have said a number of other things like "It's am(azing)" or "It's a m(ystery]"......or even it's am(erican)

a reply to: mirageman

You must be psychic, I was just reading over this just now and thinking, that M
could mean any number of things, M for Mummy, Missile, Machine, just
enough to keep one guessing )

originally posted by: Marylongstockings
a reply to: mirageman

You must be psychic, I was just reading over this just now and thinking, that M
could mean any number of things, M for Mummy, Missile, Machine, just
enough to keep one guessing

)

I loved this response.

Lets go with mummy then. Until proven wrong.

Kev

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear

it's am(using) , Kev

a reply to: mirageman

Why indeed did she say "the first tape"? Why would anyone cut out or use noise reduction to get rid of animal noises.

What the heck was the aircraft quote about as well?

The "it's a m(achine)" is simply what Skycrash says was on the tape before it was actually released. I don't think I can add anything . It's odd in of itself.

Does it relate to another tape? Are there other tapes?

Something is very wrong here.

(How about "Oh my god, it's Mirageman!")

originally posted by: ctj83
a reply to: mirageman

Halt isn't sure the tape is genuine...

1996 Interview between Brenda Butler And Colonel Halt (Haunted Skies Vol 8)

"What fell off an aircraft that was so sensitive that it had to be covered up?"

Halt: "No comment"

Interesting! Can you give a bit more context? Where and how in the interview did the question about the aircraft arise?

Forest noises can be heard on the tape, but only in the silent passages. These memo recorders had automatic gain control because their dynamic range was very limited. As soon as they pick up loud noises like someone speaking into the microphone, they reduce their gain considerably and don’t pick up any background noises anymore.

The copy of the tape allegedly was made by placing two memo recorders side by side, one playing the tape and the other one recording the sound from the loudspeaker of the one playing the tape.
That explains the room-echoes and you can even hear somebody talking in the background from time to time.
This also makes it possible to edit the tape in any way you want…

Here is a very good de-noised recording where you can easily follow the conversations with a headphone, and also hear some forest noises in the silent passages. Note that it was night time in winter, and forests tend to be quit then.
Just give them a listen - it tends to take you back to "That Night"..

a reply to: ctj83

Noise reduction could have been used to reduce tape hiss. But it wouldn't have completely wiped out animal sounds.
In fact if a faked up tape was being created then you would probably add in animal sound effects for effect.

I think the good Colonel likes leading people on a merry dance to be honest.

a reply to: Guest101

It appears pretty much at the start of the interview with little context or explaination. There is a follow up question later which relates to a witness who claims he saw a silver missle in a crater at the crash site.

Halt answers that no it was definitely not a missle.

a reply to: mirageman
I agree. I think Guest101 has explained it well enough and Half chose to let his words be msinterpreted by being ambiguous.

a reply to: Defragmentor

It is curious, isn't it?
In Sky Crash they described the underground complex as "very large indeed".
I'm not quite sure how they know this unless it was from their anonymous informant again.
Its good fun to speculate what was going on down there.
I worked in archives for a while and we had an enclosure in the disused side of an old salt mine.
Astra Zeneca also had an enclosure for testing sensitive instruments, whatever that means.
They did it down there so that radio waves etc didn't interfere.

I can't imagine anything underground being able to create a problem for car electrics (unless that's what they were trying to do) in a localised area.
If there was something like that going on I'd say it wasn't a weapon but they were inadvertantly stumbling on a side effect of something else.

I know a mine is a bit different to an underground complex but you can get up to all sorts down there and nobody knows.

On the other hand. Hands up who owned a car that never played up on occasion?
An interesting coincidence none the less.

Mirage Man
Back to the tapes again.
Halt copied one to go up the chain of command.
Couple of days later he made another tape putting down the details that he had fresh in his mind but after the excitement died down.
Later he says there's other recordings covering about " four or five hours that will never be released."
...and some in safe places for his own purposes (insurance).

There's too much confusion for me because I don't know which tape is being talked about.
Someone might've heard a different version from Halt than the one that was released.
Also, he has referred to a sanitized version so maybe the one mentioned above is that one?