The Woodbridge / Rendlesham incidents, U-K., 1980:

On December 27, 1980, a series of UFO incidents occurred in the Rendlesham Forest area outside the back gates of RAF/USAF Woodbridge in Suffolk, England.

An outstanding case:

After these events, at RAF/USAF Woodbridge, military personnel investigated a "dazzling fire" in nearby Rendlesham Forest. They described the air as "filled with electricity". They saw an object described as triangular in shape, approximately 8 ft (244 cm) wide and 6 ft (183 cm) high. The object was emitting a bright white light. There were reports of a red light on top and a bank of blue lights beneath which seemed to indicate that the object was sitting on short legs.

As the military personnel approached, the object maneuvered through the trees away from them towards a nearby farm, driving cattle there into an agitated state before taking off at extraordinary speed. Investigation the following day showed three small depressions in the ground where the object had been sighted.

Notes:

Several aspects of this story make it one of the most outstanding cases:

The commanding officer of the base, a USAF Lieutenant Colonel, wrote this official memorandum about the incidents addressed to the British Defense Cabinet. This memo is now in the public domain. This is a case where a high ranked officer with the responsibility to manage a joint USAF/RAF base signs an incredible series of events.
The whole case gathers visual witnesses of ground events, air events, by military personal and officers, and also radar sightings, air pursuit, ground traces, radioactivity positive measures on the ground.
The affair caused the anger of the former British defence chief, who claimed to the press that his successor and the military authorities deliberately hid to the general public the fact that a UFO came and landed in British territories.

Unfortunately, it also seems that some self-promotion seeking ufologist have added some confusion using very late and contradictory witnesses and possibly a fake tape recording.

It also seems quite likely that some late contradictory and confusing data might have been brought forth by military or intelligence authorities to discredit the otherwise clear and precise witnesses of the events.

The Halt memorandum:

The Halt Memorandum

Memorandum regarding the Woodbridge/Rendlesham forest incident by Charles I. Halt, Lt Col, USAF, Deputy Base Commander of the joint United States and United Kingdom airbase at Woodbridge in Suffolk, England. The memorandum was released via the Freedom of Information Act in the United States in June 1983.

The Halt Tape

Transcription of the sound recording by Lieutenant Colonel Halt during is patrol in the forest, during which they met the landed UFO. The tape has been released in the public by a Colonel and a General.

Sketch with notes by USAF law enforcement patrolman John Burroughs of the UFO he encountered at the Rendlesham Forest after Christmas 1980. Source Antonio Huneeus.

Documents:

Article about the Rendlesham incidents

An article about the Woodbridge/Rendlesham forest incident, from 'UFOs - the definitive casebook', by John Spencer, 1991.

Article about the Rendlesham incidents

Entries on the 'Rendlesham Forest' incidents from 'The UFO Encyclopedia', by John Spencer (Headline Books, ISBN 0-7472-3494-9)

Article about the Rendlesham incidents

An article from the newspaper 'The People' (UK), Sunday 4th of December 1994 regarding the Rendlesham incidents. 'UFO-landing was kept secret' says ex-Defence Chief - by David Jack.

Article about the Rendlesham incidents

An article by Nick Pope in the newspaper 'Daily Mail' (UK), of May 15, 1996, regarding the Rendlesham incidents.

Latest UFO theory is dismissed

an article of the East Anglian Daily Times newspaper relating how sergent Kevin Conde thought a prank he did may have been at the origin of the incident.

More references:

Halt, Lt. Col. Charles I., USAF, Memorandum to MOD, "SUBJECT: Unexplained Lights," January 13,1980.
Transcript of Col. Halt's audio recording published in Good, T., Above Top Secret, Quill, William Morrow, 1988.
"UFO lands in Suffolk - and that's Official" by Ralph Noyes, chapter in Timothy Good's anthology, The UFO Report 1990, Sidgewick & Jackson, 1989.
"U.S. military officers discuss a 1980 sighting of an unidentified flying craft near a U.S. air base in England", interview with Col. (Ret.) Halt, Unsolved Mysteries, originally broadcast on NBC-TV on September 18, 1991.
"The Testimony of John Burroughs", article by Antonio Huneeus, Fate, September 1993.
"The Bentwaters Incident", Butler, Street & Randles, Sky Crash, Neville Spearman, 1984; Randles, J., From Out of the Blue, Global Communications, 1991; articles by Jenny Randles, Ray Boeche and Antonio Huneeus, Fate, September 1993.
Lecture at the New Hampshire MUFON Conference, by Nick Pope, Portsmouth, September 10, 1995.

This page was last updated on December 18, 2006.