Rendlesham Forest Incident

Date: October 26, 2023
Subject: Review of the Rendlesham Forest Incident, December 1980
Sources: 20150511-FOI2015-03810-Rendlesham-Redacted-Final-Response.pdf, 810113_Halt_Memo.pdf, Encounter in Rendlesham Forest (Nick Pope, 2016), Wikipedia, You Can’t Tell the People (Georgina Bruni)

Executive Summary:
The Rendlesham Forest incident, unfolding near RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk, England, in late December 1980, ranks among the most famous and debated UFO events. Military personnel reported unusual lights and a metallic object in the forest, sparking investigations and conflicting narratives. Lt. Col. Charles Halt’s memo to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and his live audio recordings anchor the case. Theories range from extraterrestrial activity to misidentified phenomena or a hoax, amplified by the bases’ rumored nuclear weapons and defense implications.

Key Themes and Ideas:

• Initial Sightings: On December 26, 1980, security police at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge spotted odd lights in Rendlesham Forest. Reports persisted over subsequent nights, with witnesses describing a bright object and erratic, colorful lights.
• Halt’s Investigation: On December 28, Deputy Base Commander Lt. Col. Charles Halt led a team into the forest. Armed with a Geiger counter and recorder, they noted three ground indentations and flickering lights. His memo to the MoD, possibly sent without approval, detailed this: "That memo should never have been sent. If I had known about it, I would have tried to retract it."
• Radiation Readings: Using an AN/PDR-27 meter, Halt’s team recorded 0.07 milliroentgens per hour in the depressions—higher than the 0.03-0.04 background levels, though not dangerous. Halt noted, "We’re still comfortably safe here." Debate lingers over their significance.
• Physical Evidence: Three indentations formed a triangle, and nearby trees showed abrasions and sap marks facing the center. Englund said, “Each one of these trees that face into the blast—what we assume is a landing site—all have an abrasion facing in the same direction…” Samples were collected.
• Lights and Object: Witnesses saw a metallic object and lights like “an eye winking at you” (Halt) or “half-moon shapes dancing about with coloured lights,” shifting to “full circles” as if eclipsed.
• MoD Response: The MoD downplayed it as “unexplained lights” of “no defense significance,” adhering to their “neither confirm nor deny” nuclear weapons policy. Nick Pope, ex-MoD, later highlighted its importance. Parliamentary questions probed possible Porton Down involvement.
• Skeptical Views: Explanations include misidentified stars, the Orford Ness lighthouse, or a hoax. Ian Ridpath’s analysis leans on natural sources.
• Nuclear Context: With possible nuclear weapons at the bases, some tie the event to security breaches, though the NCND policy obscures clarity.
• Witness Variability: Accounts differ, some evolving over time. Speculation of sodium Pentothal use suggests memory manipulation: “It can work alongside hypnosis by suppressing or implanting information…”
• UFO Trail: A tourist trail now marks the site, boosting its cultural footprint.

Quotes:

• Halt: “3.05: We see strange…strobe-like flashes…there’s definitely something there, some kind of phenomena.”
• Englund: “…all have an abrasion facing in the same direction toward the center…”
• Bruni (quoting Lord Hill-Norton): “These events alone…contradict any idea that UFOs are of ‘no defence significance’…”
• Gen. Gordon Williams: “This is a tender area