Quick Info
Late December 1980. Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, UK, near twin USAF bases RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters (Cold War NATO assets). Over three nights (Dec 26, 28), US Air Force security personnel reported unexplained lights descending into the forest, a triangular metallic craft landing, physical traces (depressions, radiation), and close encounters. Key witnesses: Sgt Jim Penniston (touched craft, sketched symbols, later binary code claim), Airman John Burroughs (radiation exposure), Lt Col Charles Halt (deputy base commander; wrote memo, recorded audio tape).
Dubbed "Britain's Roswell," with official UK MoD file release showing no threat but unexplained. Skeptics cite lighthouse, fireball, satellite re-entry; proponents point to military credibility, tape/memo, traces.
Event Timeline: Night-by-Night Breakdown
The incident spanned three nights (Dec 25–28, 1980), with primary events on Dec 26 and 28. Accounts vary slightly due to time passage and memory, but core corroborated by Halt memo (Jan 1981) and Halt tape (Dec 28).
Night 1: December 26, 1980 (early hours, ~03:00)
Security patrol (Sgt Jim Penniston, Airman John Burroughs, Ed Cabansag) at East Gate (Woodbridge) sees bright lights descending into Rendlesham Forest. Initially think downed aircraft (possible Soviet or civilian crash). They drive to site, enter forest on foot. Penniston/Burroughs approach "glowing object" (triangular, ~9 ft base, metallic, black glass-like surface, symbols). Penniston claims touch: warm, smooth, no seams; copies hieroglyphs. Object lifts silently, accelerates away. Animals reportedly went into a frenzy on nearby farm.
"The object was glowing white with blue, red, and green lights... It was triangular, about 9 feet across the base... I touched it; it was warm, smooth like glass... Symbols like Egyptian hieroglyphs."
– Sgt Jim Penniston (initial and later accounts)
"We were both scared... I felt like I was being watched... The craft was real, solid, not a projection."
– Airman John Burroughs (interviews on close encounter)
"It was like time slowed down... I could feel something was wrong... The air felt thick."
– Ed Cabansag (supporting testimony on the approach)
Three triangular depressions in ground (1.5 inch deep, 9 ft spacing). Radiation later detected (beta/gamma ~0.1 mrem/hr). Penniston/Burroughs feel time distortion, nausea. Cabansag radios back. No official report filed immediately; Penniston sketches in notebook.
Night 2: December 28, 1980 (early hours, ~00:00–04:00)
Lt Col Charles Halt (deputy commander) leads team (Sgt Adrian Bustinza, Sgt Bobby Ball, others) back to site with light-alls, Geiger counter, Starlight scope. Halt records on micro-cassette (the famous "Halt tape"). They find depressions, higher radiation on tree side. Halt sees red/orange light moving through trees, splitting into 5 white lights, then star-like objects hovering/moving erratically (box motion, autokinesis debated). Beam of light from one object sweeps ground. Halt reports to base: "We have objects in the sky." Lights move toward Orfordness lighthouse, vanish. Radiation readings 0.07–0.1 mrem/hr (10x background). Halt writes memo Jan 13, 1981, to UK MoD: "Unexplained lights... no explanation."
"Here we go... Look at that thing... It's coming toward us... Pieces of it shooting off... They're all turning colors... red, green, blue... It's like the end of the world."
– Lt Col Charles Halt (from audio tape, Dec 28, 1980)
"The light was coming from the craft... It was like a laser beam sweeping the ground... We were all terrified but kept going."
– Sgt Adrian Bustinza (later testimony on Dec 28 events)
"I saw the craft... It was triangular, glowing... We were told to keep quiet about it."
– Sgt Larry Warren (claims entities, book *Left at East Gate*)
"The radiation was real... We had to take readings... It was higher than background."
– Sgt Bobby Ball (on Geiger counter use)
I really recommend everyone to listen to the Halt tape audio (video and autio links below). Does it sound like those soldiers, trusted with guarding literal nuclear weapons, are making it up or halucinating? They seem scared in the audio of a real event that is happening to them, I would be too for sure.
The Full Halt Memo
The most important official document is Lt Col Charles Halt's January 13, 1981 memo to the UK Ministry of Defence (via RAF Bentwaters channels). It was declassified in 2001 as part of the UK National Archives release. The memo is brief but precise, confirming the events and stating no conventional explanation. Full text (verbatim from declassified copy):
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Unexplained Lights
1. 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 on-duty flight commander responded and allowed three patrolmen to proceed on foot. 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 2 to 3 meters across the base and approximately 2 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.
2. 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 tree.
3. Later in the night a red sun-like light was seen through the trees. It moved about and pulsed. Then star-like objects were seen in the sky, some moving rapidly in sharp angular movements and displaying red, green and blue lights. The objects to the north appeared to throw down a beam of light from time to time. One object was seen to beam down a stream of light to the ground and then return to the object. The objects were seen for approximately two hours.
4. No further unusual activity has been reported.
CHARLES I. HALT, Lt Col, USAF
Deputy Base Commander
The memo was sent up the chain but received no follow-up investigation from the UK MoD or USAF. It is widely regarded as credible due to Halt's rank and position; skeptics note its cautious language ("unexplained") but no alarm or request for action. The memo surfaced publicly in 1983 via Robert Todd (CAUS) under FOIA from USAF (who had discarded their copy and obtained it from MoD).
Physical Evidence and Investigations
Landing traces: Three triangular depressions (9 ft spacing, 1.5" deep, 7" diameter), broken branches, scorched trees. Radiation: 0.07–0.1 mrem/hr (beta/gamma) on traces/tree side (10x background, but low, debated significance). MoD file (released 2001): No defense threat, unexplained. Condign Report (2006): Possible plasma phenomena. No radar confirmation (base radars off or not tracking low objects).
Official Explanations and Skeptical Views
MoD: No investigation (deemed no threat). Skeptics (Ian Ridpath, Brian Dunning): Orfordness Lighthouse (beams sweep forest), fireball (Dec 26 meteor), bright stars (autokinesis), rabbit holes (traces), low radiation insignificant. Lighthouse beam matches timing/direction for some lights.
Counterpoints: Multiple nights, close encounters, tape/memo authenticity, military witnesses' credibility, no full prosaic fit for all elements (e.g., physical craft touch, radiation).
Archival Footage and Documentaries
More archival Halt tape and interviews on YouTube
Legacy in 2026
Over 45 years later, Rendlesham remains the UK's most famous UFO case: military witnesses, memo/tape evidence, no conclusive debunking. Films like *Capel Green* (2023) add new witness claims. Amid UAP hearings, it symbolizes Cold War-era anomalies and calls for transparency. What's for certain is that something happened in that forrest over those 2 nights. I don't believe for one second that trained soldiers mistook the lights from a lighthouse as a solid triangular object that was moving between the trees. That explanation seem more ridiculous than it being a UFO event, right?
