Incident · 13 August 1956 – 14 August 1956 · RAF Lakenheath / RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, England
Lakenheath–Bentwaters radar-visual incident
Also known as Lakenheath 1956, Lakenheath-Bentwaters
On the night of 13–14 August 1956, over about five hours, U.S. and RAF ground radar at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk tracked targets moving at very high speeds, some of them stopping and turning abruptly, with matching visual sightings reported from the ground and the air.
RAF de Havilland Venom night fighters were scrambled. According to the radar controllers' account, one fighter locked on to a target, which then manoeuvred behind it and followed it despite evasive action. The U.S. Air Force-funded Condon Report (1969) analysed the case and concluded that "the probability that at least one genuine UFO was involved appears to be fairly high".
The Venom crew, traced decades later, remembered it differently: the pilot, Flying Officer David Chambers, thought "there was nothing there, it was some sort of mistake", and navigator Ivan Logan recalled only a blip suggesting a stationary target. Philip J. Klass attributed the episode to false radar returns and Perseid meteors; anomalous propagation is also cited.
Sources: Condon Report, Case 2 · Wikipedia
Facts and claims
- documented Over about five hours, USAF and RAF ground radar at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath tracked high-speed objects that made abrupt stops and turns. There were matching visual sightings from the ground and the air. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org (archived)
- documented An RAF Venom night fighter was vectored onto a target and reported a radar lock. The object then appeared to manoeuvre behind the fighter and follow it. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org (archived)
- documented The U.S. Air Force-funded Condon Report (1969) analysed it as Case 2. It concluded that “the probability that at least one genuine UFO was involved appears to be fairly high” and called it “the most puzzling and unusual case in the radar-visual files.” Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org (archived)
- claimed In 2001 Freddie Wimbledon, a retired RAF fighter controller on duty at RAF Neatishead that night, wrote that “this activity was clearly seen on Neatishead's radar”; a Venom was vectored to the object and called “Judy”, then lost it, and the target stayed behind the fighter, “following the Venom's every move” (DEFE 24/2031, pp. 154–55). Source: highlights-guide-09-08-11.pdf
- documented The MoD files record that the pilot of an RAF Venom scrambled that night was Air Commodore Anthony Davis (also spelled Davies in the guide), later head of the MoD's UFO desk, and that in 2001 an MoD archive search confirmed all records of the incident had been lost or destroyed (DEFE 24/2031, pp. 164–65, 253). Source: highlights-guide-09-08-11.pdf
Connected files
Claims
- The targets tracked by radar and seen over RAF Lakenheath and Bentwaters in August 1956 were craft of unknown origin (subject of)
Documents
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 11 August 2011 (34 files) (subject of) — DEFE 24/2031, pp. 154–165, 253
- The National Archives: guides to the Ministry of Defence UFO files (2008–2013) (subject of)
Programs
- Project Blue Book (related to)
People
- David Clarke (investigated by)
Incidents
- RAF Manston F-86D ordered to fire on a radar UFO over East Anglia (similar to) — A year earlier, also over East Anglia: RAF ground radar vectoring fighters onto unknown targets
Places
- RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge (occurred at) — Ground radar at RAF Bentwaters and Lakenheath tracked the targets
Official records (PURSUE)
- 255_413270_UFO's_and_Defense_What_Should_we_Prepare_For — 255_413270_UFO's_and_Defense_What_Should_we_Prepare_For (subject of)
Videos
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