Incident · 26 December 1980 – 28 December 1980 · Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England (RAF Woodbridge / Bentwaters)
Rendlesham Forest incident
Also known as Rendlesham, Rendlesham Forest, Bentwaters, Woodbridge
Over three nights in late December 1980, U.S. Air Force personnel at RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk, one of two neighbouring RAF bases (with RAF Bentwaters) then used by the USAF, reported unexplained lights in the adjacent Rendlesham Forest. Around 03:00 on 26 December, security patrolmen including Sgt. Jim Penniston and John Burroughs went into the forest to investigate lights descending among the trees. Penniston later said he approached and touched a small craft; his account is not independently corroborated.
In the early hours of 28 December the deputy base commander, Lt. Col. Charles Halt, led a second search with several servicemen, recording a running commentary on a micro-cassette and taking radiation readings with an AN/PDR-27 meter at three depressions in the ground. On 13 January 1981 he summarised the events in a one-page memo to the UK Ministry of Defence, "Unexplained Lights" (which dates the first sighting to 27 December). It was released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act in 1983. The Ministry of Defence concluded the events posed no threat to national security.
Sceptics attribute the first night's lights to a bright fireball seen over southern England that night, and the flashing light to the Orford Ness lighthouse about five miles away: timings on Halt's tape put the light's flashes five seconds apart, the lighthouse's rate. Local police and foresters judged the depressions to be rabbit diggings, and the star-like lights have been matched to bright stars.
Sources: Wikipedia · Halt memo (1981)
Facts and claims
- documented Over several nights in late December 1980, U.S. Air Force personnel at RAF Woodbridge and Bentwaters reported unexplained lights in the adjacent Rendlesham Forest; Halt's memo records patrolmen approaching a glowing object they described as metallic and triangular, and three depressions found where it had been seen, with raised radiation readings. Source: Halt memo: Unexplained Lights
- claimed Sgt. Jim Penniston says he approached and touched a small, triangular craft with symbols on its surface. — Jim Penniston Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 1:07:10
- documented In 2000 MoD records staff found that Defence Intelligence files for 1980–82, including those on Rendlesham, had been destroyed while files from the surrounding years survived; officials warned that if this “apparent anomaly in the records” became public “it could be interpreted to mean that a deliberate attempt had been made to eradicate the records covering this incident” (DEFE 24/2026, p. 182). Source: mar-2011-highlights-guide.pdf
- documented A Suffolk police inspector wrote in 1999 that his officers' role had been “minimal”, that witness testimony had been “substantially embellished” over the years, and that the three constables called to the site on 26 December 1980 remained “unconvinced [the] occurrence was genuine”; he added that the Orford Ness lighthouse beams “caused strange visual effects” in some conditions (DEFE 24/2033, pp. 104–105). Source: highlights-guide-09-08-11.pdf
- documented Answering an inquiry from the U.S. in 2008, the MoD said it “had little interest in the matter at the time and even less interest now. Put simply, we consider the incident closed” (DEFE 24/2628, p. 144). Source: ufo-highlights-guide-2013.pdf
Connected files
Books
- Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident (subject of)
- The Halt Perspective (subject of)
- Left at East Gate: A First-Hand Account of the Bentwaters-Woodbridge UFO Incident, Its Cover-up, and Investigation (subject of)
- The Rendlesham Enigma, Book 1: Timeline (subject of)
- The UFO Files: The Inside Story of Real-Life Sightings (subject of)
Claims
- A craft of unknown origin landed in Rendlesham Forest, beside RAF Woodbridge, in December 1980 (subject of)
Documents
- Halt memo: Unexplained Lights (documented in)
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 20 October 2008 (19 files) (subject of) — DEFE 24/1929, pp. 225–263, and other files
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 17 August 2009 (14 files) (subject of) — DEFE 24/1948, opening with Halt's memo
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 11 August 2011 (34 files) (subject of) — DEFE 24/2033 and 2034: Lord Hill-Norton's questions
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 21 June 2013 (25 files) (subject of) — DEFE 24/2628, p. 144: “we consider the incident closed”
- The National Archives: guides to the Ministry of Defence UFO files (2008–2013) (subject of)
- The National Archives (UK): UFO files release, highlights guide (August 2009) (subject of) — File DEFE 24/1948 covers Rendlesham and opens with Halt's memo
Events
- Disclosure Project press conference at the National Press Club (subject of)
- National Press Club panel on UFOs and aviation safety (subject of)
- UFOs and Nukes press conference, National Press Club (subject of)
Documentaries
- The Alien Perspective (appears in) — Includes first-hand witness accounts of the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident
- The Phenomenon (subject of)
Hearings & briefings
- Citizen Hearing on Disclosure (subject of)
Incidents
- Upper Heyford triangle (Dan Isbell) (same night as) — The same night as the first Rendlesham Forest sightings; the bases are about 115 miles apart
Organizations
- The National Archives (UK) (records held by)
People
- Charles Halt (witnesses)
- Dan Isbell (linked by) — He links his own sighting that night to the Rendlesham Forest incident
- David Clarke (researched by) — He has researched Rendlesham from the original records
- Jim Penniston (witnesses)
- John Burroughs (witnesses)
- Larry Warren (witnesses)
- Nick Pope (reviewed by) — His cold-case review at the MoD found that “none of these theories fitted the facts”
Places
- RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge (occurred at)
Videos
- UFOs and Nukes press conference, National Press Club (27 September 2010) (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Associated Phenomena (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Closing Remarks (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 (subject of)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 2 (discussed in)
- Air Force Test Pilot Saw a Silent Triangular Craft Over an English Golf Course | Dan Isbell Part I (discussed in)
- Rendlesham Forest UFO sighting: Eyewitness Colonel Charles Halt (subject of)
- Ross Coulthart investigates the UK's UFO files: Nick Pope on the Cosford incident (7NEWS Australia) (discussed in)
- Col Charles Halt goes on the record (subject of)
- Disclosure Project press conference, National Press Club (May 9, 2001), full event (discussed in)
- National Press Club - November 12th, 2007. UFO Close Encounters (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Ministry of Defence (UK) (Organization)
Mentioned in videos
- UFOs and Nukes press conference, National Press Club (27 September 2010)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1
- Rendlesham Forest UFO sighting: Eyewitness Colonel Charles Halt
- Lakenheath/ Bentwaters UFO Incident 1956 - Dr. David Clarke
Mentioned in documents and records
- Disclosure: Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History
- Halt Perspective 2
- Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs
- UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record
- Close encounters with UAP have physically injured people
- RAF Manston F-86D ordered to fire on a radar UFO over East Anglia