Place · RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk, England
RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge
Also known as RAF Bentwaters, RAF Woodbridge, Bentwaters, Woodbridge
Twin airfields in Suffolk, England, used by the U.S. Air Force from the 1950s to 1993 and, during the Cold War, part of NATO's nuclear posture in Europe. They are linked to two of Britain's best-known cases: the 1956 Lakenheath–Bentwaters radar-visual sightings, which the Condon study could not explain, and the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident next to RAF Woodbridge, documented by the base's deputy commander, Lt. Col. Charles Halt, and described by Jim Penniston and John Burroughs. Historian David Clarke has researched both from the original records.
Sources: Halt memo (1981) · Condon study, case 2 (1969) · Rendlesham and Lakenheath incident files
Facts and claims
- documented Over several nights in late December 1980, U.S. Air Force personnel at RAF Woodbridge and Bentwaters reported unexplained lights and a landed craft in the adjacent Rendlesham Forest, as recorded in Lt. Col. Charles Halt's official memo to the Ministry of Defence. Source: Halt memo: Unexplained Lights
- documented On 13–14 August 1956, USAF and RAF ground radar at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath tracked high-speed objects for about five hours, with matching visual sightings; the Air Force-funded Condon study analysed it as one of its unexplained cases. Source: Lakenheath–Bentwaters radar-visual incident
Connected files
Books
- Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident (subject of)
- Left at East Gate: A First-Hand Account of the Bentwaters-Woodbridge UFO Incident, Its Cover-up, and Investigation (subject of)
Organizations
Incidents
- Rendlesham Forest incident (site of)
- Lakenheath–Bentwaters radar-visual incident (site of) — Ground radar at RAF Bentwaters and Lakenheath tracked the targets
Documents
- Halt memo: Unexplained Lights (documented in) — Halt, the deputy base commander, sent the memo from RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge to the MoD on 13 January 1981
People
- David Clarke (researched by) — Historian David Clarke has researched both cases from the original records
Videos
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 2 (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Charles Halt (Person)
- Jim Penniston (Person)
- John Burroughs (Person)
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
- The Halt Perspective
- The Rendlesham Enigma, Book 1: Timeline
- UFOs and Nukes press conference, National Press Club
- RAF Manston F-86D ordered to fire on a radar UFO over East Anglia
- Upper Heyford triangle (Dan Isbell)