The Rendlesham Forest Incident

The history of mankind is riddled with the weird and the wonderful; bizarre people, strange places and odd events. For centuries, we’ve told each other fantastic stories around campfires and in darkened rooms. Tales of ghosts, UFOs, and conspiracies, but are these stories exactly that: Stories? There’s only one way to find out! Join me as I dive down the rabbit hole and into… the Unexplained Files.

This time, the case often referred to as Britain’s Roswell: The Rendlesham Forest Incident.

WTF?

Rendlesham Forest, England, December 1980. In the cold early hours of the 26th, just east of RAF Woodbridge, a routine patrol of the US base reported lights descending into the forest. Thinking it could be a downed aircraft, they hurried to the scene. As they neared, the noticed nearby farm animals going into “a frenzy”. Through the trees they claimed to see a triangular craft of “unknown origin”. So stunned by what he saw, one of the servicemen approached the black triangle, whipped out his notebook, and sketched the craft, noting its dimensions, and made a note of the strange hieroglyph markings on the craft. He even claimed to have touched the object!
 
“It’s back.”
 
Naturally, the story made its way around the base like wildfire. Just when things were starting to die down a little, a message reached the base from another patrol. The object, it seemed, was back. This time, Lt. Col. Charles Halt wanted to investigate for himself, with the aim of debunking the whole thing. Things didn’t quite work out as he’d hoped.
 
He took a group of men and a tape recorder and set out into the forest. They observed the light moving through the trees, and at one point saw it shooting a beam of light down into the forest. Instead of debunking the story, he’d invited a bunch of new witnesses to the whole affair.
 
You’re Kidding, Right?
 
After the first sighting, the police were called. When they arrived on the scene an hour after the servicemen, they noted that the only lights to be seen were from the nearby Orford Ness lighthouse.
 
Some sceptical analysis concurs with the idea that Lt. Col. Halt and company also saw the lights from the lighthouse.

They based this idea on Halt’s actual recording and the gap between the pulsing light fitting in with when the beam from the lighthouse swept the area.

Hold Your Horses!
 
So it’s all bunk? Not necessarily.

After the initial sighting, a survey of the site of the original landing revealed some startling evidence. On inspecting the ground where the triangular craft was supposed to have landed, the search revealed three indentations, forming a perfect triangle. When the indentations were given the Geiger counter treatment, they recorded ten times the normal background radiation. Not only that, but the trees above the indents all had broken branches from where the craft had made its rapid ascent. Something had been there.

Halt said of his own recording that the gap between light pulses wasn’t fixed, as his recorder only clicked on when he spoke; it’s not one continuous piece of audio.
 
Make Your Mind Up Time.
 
Is it really possible that several military men could mistake a lighthouse for a UFO? Mistake a beam of light coming from the sky, down to the ground? Sure. People make mistakes. They’re only human, after all. Here’s the thing: The lighthouse had a screen at one side, so that the light wouldn’t disturb landlubbers, meaning that the light would only be visible if you were approaching by sea. Something else to chew on: we’re talking about people with nothing to gain by lying. These are professional men with something to lose by coming forward. In the time that has elapsed since the event, Lt. Col. Halt has not changed one word of his story.
 
Was it aliens? That is something we may never know, but for my money, something happened in Rendlesham Forest in December 1980.
 
RATING: 1=Bollocks 2=Not convinced 3=Possibly… 4=Compelling stuff 5=Holyshittheskyisfalling
 
For more on this case, read former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator Nick Pope’s website, or view one of the hundreds of videos on the case online.

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