File 029 · 1980 · UFO

The Rendlesham Forest incident

In December 1980 US airmen stationed in Suffolk reported strange lights in a forest. The deputy base commander wrote an official memo about it. Skeptics point to a lighthouse and a meteor.

Background

RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, England, were used by the US Air Force. In the early hours of 26 December 1980 security patrol members saw lights in the neighboring Rendlesham Forest and went to investigate. Over the next nights more airmen, including the deputy base commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt, went into the forest.

On 13 January 1981 Halt sent a memo titled 'Unexplained Lights' to the British Ministry of Defence. It described a metallic-looking object, markings on the ground, increased radiation readings and moving lights seen over several nights. The memo became public in the US in 1983 and made the case world-famous.

What the record shows

• The memo exists and was written by Halt, a senior officer, in an official capacity.
• The Ministry of Defence concluded that there was no evidence of any threat to the defense of the United Kingdom and that the lights remained unexplained to it.
• Skeptics, such as writer Ian Ridpath, argued that witnesses had been misled by the Orford Ness lighthouse, which was visible from the forest, and by a bright meteor seen over southern England that night.
• Halt has rejected this and says that the lighthouse was visible throughout and clearly different from the lights he saw.

Timeline

• 26 Dec 1980 Patrol members see lights in the forest.
• 27–28 Dec 1980 Halt and a team investigate; the lights are recorded on a tape.
• 13 Jan 1981 Halt sends the 'Unexplained Lights' memo to the MoD.
• 1983 The memo is released in the US under the Freedom of Information Act.
• Later The UK Ministry of Defence releases its files on the case.

Checking the claims

The claim: a craft of non-human origin landed in a forest in Britain, and the incident was hushed up. What documents establish: trained airmen reported strange lights, a senior officer wrote them up, and the British government studied the report. The sources don't establish that an object landed, that anything was recovered or that an official cover-up occurred.

The skeptical explanation fits several details: the timing of a very bright fireball, the line of sight to a rotating lighthouse beam and the fact that patrol members were in woods at night under stress. The witnesses' accounts also changed in some details over the years. Neither side has a decisive piece of evidence, which is why the case remains a favorite of both ufologists and skeptics.

Claimed, but not shown

No physical evidence of an extraterrestrial craft has been produced. Later accounts include details that were not in the original memo.

Verdict

Sources

• Lt. Col. Charles Halt, memorandum 'Unexplained Lights' (13 January 1981)
• UK Ministry of Defence files on Rendlesham Forest, released to the National Archives
• Ian Ridpath, analyses of the Rendlesham Forest incident (1980s onward)

Connected files (red threads)

• Project Blue Book — Official UFO investigation had ended, but reporting continued
• UAP and "The Age of Disclosure" — Military witnesses and official memos, again
• Roswell — Often called Britain's Roswell

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