UFO History: December 26, 1980 - The Rendlesham Forest Incident

As I sit down today to type this up, I am excited that I will be traveling back up north into the Chestnut Ridge. Unfortunately, I won’t be heading back for research, I will be there for a family issue. Nevertheless, I’ll be back in one of the most mysterious places on the east coast and that’s always exciting.

In diving into UFO History for today, I stumbled onto one of the most famous encounters ever recorded and figured that would be perfect for the day. This event took place in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England on December 26, 1980. 

The specific area sat between the U.S. Air Force bases Woodbridge and Bentwaters. That evening soldiers followed the triangular-shaped craft into the forest, before it disappeared at an extraordinary speed. The initial investigators included deputy base commander Lt. Col. Charles Halt, who led a party into Rendlesham Forest. The event was so intense, Halt had no choice but to report it up the chain of command.  

According to this memo, the incident began when two security patrolmen near the eastern gate of RAF (Royal Air Force) Woodbridge saw lights in the forest. While investigating what they thought was a downed aircraft, the team discovered a strange glowing object in the forest. The object was a triangular metallic vessel, had three legs, and was about 10 feet across and six and a half feet high. 

After taking off, the team noted the three impressions in the ground, they thought they could have been made by an animal, but still took measurements. These were one and a half-foot deep and seven-foot diameter imprints. The team also conducted rigorous radiation tests on the area. 

According to a follow-up report on December 28, 1980, they found that beta/gamma readings of 0.1 milliroentgens were recorded with the peak readings being inside the three depressions and near the center of the triangle formed by the depressions.

All of this was also recorded by Halt on a tape that was released in 1984. But, that wasn’t the only information contained on the recording. Halt also documents another sighting in the same general area. 

This sighting was of a glowing red orb that moved and pulsed as it traversed the sky. Eventually, it separated into five objects before disappearing into the night sky. immediately after the disappearance, three star-like objects appeared in the night sky. These objects, two to the north and one in the south, moved at high speeds and made sharp angular movements while flashing red, green, and blue lights.

This Rendlesham Forest Incident has been researched and debated for decades. Still, there is a paper trail that exists in official record and it is one that can be dug into today.