The Rendlesham Forest 'UFO' Incident
1980
'The Rendlesham Forest
Incident'
is the title given to a series of reported sightings of unexplained
lights and the alleged landing of a craft or multiple craft of unknown
origin in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, UK, in late December 1980, just
outside RAF Woodbridge, used
at the time by the U.S. Air Force. Dozens
of USAF personnel were eyewitnesses to various events over a two- or
three-day period. Some ufologists believe it is perhaps the most
famous
UFO event to have happened in Britain, ranking amongst the best-known
UFO
events worldwide.
Along with the Berwyn Mountain UFO incident, it has been compared to the Roswell UFO incident in the United States, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's Roswell".
The
Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied that the event posed any threat to
national security,
and stated that it was therefore never investigated
as a security matter. Later evidence indicated that there was a
substantial MoD file on the subject, which led to claims of a cover-up;
some interpreted this as part of a larger pattern of information
suppression concerning the true nature of unidentified flying objects,
by both the United States and
British governments.
One
person to take this view was eyewitness and Deputy Base Commander
Colonel Charles Halt (see below). When the file was released in 2001 it
turned out to consist mostly of
internal correspondence and responses
to inquiries from the public.
The
lack of any in-depth investigation in the publicly released documents
is consistent with
the MoD's earlier statement that they never took the
case seriously. Included in the released files is an
explanation given by Defence minister Lord Trefgarne as to why the MoD
didn't investigate further.
Some sceptics
have tried to disregard the sightings as simply a misinterpretation of
the
Orford Ness lighthouse; but it has since been conclusively proven
that the lighthouse has a shielding behind it's lamp; this is to
prevent the light beam shining out from the back, and
only out to sea.
I find it very
odd, that those who originally kept the lighthouse, (which has
since been
closed) or any of the people who actually live in the
area, didn't come forward to say that
the lighthouse does NOT
shine its light into Rendlesham Forest - and never has: They could have
put the lighthouse theory to rest immediately, but they didn't... not
to my knowledge, (certainly not in any mainstream media
presentation about this case that I know about)...
why not?
The same question mark surrounds certain high profile investigators, who also cried 'lighthouse' as the culprit, after claiming to have visited the forest at night themselves, and witnessing the beam shining through the trees.
Ken
