Christmas night December 1980. At 3am, airman John Burroughs was patrolling the east gate of Woodbridge air base, also known as ‘Bentwater’. As Burroughs walked the parameter, his superior officer Bud Stevens pulled up in a truck and Burroughs got in. The two drove into Rendlesham Forest, when Stevens noticed a strange light emanating from the woods.
The immediately returned to base and called the flight desk from a secure phone line.
The immediately returned to base and called the flight desk from a secure phone line.
The base’s central security control "CSC" sent Sgt Jim Penniston to investigate, Penniston arrived at the east gate soon after, When Burroughs and Stevens told him about the strange lights, he was hesitate to believe them until he saw the lights with his own eyes. Penniston said that there were coloured lights, and he thought there an been an airplane crash.....the colours resembled titanium and burning fuel. They received permission to investigate, though Stevens was too afraid and soon left. They drove into the woods, and continued on foot through the forest. during the walk to the craft they noticed strong interference on their radios. They eventually reached a clearing when the light became so bright it almost blinded them. Penniston came to within 10ft of the craft and the light dimmed. When his eyes finally adjusted he was able to see the craft more clearly. He said it was triangular in shape and smooth, with no engines or cockpit. He walked around the ship taking notes, and photos with his military camera. during his investigation he reached out and touched the ship, later stating that it felt smooth like glass, and had lights that appeared to be “in the fabric of the craft”. He also saw symbols roughly 3ft in size on the craft. Suddenly the craft let out a blinding flash of light, the two men took cover not knowing what to expect, then watched as it slowly lifted off the ground and then shoot off over the trees in the blink of an eye.
Later back at the base, the men where called in for debriefing, and were given a warning Not to talk about what they had seen!!
Later that night Penniston returned home but was unable sleep he couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen, so he decided to go back to the site and make a few plaster casts of any indents left by the craft.
He found three impressions in a triangular pattern on the ground, one and a half inches deep and seven inches wide, he made a casts of each one, but didn’t tell his superiors.
At this point he had notes, film and casts to back up his strange story.
At the nearby US military base, there was a large weapon storage area, and even though information on what was actually stored there is still officially classified, researchers and observers seen to agree that a massive nuclear arsenal was stored in the concrete bunkers beneath the base.
This could possible explain why a UFO would risk landing in the area.
He told his commander “It’s back. The UFO is back”. After two nights of disturbing stories, Halt wanted to investigate for himself. He assembled a team of three security officers, and met them at his quarters. When Halt arrived at the forest the officers at the location told him that the UFO was no longer visible but for some reason the flood light keep losing power. Halt and his team headed into the forest expecting to give some kind of a rational explanation for the odd events. though he experienced the same radio interference that Burroughs and Penniston had experienced only two nights earlier.
During there observation in the wood's they noticed gashes on the trees as they got closer to the lights their Geiger counter began recording high levels of radiation around the gashes, but nowhere else, which was very strange, indacating that a radioactive material had recently come in contact with the tree's.
Halt recorded the event on his tape recorder.
Then suddenly, they hear the local farm animals making a lot of noise, and a red light appeared in the distance when they reached 200 yards from the site. Halt recalls the red glowing object began zig-zagging through the trees towards them, and was dripping what appeared to be molten metal. They followed the object into a field nearby, where it stayed for around 30 seconds. They witnessed bright ‘sparks’ shooting off the object, and said that the object ‘silently exploded’ with white sparks coming off it; so, they went into the field searching for evidence or burn marks.
They where unable to find anything in the field, but overhead the triangle object suddenly turned and approached them at high speed then stopped above them before sending down a beam, which Halt described to be “like a laser beam”. Everybody stared in awe. Then, the light suddenly disappeared, and the object speed away. The men watched as the object moved around the sky above the base, and continued to beam lights to the ground as it moved. It appeared as though the object was beaming lights directly into the base’s weapon storage area where nuclear missiles were reportedly housed. Then, Halt’s recorder ran out of tape. The craft was still hovering in the distance, but the men didn’t know what to do. The men then headed back to their base, when Burroughs turns up at the base, and he was concerned by the men’s behaviour as they returned from the field. Burroughs then spotted a blue light in the same clearing that Halt had just examined, and he asked Halt for permission to go and investigate. He was permitted, so Burroughs and another officer went. They headed towards the blue glow in the field, and Burroughs began to run toward the light and then suddenly it disappeared and the two men were left in darkness, afraid and confused. Burroughs colleague asked “What happened to you?”. Confused, Burroughs asked what he meant and he replied that he was “involved in the light”, and said that Burroughs was there, then he was in the lights and then he was gone.
Burroughs and his colleague had just chased a blue light into the field, and were unaware that an investigation involving Government agencies was already underway.
During the investigation Charles Halt began debriefing the airmen who first reported the craft. Burroughs said his interview was clear cut. But Penniston said that after his meeting with Halt, a long and disturbing process began!
Two weeks later, Penniston was called in for another debriefing, this time with the Office of Special Investigations (OSI). He began his statement and showed them the sketches and notes of his experience. Penniston has a very hard time remembering much more of the interview, and cannot recall what tactics the OSI used to extract his information. He says that they took extra steps to ensure that he was telling the truth, including an injection of sodium pentothal ‘truth serum’. He believes that he gave them permission for this injection but cannot remember clearly weather he did or not.
The debriefing soon became more sinister as more men were called in for questioning . The officer who was accompanying Burroughs when they first saw the blue light was called for interrogation, and to this day will not talk publicly about what happened, but he confided author, Georgina Bruni, who he told the investigators told him that what he saw was the light from the local lighthouse, but he tried to tell them it was something else. They would not let him leave until he agreed with what they had said and told him that “bullets are cheap”, at which point he agreed to stick to the lighthouse story. According to other officers, they were all told never to speak of the incident again.
Buroughs confirms that after his questioning he was put back on post, Though there where officials going in and out of the woods and helicopters flying over where the sightings had taken place.
Halt was also aware of covert activities going on at the base. Penniston and Halt, who had both taken photos of the craft, had their prints returned from the base’s photo lab only to find that both of their films were blank. They believe this was part of the cover up.
Halt also believed he was intentionally being kept in the dark. Halt was soon asked to type up a memo based on his interviews with other witnesses, and send it to his superiors. His understanding was that the document was to be shared with the UK Government, and did as he was told. His memo was called ‘unexplained lights’. His superiors filed the memo away, and eventually the rumors died down. For three years, the public was kept in the dark, until October of 1983 when a new witness surfaced with a claim about the UFO encounter. in 1983 New's of the Word hit the shelves with the headline ‘UFO Lands in Suffolk And That’s Official’. The article claimed that a craft moving under intelligent control invaded the skies above the Woodbridge air base in December 1980, but most interesting piece of evidence which confirmed the alleged sightings. was a document that turned out to be the memo from Charles Halt. But, how was it leaked? '
The document was brought to light by Larry Warren, a former security officer from the base. This is what led to the freedom of information act.
Warren says that he also witness the events of that night, and recalls being called from his post to the woods.
When he arrived at the clearing he says that he saw the glowing object with other officers standing in front of it, but he also says that there were three small glowing creatures standing there facing the officers. Warren claims that the officers were communicating with the ‘beings’ before they went over and pulled him from the clearing. The next day, he was taken into a room with other witnesses for debriefing. He was shown, along with other witnesses, by three men in suits who showed the witnesses films of military activity going back 40 years
Like other witnesses, Warren said the more that he was questioned, the more blurred his memories became.
The next thing he remembers is being taken against his will to an underground facility, where he say's doctors and military officers were all around him.
He has another memory of being in a dining hall trying to eat, and totally alone. But, the other witnesses claim that Warren’s stories are not entirely true. Parts of Warren’s stories do match up with other witness accounts, such as the glowing craft shortly after Christmas 1980, but Warren is the only man to claim seeing life forms. Also, none of the other witnesses remember seeing Warren in the woods on the nights that the sightings took place.
Then in 2002, newly declassified government files revealed facts about the strange nights in the woods. These documents confirmed that the government had investigated the incident in 1981.
Then in 2002, newly declassified government files revealed facts about the strange nights in the woods. These documents confirmed that the government had investigated the incident in 1981.
you have to wounder what else the government is really hiding!! .
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