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RAF/USAF Bentwaters - Woodbridge - December 1980
One of the most important close encounters ever reported by the military, with documentation obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, is the multiple-witness events which occurred at a joint British/American NATO air base in England. The release to American researchers of the memorandum detailing the eye witness account of Lt. Col. Charles E. Halt (later promoted to Colonel), deputy commander of the base, gave tremendous credence to the investigative reports done at the time of the incident. It is important to note this Halt memorandum states that the initial event occurred “Early on the morning of 27 Dec 80 (approximately 0300L).”75 In September, 1994, one of the security men present at the encounter, Staff Sargent James Penniston underwent voluntary hypnosis about the event. He stated that though during hypnosis by government agents a few days after the event he was told that the stories from the witnesses would be the same, but would have different dates.76 This may explain why the dates in different reports are confusing. It is generally accepted that the initial event occurred early in the morning hours of December 26, 1980. RAF/USAF Woodbridge is located eight miles east of Ipswich, Suffolk in England, and is one-half of the twin bases whose other half is the RAF Bentwaters NATO Air Base. All of the main buildings and quarters were at Bentwaters, although Woodbridge had its own runway. During World War II, the twin bases served as a maintenance unit for front line forces in Germany. Hercules transports and huge helicopters were based here. It was entirely a US base, manned almost exclusively with US personnel, with only a token Brit in residence who was given the rank of squadron leader.77 The large and dense Rendlesham Forest surrounds the bases. The Close Encounters Over two nights on the Christmas holiday weekend in 1980, astonishing close encounters occurred on the twin air bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge. Preceded by a visit outside the forest to a nearby residence, a UFO landed in the forest on the Bentwaters Air Force Base around 2:30 am on December 26, 1980. It was witnessed first by two soldiers on patrol. The men first thought they were seeing a beam from a lighthouse and then guessed it could be "light-alls" — large, portable bright lights which effectively turned night to day to provide visibility for nighttime maneuvers. As they watched, the hovering light descended below treetop level. The soldiers thought perhaps a plane had just crashed on the Bentwaters runway. The men radioed to headquarters. Three relief guards were sent out, and this first pair missed the rest of the encounter. Two of the relief guards went by jeep and then by foot through the forest in pursuit of the UFO. The men described it as somewhat triangular in shape and possessed blue, white and red lights around the perimeter of the bright white body of the craft. When the soldiers came within sight of the UFO, it was hovering just above the ground, or resting on landing gear on the ground. It lifted up and drifted slowly when one of the soldiers got very near, then shot straight up at a dizzying speed while casting a bright light onto the forest, causing cattle to panic. The two soldiers were dazed by the event. A search party found them almost an hour later, still disoriented. British police were called in; airport radar controllers were contacted. Heathrow reported a target on radar that disappeared in the Bentwaters vicinity, and reports of bright lights in the sky had come in at various times from all around southern England. It was confirmed that 75
Official Department of the Air Force memorandum by Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt, 13 January 1981. Appendix I. (Document A1.12) 76 Howe, Linda Moulton, Glimpses of Other Realities, Volume II: High Strangeness. Paper Chase Press, New Orleans, 1998. 478 pp. 77 Randles, Jenny, Out of the Blue, Global, 1991, Berkley Books, New York, 1993.
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