DECEMBER 26–28, 1980 — RAF BENTWATERS/WOODBRIDGE, UK
In the early hours of December 26, 1980, security personnel from the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters reported unusual lights descending into Rendlesham Forest — the woodland between Bentwaters and its satellite station, RAF Woodbridge. Two airmen, John Burroughs and Jim Penniston, were dispatched to investigate.
Penniston has subsequently described approaching a metallic triangular craft approximately nine feet across and six feet high, emitting an intense white light. He stated he circled the object, observed symbols or hieroglyphic-like markings on its surface, and touched it before it departed rapidly. Both Penniston and Burroughs were debriefed by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
The following night, Lt. Col. Charles Halt — the deputy base commander — led a team into the forest himself after reports of renewed activity. Halt personally observed lights moving in the forest and recorded the entire investigation on a microcassette recorder. This recording was later released and authenticated. The team measured elevated radiation levels at three triangular indentations in the ground where the object had been observed.
On January 13, 1981, Lt. Col. Halt filed an official memorandum to the British Ministry of Defence documenting the events. The memo was classified, but released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act in 1983. It reads in part:
Two USAF security police patrolmen saw unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge... the individuals reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest... It illuminated the entire forest with a white light... The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath... the object was hovering or on legs.
Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt, Deputy Base Commander — Official Memo, January 13, 1981Released under FOIA; considered one of the most significant official documents in UAP research.
The physical evidence at Rendlesham distinguishes it from many other UAP cases. The team measured radiation levels at the landing indentations that were significantly above background. Ground marks were photographed. The audio recording of Halt's real-time investigation exists and has been analyzed independently.
A geiger counter reading of approximately 0.1 to 0.7 milliroentgens per hour was recorded at the ground marks — elevated above the background readings taken at distance. While researchers debate the significance of these readings, the fact that they were taken contemporaneously by an active-duty senior officer lends them unusual credibility.
In the decades since, Lt. Col. Halt has been consistently outspoken that the events were real and that both the U.S. and UK governments covered up what occurred. In a 2010 affidavit, he stated: "I believe the objects that I saw at close quarters were extraterrestrial in origin and that the security services of both the United States and United Kingdom have attempted — both then and now — to subvert the significance of what occurred at Rendlesham Forest."
No official video of the Rendlesham Forest event itself exists. The following Congressional hearing features sworn testimony on military UAP encounters, including historical cases like Rendlesham.
Full hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Witnesses include David Grusch (intelligence whistleblower), Cmdr. David Fravor (USS Nimitz pilot), and Ryan Graves (former F/A-18 pilot). The hearing discussed both modern and historical military UAP encounters, including the context for cases like Rendlesham Forest where military personnel directly observed unexplained phenomena.
House Oversight hearing: "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth." Former Pentagon UAP investigator Luis Elizondo testified, stating under oath that "we are not alone in the cosmos." The hearing covered both current and historical military UAP encounters.