The 26th December and yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the Rendlesham Forest incident, which has been described as "Britain's Roswell incident."
Very early in the morning on Boxing Day 1980, at the height of the Cold War, USAF personnel John Burroughs and Jim Penniston were on guard when they spotted strange lights in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk between the USAF bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Thinking an aircraft had crashed, they went to investigate and saw a strange triangular craft in the woods.
After watching it for a period of time, the mystery craft then shot off into the air at an "impossible" speed.
Two nights later the mystery object returned and Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt gathered a team together to investigate. Again they saw the UFO in the forest and the men's voices as they witnessed the strange sighting were recorded on micro-cassette recorder which they had with them. This recording has been replayed many times on documentaries over the years.
But what was seen on those two nights in a Suffolk forest 30 years ago this month remains a mystery. But to this day, Penniston and Burroughs, who believe we were visited by extraterrestrials, believe there has been a major cover-up.
Nick Pope, who once ran the British government’s UFO desk at the MoD, went to Rendlesham forest yesterday to reopen the case.
Rendlesham forest covers 1500 hectares in Suffolk's coastal heathland belt known as the Sandlings. It is jam packed with red deer, roe deer and fallow deer. Catering to enthusiasts of the 1980 incident, there is also a special UFO trail.
Truth STILL out there
By Nick Pope, who once ran the British government’s UFO desk at the MoD
29th December 2010
The Sun
WHEN I worked as an MoD investigator looking into UFOs it was our most mysterious real-life X File. Nothing has changed.
I travelled to Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk yesterday to reopen the investigation into Britain's most famous UFO sighting - with the men who saw it 30 years ago.
Former US airmen John Burroughs and Jim Penniston are still angry about what they believe was a cover-up of the most compelling evidence yet of extraterrestrial visitors.
In the early hours of Boxing Day, 1980, the pair were on guard when they spotted strange lights in the forest, between US air bases Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Sighting ... sketched impression of UFO at time
Thinking an aircraft might have crashed, they went to investigate. In a small clearing they encountered a triangular-shaped UFO.
Jim, who got close enough to touch it, described weird symbols like Egyptian hieroglyphs on the craft's side.
As they watched, the UFO started to rise before shooting off at an incredible rate. Jim wrote in his notebook: "Speed: Impossible."
It was to be the first of a series of sightings.
Hotspot ... forest is home to a number of UFO encounters
Two nights later Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt, deputy base commander at Bentwaters, was at an awards ceremony when a young officer burst in and told him "It's back". He quickly gathered a team and retraced John and Jim's path to the clearing.
There his men used a Geiger counter to take radiation readings. The levels were eight times higher than normal.
As the team continued into the forest, their radios malfunctioned and their powerful searchlights cut out.
Then they saw it. The UFO was back. Lt Col Halt later said: "Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies and debunks this sort of thing, in the middle of something I can't explain."
He was carrying a hand-held tape player and you can hear the men's fear: "It's coming this way... it looks like an eye winking, it almost burns your eyes... he's coming... "
At this point the UFO fired a beam of light just feet from the group before firing more beams across the air bases.
Sceptics have since blamed a burning truck of manure, flashing lights of a police car and even a beam from a lighthouse at nearby Orford Ness.
But witnesses insist the claims are part of a government whitewash. There have been allegations of attempts at brainwashing, hypnosis and even "truth serums".
For John and Jim, the search for evidence continues - but they vow they will uncover the truth.
Jim said: "Thirty years of misinformation must end."
thesun.co.uk
Very early in the morning on Boxing Day 1980, at the height of the Cold War, USAF personnel John Burroughs and Jim Penniston were on guard when they spotted strange lights in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk between the USAF bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Thinking an aircraft had crashed, they went to investigate and saw a strange triangular craft in the woods.
After watching it for a period of time, the mystery craft then shot off into the air at an "impossible" speed.
Two nights later the mystery object returned and Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt gathered a team together to investigate. Again they saw the UFO in the forest and the men's voices as they witnessed the strange sighting were recorded on micro-cassette recorder which they had with them. This recording has been replayed many times on documentaries over the years.
But what was seen on those two nights in a Suffolk forest 30 years ago this month remains a mystery. But to this day, Penniston and Burroughs, who believe we were visited by extraterrestrials, believe there has been a major cover-up.
Nick Pope, who once ran the British government’s UFO desk at the MoD, went to Rendlesham forest yesterday to reopen the case.
Rendlesham forest covers 1500 hectares in Suffolk's coastal heathland belt known as the Sandlings. It is jam packed with red deer, roe deer and fallow deer. Catering to enthusiasts of the 1980 incident, there is also a special UFO trail.
Truth STILL out there
By Nick Pope, who once ran the British government’s UFO desk at the MoD
29th December 2010
The Sun
WHEN I worked as an MoD investigator looking into UFOs it was our most mysterious real-life X File. Nothing has changed.
I travelled to Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk yesterday to reopen the investigation into Britain's most famous UFO sighting - with the men who saw it 30 years ago.
Former US airmen John Burroughs and Jim Penniston are still angry about what they believe was a cover-up of the most compelling evidence yet of extraterrestrial visitors.
In the early hours of Boxing Day, 1980, the pair were on guard when they spotted strange lights in the forest, between US air bases Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Sighting ... sketched impression of UFO at time
Thinking an aircraft might have crashed, they went to investigate. In a small clearing they encountered a triangular-shaped UFO.
Jim, who got close enough to touch it, described weird symbols like Egyptian hieroglyphs on the craft's side.
As they watched, the UFO started to rise before shooting off at an incredible rate. Jim wrote in his notebook: "Speed: Impossible."
It was to be the first of a series of sightings.
Hotspot ... forest is home to a number of UFO encounters
Two nights later Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt, deputy base commander at Bentwaters, was at an awards ceremony when a young officer burst in and told him "It's back". He quickly gathered a team and retraced John and Jim's path to the clearing.
There his men used a Geiger counter to take radiation readings. The levels were eight times higher than normal.
As the team continued into the forest, their radios malfunctioned and their powerful searchlights cut out.
Then they saw it. The UFO was back. Lt Col Halt later said: "Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies and debunks this sort of thing, in the middle of something I can't explain."
He was carrying a hand-held tape player and you can hear the men's fear: "It's coming this way... it looks like an eye winking, it almost burns your eyes... he's coming... "
At this point the UFO fired a beam of light just feet from the group before firing more beams across the air bases.
Sceptics have since blamed a burning truck of manure, flashing lights of a police car and even a beam from a lighthouse at nearby Orford Ness.
But witnesses insist the claims are part of a government whitewash. There have been allegations of attempts at brainwashing, hypnosis and even "truth serums".
For John and Jim, the search for evidence continues - but they vow they will uncover the truth.
Jim said: "Thirty years of misinformation must end."
thesun.co.uk
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