Stories Behind Britain’s Roswell: Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident

The Rendlesham Forest incident has been dubbed as Britain’s Roswell, which involved a series of strange sightings in December 1980. The event continues to fascinate the UFO and conspiracy worlds. Its popularity is not surprising because many witnesses saw clear lights in the sky and not some vague lights that are common today.

Former Ministry of Defence employee Nick Pope believes that the UFO indeed landed.

A security police commander that time, Sgt Adrian Bustinza, said that he saw a UFO going in and out through trees and hovering at one stage.

In an audio recording, United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt can be heard saying that they’re looking at the thing from two to three hundred yards away. He compared the thing to an eye winking, and the flash is dazzling to the starscope that it nearly burns their eyes.

Just last January 2015, a dog walker posted a video showing unidentified lights above Rendlesham Forest and a new film about it has recently been released. But what actually took place and are we any closer to solving the mystery after 35 years?

Through the years, it appears that facts have become blurry as new witnesses come forward, and statements change. But what is clearly known is that US military personnel stationed in the area spotted unusual lights over Rendlesham Forest.

Blue, red, orange and white lights were seen by John Burroughs, one of the US military personnel who investigated the area. In Burroughs’ subsequent statement in 1981, he said that together with his supervisor and another individual, they saw lights moving back and then stopping in a bunch of trees. As they hit the ground, the lights started moving back towards the open field. All three of them got up to a fence and saw the lights disappeared.

Jim Penniston, who was the companion of Burroughs into Rendlesham Forest on 26 December, claimed he spotted a craft with hieroglyphic-like characters about 3 metres tall and approximately 3 metres wide at the base. As he moved closer to the craft, he found out that the fabric of the shell was like a smooth, opaque, black glass.

Both Burroughs and Penniston have since suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

A different set of military personnel encountered the same series of events 2 nights later. Lieutenant Colonel Charles was there to disprove UFO, and alien rumours disperse widely in RAF bases Woodbridge and Bentwaters. Armed with a recording device, Halt produced an audio tape that is now considered as one of the most important pieces of evidence

On the night of December 28, another group of men claimed to have witnessed something strange in Rendlesham Forest. Soldier Larry Warren and Sgt Adrian Bustinza, who were with a number of other military personnel, went towards the field where lights had been spotted on the past two nights.

At the scene, Warren claimed he had seen disaster preparedness officers with Geiger counters and then a small red light appeared going the direction of the coast. Warren described the UFO as fast while moving in a downward arc. Warren also said that the UFO made a stop and hovered approximately 20 feet off the ground. He revealed that it was the same size of American basketball and self-illuminated by slightly red light.

According to Warren, the red light then exploded suddenly, and a craft showed on the forest floor. Warren described it as no windows, no flag or country of origin, and no markings. The shape was clear as a bell, Warren stated.

At this stage, a senior man asked Warren and Bustinza to retreat. Then they claimed to have seen Wing Commander Gordon Williams from a distance approaching the craft and encountering an alien being. Warren described that particular encounter as silent stand-off rather than communication.

Warren returned to the base at around 4:30am, but Bustinza claimed to have observed the craft depart. He said that that the craft took off at around a 45-degree angle, and he may never saw it if he would have blinked. He heard no noise during that strange activity.