PureInsight | January 20, 2003
[PureInsight.org] More than 20 years ago U.S. Air Force personnel witnessed and reported very unusual events near the Royal Air Force Woodbridge facility in eastern England. Their report, although its existence was leaked to the media, remained hushed up in British Ministry of Defense files for these many years. Only about 20 nonmilitary people, who requested access through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, have ever seen the file until it was recently released by the British government. The sighting, which took place in the early morning of December 27, 1980, is contained in the "Rendlesham File." The report itself, written by a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, is entitled "Unexplained Lights."
"1. Early in the morning of 27 Dec. 80 (approximately 0300L), two USAF security patrolmen saw unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge. Thinking an aircraft might have crashed or been forced down, they called for permission to go outside the gate to investigate. The on-duty flight chief responded and allowed three patrolmen to proceed on foot. The individuals reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest. The object was described as being metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, approximately two to three meters across the base and approximately two meters high. It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsating red light on top and a bank(s) of blue lights underneath.. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it maneuvered through the trees and disappeared. At this time the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy. The object was briefly sighted approximately an hour later near the back gate.
"2. The next day, three depressions 1 ½" deep and 7" in diameter were found where the object had been sighted on the ground. The following night (29 Dec 80) the area was checked for radiation. Beta/gamma readings of 0.1 milliroentgens [Note: Assuming this is mr/hour, this level is substantially above the average background of 0.015 mr/hour, according to another document in the file.] were recorded with peak readings in the three depressions and near the center of the triangle formed by the depressions. A nearby tree had moderate (.05 - .07) reading on the side of the tree toward the depressions.
"3. Later in the night a red sun-like light was seen through the trees. It moved about and pulsed. At one point it appeared to throw off glowing particles and then broke into five separate white objects and then disappeared. Immediately thereafter, three star-like objects were noticed in the sky, two objects to the north and one to the south, all of which were about 10o off the horizon. The objects moved rapidly in sharp angular movements and displayed red, green, and blue lights. The objects to the north appeared elliptical through an 8-12 power lens. They then turned to full circles. The objects to the north remained in the sky for an hour or more. The object to the south was visible for two or three hours and beamed down a stream of light from time to time. Numerous individuals, including the [USAF Lieutenant Colonel who signed the report], witnessed the activities in paragraphs 2 and 3."
The witnesses were unsuccessful in filming any of the nocturnal objects, citing bad film. No objects were reported to be detectable on the RAF radar systems of the time. Mundane explanations offered for the observations include seeing the beam of the Orford Ness lighthouse through the trees and/or fireball activity.
