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Ridpath makes a lot of sense...and he may be providing a large pice of the puzzle. But I don't think he's got it sewn up 100%.
 
According to Ridpath, it was the AN/PVS-2, so even more primitive.

Wow, they were definitely behind the barn door when the kit was dished out:

iu


"First-generation passive devices developed in the 1960s, introduced during the Vietnam War, were an adaptation of earlier active GEN 0 technology and relied on ambient light instead of an extra infrared light source. Using an S-20 photocathode, their image intensifiers produced a light amplification of around 1000, but they were quite bulky and required moonlight to function properly."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night-vision_device#Generation_1

"...GEN I systems were large and cumbersome, less reliable, and relatively poor low light imagers. They were also characterized by streaking and distortion."

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/nvg.htm

maximus otter
 
...spilling drops of something molten...

I have always thought- if you have ever taken LSD or any other hallucinogen then you are very likely to be familiar with how lights can seem to melt and ooze downards like treacle. The "molten" descriptions always makes me think of hallucinogenic experiences. Seems to fit perfectly.
 
Well,
I have always thought- if you have ever taken LSD or any other hallucinogen then you are very likely to be familiar with how lights can seem to melt and ooze downards like treacle. The "molten" descriptions always makes me think of hallucinogenic experiences. Seems to fit perfectly.
I doubt that Halt and co. (or the civilian witnesses) would have been taking drugs, but if somebody was messing with their minds chemically that could be a factor.
 
Yes- this has been the theory I have forwarded throughout my postings on this thread.
There are indications of mind control all through this case. Whatever had to be covered up must have been something big, and my money would still be on the black project accident. The analogy with Kecksburg is interesting -- in both cases the object was clearly in serious trouble then made a controlled descent into woodlands. Easier to control the fallout than somewhere out in the open.
 
I have always had that feeling that something was attempted, but it went a bit wrong - out of hand. I think it is likely participants had their states altered somehow...I think there was some kind of experiment or exercise.
Might have involved both scenarios -- an accident and the chance to try out some new brainwashing techniques in covering it up. I can't imagine that they would just randomly experiment on personnel at an atomic base, but if they had an excuse... Trouble is that there is an obvious mismatch between the different elements. A large object falling into the forest -- a small clearing with landing imprints and broken branches -- Penniston and Burroughs saying that a bright glow appeared in the clearing and morphed into a very small craft... But the mismatch may be part of the disinformation, of course. It may be a mistake to focus on the more dramatic-seeming elements, the key evidence may be there but easily overlooked.
 
I'm tending towards the Starlight scope being responsible for the beam phenomenon, but I could easily be wrong. The red/yellow light may have been a simple sodium lamp, which Halt may have been unfamiliar with.
This is from Halt's interview with AJS Rayl and maybe worth revisiting, as it contains some specific details, perhaps not explained elsewhere.

From my original full transcript of the interview, perfectly formatted, I have copied the extracted text and soon as I paste it here, all formatting goes to hell!

Just can't reformat here properly because of embedded whatevers that defy doing so:

(Begin)
But, the other side of the tree was much colder and while we were doing that, suddenly the lieutenant
pointed off to the, toward, the farmer's field, said, "Look over
here." And he saw something.

RAYL: And, would you describe what you saw at that point?

HALT: We saw a glowing red object, best I can describe it. It was,
it looked almost like a red eye with a black pupil and it was sort of
winking and dripping what appeared to be the equivalent of molten
metal. And we just stood there in awe and watched for several minutes
probably, and decided to try and approach it. At that time, it started
moving through the forest. We could see it moving between the trees.
It was moving in a horizontal plane and moved probably 25, 30 maybe
40 degrees in between the trees and back around. It was obviously moving and sort of approached us a bit at one time and then it receded
out into the farmer's field. And, as we approached the fenceline to
the field, it literally exploded, only silently, and it broke into
multi-white objects.

Just prior to that, we had also noticed that the farmer's house
appeared to be glowing, as though there were a fire inside. All the
windows were bright red and sort of flickering and I was quite
concerned for the occupants of the house. And we stood there and
watched for quite awhile and the object, as it exploded and broke into
the multi-objects, disappeared. So, we went out into the field and
tried to find any evidence, such as any burnt spots or anything of
that nature. Couldn't find anything. We crossed the farmer's field.
I thought about knocking on the door...

(...)

So, we went on past the farmer's house, fell into a small stream, out
into a plowed field and about that time somebody noticed one of the
people that was with me noticed some objects in the sky. There were
several objects, I believe three, to the north about 35 or 40 degrees
off the horizon. It looked they were elliptical, sort of like a
Cherokee Moon. But they had lights on. And as we watched them, they
turned into a full circle and then they started moving about in a
strange pattern. One of the members suggested they were doing a grid
search. I'm not really sure.

Somebody else noticed another object very similar to the south. This
object hovered back and forth and at one time approached us at very
high speed. It stopped overhead, probably, 2, 3, maybe 4,000 feet, and
sent down a beam, sort of like a laser beam that fell very close to
our feet and illuminated the ground for probably maybe 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
seconds.

(...)

RAYL: Did you think they were craft that belonged to a foreign
country? The French, the Italian, the Germans, the Russians? What did,
did you ...

HALT: No. There was nothing that we have in our inventory, or that
anybody that I knew had in their inventory, that could travel at the
speeds these were moving and making angular turns. They had to be
pulling, you know, 30, 40, 50 g's. There's, there's no way that there
was anything we have even today that can do that.

RAYL: Now, I know it's hard to tell because it was dark that night,
but any idea what size the initial red object was? Any idea?

HALT: Nah. I would just have to guess. My guess would be probably two
to three feet, maybe a little less.

RAYL: Two to three feet

HALT: From the distance, in diameter.

RAYL: In diameter. So, it's a very small object.

HALT: It was a very small object, but it was very bright.

RAYL: But not a craft that could hold a human being, for example?

HALT: No. It couldn't have been. But it appeared to [be] under some
kind of intelligent control.

RAYL: What about the object that shot the pencil-like beam? Any way
to gauge how large that was?

HALT: Not really because it was dark and it was hard to tell. I would
say they had to be at least 3, 4, 5,000 feet in altitude, maybe a
little higher.

RAYL: Okay. So this object moves directly toward you. It shoots down
this pencil-like beam toward your feet. What happens then? What
happens to the beam, and what happens ...

HALT: Well, we stood there in awe and watched and suddenly it was
like it was switched off. It just clicked. It was gone. The object was
still in the sky. We also noticed it receded. It moved about. It sent
down beams other places, included some various places on the base. And
we could hear chatter on the radios. We were on three different radio
nets two security police nets and the command net and we could hear
chatter. Other people on the base were seeing these things, especially
security police.
[End]

Any further clues here?

Halt states:

"We saw a glowing red object...it receded out into the farmer's field. And, as we approached the fenceline to the field, it literally exploded, only silently, and it broke into multi-white objects".

"So, we went out into the field and
tried to find any evidence, such as any burnt spots or anything of that nature. Couldn't find anything".

So, this was observed occuring in the farmers field?
 
HALT: We saw a glowing red object, best I can describe it. It was,
it looked almost like a red eye with a black pupil and it was sort of
winking and dripping what appeared to be the equivalent of molten
metal. And we just stood there in awe and watched for several minutes
probably, and decided to try and approach it. At that time, it started
moving through the forest. We could see it moving between the trees.
It was moving in a horizontal plane and moved probably 25, 30 maybe
40 degrees in between the trees and back around. It was obviously moving and sort of approached us a bit at one time and then it receded
out into the farmer's field. And, as we approached the fenceline to
the field, it literally exploded, only silently, and it broke into
multi-white objects.

Just prior to that, we had also noticed that the farmer's house
appeared to be glowing, as though there were a fire inside. All the
windows were bright red and sort of flickering and I was quite
concerned for the occupants of the house. And we stood there and
watched for quite awhile and the object, as it exploded and broke into
the multi-objects, disappeared. So, we went out into the field and
tried to find any evidence, such as any burnt spots or anything of
that nature. Couldn't find anything. We crossed the farmer's field.
I thought about knocking on the door...
This definately sounds like an LSD 'trip'
 
So, this was observed occuring in the farmers field?
Additionally:

RAYL: Now, I know it's hard to tell because it was dark that night, but any idea what size the initial red object was? Any idea?

HALT: Nah. I would just have to guess. My guess would be probably two to three to feet, maybe a little less.

RAYL: Two to three feet

HALT: From the distance, in diameter.

RAYL: In diameter. So, it's a very small object.

HALT: It was a very small object, but it was very bright.

RAYL: But not a craft that could hold a human being, for example?

HALT: No. It couldn't have been. But it appeared to [be] under some kind of intelligent control.
(End)

Going back to our map showing where the rotating beam from Orford Ness lighthouse was visible, how would this equate?

Perhaps significant is, at this time, Halt hadn't yet, of course, seen the later statements from that first night - not written until early January - and had no idea that the lighthouse was to be documented as playing a part during the initial incident.
 
RAYL: What about the object that shot the pencil-like beam? Any way to gauge how large that was?

HALT: Not really because it was dark and it was hard to tell. I would say they had to be at least 3, 4, 5,000 feet in altitude, maybe a little higher.
So, when it came "closer", that's what we are talking about?
 
Even at 3000 feet there would have been no visual cues to help Halt establish a height, so we are forced to disregard his estimate.

==============
According to Halt's account, the yellow/red light only started moving when they started moving, so the movement could have been a parallax effect.

I'm interested in the 'explosion' Halt described - could this have been an example of the 'annular highlight' phenomenon? If you observe a streetlight through the branches of a tree in winter, the branches are highlighted by the illumination in an annular pattern which is more noticeable if the light is obscured.

If they lost sight of the lamp, but could still see the annular highlights, this might make it look as if the lamp had exploded.
explodilight.png

Annular highlights around a yellow-red sodium light, which Halt might not have been familiar with.
 
As an 'aside' and for info purposes, amongst the released MoD documents, I noted this earlier, which I wasn't aware of.

Dated early in events, only some three weeks later, I didn't realise General Gabriel, seemingly on an incidental visit, had been given a copy of Halt's microcassette recording.

I wonder what he made of it...

IMG_20210412_233804~2_resize_98.jpg
 
Annular highlights around a yellow-red sodium light, which Halt might not have been familiar with.
With everything also being rationised via our seemingly archiac starlight scope...

My emphasis...

"And, as we approached the fenceline to the field, it literally exploded, only silently, and it broke into multi-white objects.

Just prior to that, we had also noticed that the farmer's house appeared to be glowing, as though there were a fire inside. All the windows were bright red and sort of flickering and I was quite concerned for the occupants of the house".
 
About the colors mentioned in Halt's account(s) ...

I'm struck by the way Halt repeatedly describes the most prominent objects in his narrative as being yellowish / orange / red. If he was using a StarLight scope quite a bit, these colors may have been a side-effect of his color vision in the nighttime low light conditions.

As I mentioned earlier, a StarLight scope presents a synthetic image derived from the available light. In the scopes of that time this synthetic image appeared to be completely green - as if seeing everything through a green filter. If the eyes are focused on a uniformly colored scene for long enough a sort of color-based "fatigue" sets in, such that the perception of the dominant / uniform color (in this case, green) is effectively muted. When this occurs the receptors / processes for discriminating other colors aren't affected, and subsequent presentation of the non-muted colors will make them seem unusually vivid.

This results in a sort of unbalanced color perception where the muted color range is devalued or less conspicuous by comparison with any other color in the visual field. This imbalance especially accentuates any color chromatically opposite to the fatiguing / muted color. The color chromatically opposite to green is red. Color perception fatigue resulting from too much all-green will accentuate red / reddish light when it is presented again. In other words, if your eyes fatigue with green any subsequent red will be amplified.

I therefore wonder to what extent Halt's repeated allusions to reddish (orange; yellow) colors for the objects attracting his attention resulted from having just switched away from the StarLight scope to normal eyesight.
 
As an 'aside' and for info purposes, amongst the released MoD documents, I noted this earlier, which I wasn't aware of.
To clarify, it's the actual document I hadn't seen; see post #538 and my newsletter highlighted therein for the background to our document. :)
 
In other words, if your eyes fatigue with green any subsequent red will be amplified.
That's a great shout towards an explanation.

How about this as well...

Why did Halt's memo to the MoD simply end up filed as of, 'no defence significance'?

I am fortunate to have copies of not only the MoD files, also the earliest CNN correspondence with related US government departments, etc.

Everything comes back as looked into and not deemed a concern.

Might this have been pivotal... it's the covering letter sent to the MoD with Halt's memo.

How instumental was that heading, defining the subject of our letter.

A, 'POTENTIAL HOSTILE THREAT', or, 'USAF BASE SECURITY ALARM'...

It was something entirely... 'unworldly'...

IMG_20210413_003408~2_resize_6.jpg
 
In Halt's memo, he states:

"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".

This is essentially the same story related to Salley Rayl:

"And we stood there and watched for quite awhile and the object, as it exploded and broke into the multi-objects, disappeared. So, we went out into the field and tried to find any evidence, such as any burnt spots or anything of that nature. Couldn't find anything".

However, according to Halt's recording, those, "five separate white objects", which broke off and "then disappeared" seem to be an entirely unrelated and subsequent sighting, after they had passed the farmer's house and not a result of any "explosion" in the field leading up to the house:

"We've passed the farmer's house and are crossing the next field and now we have multiple sightings of up to five lights with a similar shape and all but they seem to be steady now rather than a pulsating or glow with a red flash".

Would this appear to be the correct sequence of events?
 
This definately sounds like an LSD 'trip'

Exactly! It was my first thought when first reading this account. I still stand by it.

Might have involved both scenarios -- an accident and the chance to try out some new brainwashing techniques in covering it up. I can't imagine that they would just randomly experiment on personnel at an atomic base, but if they had an excuse... Trouble is that there is an obvious mismatch between the different elements. A large object falling into the forest -- a small clearing with landing imprints and broken branches -- Penniston and Burroughs saying that a bright glow appeared in the clearing and morphed into a very small craft... But the mismatch may be part of the disinformation, of course. It may be a mistake to focus on the more dramatic-seeming elements, the key evidence may be there but easily overlooked.

I must admit - the fact it was a nuclear-armed base is the fact which gives me most reason to doubt my "perception-altering experiment/test" theory the most. Would seem a dangerous place to attempt it.

And yes- there is a mismatch. If you gave LSD to five people, at night, and pushed them into a forest do you expect them to have the same experience? That would seem very unlikely in my experience of hallucinogenics. Couple that with the fact that people and powers might have then been messing with each individuals in possibly different ways.

I like your idea of dramatic elements being used as possible disinformation. I think that it always very likely. Roswell...who knows what went down there...pretty simple for government/military to plant the seed it was a UFO. People go nuts...then the waters are muddied almost instantly by, well, by people like us all spinning out our ideas and theories. The truth is very quickly buried. I think it is very likely that such things could also apply to Rendlesham. It is a very useful technique to bury something.
 
Additionally:

RAYL: Now, I know it's hard to tell because it was dark that night, but any idea what size the initial red object was? Any idea?

HALT: Nah. I would just have to guess. My guess would be probably two to three to feet, maybe a little less.

RAYL: Two to three feet

HALT: From the distance, in diameter.

RAYL: In diameter. So, it's a very small object.

HALT: It was a very small object, but it was very bright.

RAYL: But not a craft that could hold a human being, for example?

HALT: No. It couldn't have been. But it appeared to [be] under some kind of intelligent control.
(End)

Going back to our map showing where the rotating beam from Orford Ness lighthouse was visible, how would this equate?

Perhaps significant is, at this time, Halt hadn't yet, of course, seen the later statements from that first night - not written until early January - and had no idea that the lighthouse was to be documented as playing a part during the initial incident.
This kind of phenomenon definitely falls into the plasma category. When these things "explode" there are no fragments left even though in some cases there is damage to surrounding objects.

I think, regarding the lighthouse, that in one of his early interviews Halt stated that he was well aware of the lighthouse and its bearing from the base, so we can forget the idea that it played any role in these events. The description of the UFOs and their behaviour is also inconsistent with any stars, autokinetic effects or not.
 
Exactly! It was my first thought when first reading this account. I still stand by it.



I must admit - the fact it was a nuclear-armed base is the fact which gives me most reason to doubt my "perception-altering experiment/test" theory the most. Would seem a dangerous place to attempt it.

And yes- there is a mismatch. If you gave LSD to five people, at night, and pushed them into a forest do you expect them to have the same experience? That would seem very unlikely in my experience of hallucinogenics. Couple that with the fact that people and powers might have then been messing with each individuals in possibly different ways.

I like your idea of dramatic elements being used as possible disinformation. I think that it always very likely. Roswell...who knows what went down there...pretty simple for government/military to plant the seed it was a UFO. People go nuts...then the waters are muddied almost instantly by, well, by people like us all spinning out our ideas and theories. The truth is very quickly buried. I think it is very likely that such things could also apply to Rendlesham. It is a very useful technique to bury something.
Agree completely. I am certain that there are massive amounts of disinformation around in ufology, all of it promoting the ET theory, and much of it clearly aimed at covering up black projects. Roswell was their most dramatic success; explaining a debris field of foil-like material as the crash of a flying saucer had to be a difficult task. But they made one huge mistake -- ordering a number of child-sized coffins from a local undertaker! Obviously the US military had more than enough crates and body bags, and anyway what's to stop them putting the tiny aliens in an adult coffin! (Nevertheless many of the ET supporters see this as evidence in their favour!)
 
Agree completely. I am certain that there are massive amounts of disinformation around in ufology, all of it promoting the ET theory, and much of it clearly aimed at covering up black projects. Roswell was their most dramatic success; explaining a debris field of foil-like material as the crash of a flying saucer had to be a difficult task. But they made one huge mistake -- ordering a number of child-sized coffins from a local undertaker! Obviously the US military had more than enough crates and body bags, and anyway what's to stop them putting the tiny aliens in an adult coffin! (Nevertheless many of the ET supporters see this as evidence in their favour!)

Everything is out there to confuse.

See also all this recent and current Pentagon disclosure nonsense.
 
Everything is out there to confuse.

See also all this recent and current Pentagon disclosure nonsense.
I am reminded of Von Braun's claims that the public were being prepared for a fake ET disclosure to justify the weaponisation of space. Not long ago they announced the formation of the US space force. He was right about terrorism and asteroid impacts also being part of the build-up.
 
The description of the UFOs and their behaviour is also inconsistent with any stars, autokinetic effects or not.
Not at all. I think I can confidently say that any object which remains in the sky for hours on end, with a slow movement in the same direction as the rotation of the sky, is a celestial body, and not a black project or an alien space craft. It doesn't matter if you think you've seen it move - you haven't - that's how autokinesis works. The appallingly bad quality of their nightscope compounded these effects.

The only objects that do remain motionless in the sky for hours are balloons, and they aren't visible at night.

===============
I can also confidently rule out any kind of crash or other landing, either at Rendlesham or at Kecksburg. Nothing landed on either occasion anywhere near those two locations. Observers often mistake a distant meteor trajectory or re-entry for something much closer.

-----------------------
I wish I could also confidently rule out mind control as well. Here's the thing about mind control; we are decades or centuries away from any kind of effective mind control. Anyone who attempts to use drugs. lights, sounds or electronics to control other peoples minds is doomed to failure, given our current understanding of neurotechnology. Unfortunately there are a lot of numskulls out there who have attempted various kinds of mind control, with appalling results, and therefore I can't rule it out.
 
Not at all. I think I can confidently say that any object which remains in the sky for hours on end, with a slow movement in the same direction as the rotation of the sky, is a celestial body, and not a black project or an alien space craft. It doesn't matter if you think you've seen it move - you haven't - that's how autokinesis works. The appallingly bad quality of their nightscope compounded these effects.

The only objects that do remain motionless in the sky for hours are balloons, and they aren't visible at night.

===============
I can also confidently rule out any kind of crash or other landing, either at Rendlesham or at Kecksburg. Nothing landed on either occasion anywhere near those two locations. Observers often mistake a distant meteor trajectory or re-entry for something much closer.

-----------------------
I wish I could also confidently rule out mind control as well. Here's the thing about mind control; we are decades or centuries away from any kind of effective mind control. Anyone who attempts to use drugs. lights, sounds or electronics to control other peoples minds is doomed to failure, given our current understanding of neurotechnology. Unfortunately there are a lot of numskulls out there who have attempted various kinds of mind control, with appalling results, and therefore I can't rule it out.
Well, I'm not talking about the objects that may have stayed in the sky with a slow movement consistent with the rotation of the sky, but about, in particular, the object that moved from the southern part of the sky to directly overhead, stopped, shot a beam of some kind down to the feet of the witnesses, then moved away and fired beams down in other locations. To say nothing of the objects doing complicated manoeuvres or the red ball near the farmhouse that entered the forest etc.

As for "confidently ruling out any kind of crash" either at Rendlesham or even Kecksburg, I have no idea how you can make such a statement. The Kecksburg object was one of the best documented cases. It was tracked by multiple sensors and witrnesses moving fast towards the Great Lakes, leaving in its path, according to some accounts, molten aluminium; made a 25 degree turn and travelled to Kecksburg, where it slowed down and turned to descend into the woods. Many witnesses entered the woods and saw the cylindrical object. It had a blue haze around it. The US Army and then people with NASA insignia appeared and people were told to remain indoors; then a vehicle carrying a large object covered with tarpaulin drove away; then it was denied that anything at all had been found... I agree that "crash" may be the wrong description for a controlled descent, though. There have been several excellent documentary programmes in recent years interviewing witnesses.

I have to say that your estimate of the situation regarding mind control is also wildly pessimistic (or maybe optimistic, if you disapprove of the idea). There is already evidence of mind control using microwaves or other high tech devices. There are even patents for ways of controlling the minds of victims through their computers. The possibility of controlling deep trance hypnotic subjects using telepathy has been investigated (and indeed demonstrated) for nearly a century.
 
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