There is an additional, alternative, scenario.
Whilst not absolutely certain, I believe this might be previously unpublished case evidence.
It's going to be controversial and certainly needs some further contemplation.
Although I have obviously been aware of the following for many years, I was duly hesitant to mention same because the case was already complicated enough!
However, if we have exhausted all other possibilities, then I guess now is time.
Delighted, of course, Mr Ridpath has come on board!
I had suggested to Ian his sage contribution would be both immensely helpful and greatly appreciated and it's the deciding factor in going ahead with what might be something of a contentious proposition re a possible, at least part-explation, for those puzzling beams of light.
I simply don't know what to make of the following and Ian might.
It's from lengthy correspondence dating back to 2000, with local resident Robert McLean, who is immensely knowledgeable re our story and I have previously posted some of his helpful case material.
Robert explained:
"I have identified with certainty the location of Cabansag's "vantage point", which is the same as Col. Halt's "second farmer's field" and, have also identified the source of the "beaming down lights" Col Halt noticed to the south in this field. I had thought that the description of these lights was the most enigmatic, unusual and intriguing aspect of the "Halt tape", and would be difficult if not impossible to explain away.
You may be a bit incredulous at first, but the "beaming down lights" to the south are nothing more than yet another misidentified lighthouse! Or rather, lightship - in fact it's the Sunk lightship.
The Sunk lightship is not something out of the X-Files, beaming lights out of a watery grave, but a floating lightship about 20 miles due south of Orfordness lighthouse. I don't have the exact co-ordinates yet, but its location can be seen on the map at
http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/ and clicking on the map for the south-east corner of England.
I phoned Trinity House in London this afternoon to verify from the colour of the light and pattern of flashes, that it is this lightship I saw, that there are no other possible candidates, and that the Sunk lightship was there in Dec. 1980. In fact, a lightship has been there since 1802.
Having arrived at the entrance to the "second farmer's field", and finally having located the beacon light again after a long walk across low lying land where it was not visible, I am sure that Col Halt would have set out across this field towards the light, as I did earlier this evening. This takes you almost directly towards the far Eastern corner of the field.
The land drops away towards this end of the field, and then just as you get near this far end (perhaps within 50 - 100 m), you can see the apparently irregular sporadic strobe-like pulses of light, directly to the south. Because the land is low here, and because there is a sea dike and the spit of the southern tip of Orford Ness about 1.5 km to the South, there is no direct view of the Sunk lightship beam (which is after all 20 miles away, it might even be below the horizon at sea level at this distance).
In fact, I had previously seen a direct view of the Sunk lightship beam from the top of Burrow Hill over a month ago, (at an elevation of about 15 m), but had not made the connection in my mind with Col Halt's "strobe-like flashes" until last night.
An important point is that the strobe-like flashes of the Sunk lightship are only visible towards the end of the second field - they are not visible at the entrance. The best view is near the far corner of the field, about 400 m diagonally opposite the entrance.
Col Halt recorded on tape at 2:44 am at the far end of the field. It may have taken 5 minutes to get there from the entrance. At 3:30 the object to the south was still beaming down lights as before. So they spent at least 50 minutes in the "second farmer's field".
Note that the "object to the south is still beaming lights down lights to the ground" after the point at which it has supposedly moved directly overhead and beamed down the "laser-like" white beam of light. So presumably, Col Halt could say that it moved back into position, but the tape contains no mention of this retreat. Of course, the Sunk lightship was there all along".
(End)
There's considerably more details re map locations and coordinates, etc.,
That will suffice though and perhaps we can resolve whether as, at least a partial resolution, this is sustainable.