Unusual numbers of unknown personnel with or without helicopters searching the forest after military and civilian witnesses have reported strange aerial activity seem to demand some attention.
There seems to have definitely been an exercise/alert of some kind taking place just after the incidents.
Burroughs stated:
"I was even posted on the east gate for 3 days from 1500-2300".
"The gate always closed at 1800 hrs on week days and was closed on weekends".
Alan Cohen wrote :
"Lets talk alert. I don't believe we were on alert until after Christmas. We don't do boxing day. The alert probably started on the 26th but of cause I can't say that for certain. In those days there really never seemed to be any reason for an alert because it seemed like it was every 4-8 weeks".
"You asked if the gate should have been manned permanently. It was!! During the alert condition Burroughs spent alot of time posted there. Once the alert conditon was cancelled the hours of the gate went back to normal".
"To this day I do not believe there was UFO out there.
Consider other possibilities. This base was one of the most watched bases in Europe. I know for a fact that the Russians were there".
(End)
Also, in Greg Battrom's account, as related to Larry Fawcett:
"I was in the planning and program section".
"We had an alert over there for exercises and things about once or twice a month. And during those times all the back office people would go on a security post, additional posting and stuff out there. So, the night we saw the UFO we were out there on duty, on one of these exercises, and it was night time".
"...it was strange that night, because it was the second night we had been out on this alert. I had thought the night before, now I get to see if these guys are really high or if they are really seeing something".
(End)
If indeed, the second night of an alert and Halt's incident was on the night of the 27th, then the first night of that alert would of course be the 26th, the night following our initial incident in the early hours of the 26th.
There is naturally a, 'however' as Cohen highlights:
"It seems to me that we have finally established the fact that we were in alert status on 27 Dec 1980. If this is true I can't believe that there would be a Christmas party going on during the alert on base. This makes no sense to me. Everybody!!! works very long hours during alerts. How would they have time to throw a party on base. That can't be right".
If Battrom's account is accurate, then could we have an exercise, rather than an alert and one which did not necessitate cancelling the Christmas awards dinner?
He does use both the, 'alert' and, 'exercise' terminology as interchangeable.
If an actual exercise on the night of Halt's involvement then to complicate matters further... should that be possible... then SMSgt Kevin Conde's hoax seems to come right back into the frame re our, 'beams of light' at RAF Woodbridge.
It could explain why Halt claims they were being seen and reported over the radio.
To recap, Kevin explained:
"This incident [hoax] occurred right after Christmas. For reasons that are hard to explain it is my impression that I pulled my
stunt during an exercise. We would not have had an exercised during the Christmas holiday. That is a strong indication that my stunt is not the source of this specific incident".
It would appear we may have had an exercise, after all.
So, how many plots is that now, I can't keep up...
Anyway, this, I believe published for the first time and courtesy of Kevin, is a photograph illustrating the location of his stunt. I'm not certain where the NMSA was in relation. Strictly, as Kevin clarified, Bentwaters had a WSA and Woodbridge an NMSA
(Weapons Storage Area and Non-Nuclear Munitions Storage Area), although the latter at Woodbridge was also simply known as the WSA:
One further anecdote I have though only just rediscovered, came from Senior Airman Kenneth Green, who explained re base exercises:
"There were, 'War Games' with the Territorials in Rendlesham Forest adjacent to RAF W/B.
This would be the section of forest between the east side of W/B and the area referred to as Capel Green. I also remember the Territorials were choppered in by the 67th Pararescue Squadron and they set down in the Capel Green area and deployed into the forest from that location".
There was a major joint exercise in November 1980, where it would seem HH-53 helicopters, with triangular landing gear....
Would our, 'landing site' clearing be too small to accommodate an HH-53?
The point being, Capel Green, the location of our inaugural incident, was a focal point for landings in previously staged base exercises.
Whether related, or otherwise, obviously remains speculative.