Comfortably Numb
Antediluvian
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Courtesy of, renowned astronomer and author, Ian Ridpath's early published research.I shall duly look into this - it's certainly in my notes...
[Start]
What had made the airmen think that something had crashed into the forest in the first place? I already knew from previous UFO cases that a brilliant meteor, a piece of natural debris from space burning up in the atmosphere, could give such an impression. But I was unable to find records of such a meteor on the morning of December 27 [the date given in Halt's memo].
Here the police account provided a vital lead by showing that Col.Halt's memo, written two weeks after the event, had got the date of the first sighting wrong. It occurred on December 26, not December 27.
With this corrected date, I telephoned Dr John Mason, who collects reports of such sightings for the British Astronomical Association. He told me that shortly before 3 am on December 26 an exceptionally brilliant meteor, almost as bright as the full Moon, had been seen over southern England. Dr Mason confirmed that this meteor would have been visible to the airmen at Woodbridge as though something were crashing into the forest nearby. The time of the sighting matched that given in Col. Halt's memo.
[End]
So... this does actually coincide precisely with the timing of initial 'strange lights' reported in the witness testimonials.
Which I am now reminded is one reason I have described this classic UFO case as proverbially, 'trying to unscramble an omelette'.
More thoughts later as I take time to revisit Ian's research - which was long before I unearthed those original, official, statements and Ian consequently oblivious to their contents.