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I shall duly look into this - it's certainly in my notes...
Courtesy of, renowned astronomer and author, Ian Ridpath's early published research.

[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.
 
As I explained previously, the gamekeeper told his family that "the military" had ordered him not to admit his sighting publicly. They had apparently threatened him, and he was very frightened.
This is presumably David Boast and also therefore related to Victor Boast who seemingly owned the field at Capel Green?

This is from fragments I can readily locate, not necessarily accurate and any insight you can add would naturally be most welcome.

I have a note of David Boast confirming recollections of cattle being disturbed on apparently that initial early morning incident.

Nothing related to himself being 'warned off' by military personnel.

There are no personal accounts from any 81st Security Police Squadron participants of being 'threatened', in fact quite the opposite, Burroughs testifying to myself this was never an issue.

Why therefore would the gamekeeper be and when giving his relatively mundane account of cattle disturbance, no mention of same?
 
Pandora's Box...

Located an archive of long, long and even longer half-forgotten research material and included therein is the following.

I had the remarkable assistance of a local, fabulously informed, resident and he confirmed:

[Start]
Regarding your question about the farmer's house, there is only one farmer's house visible from the field boundary near the accepted landing site...

The "landing site" is shown too far north, it doesn't show the house which is visible across the field, but does show Victor Boast's house, which cannot be seen from either of the "landing sites" (his house is shown on the OS map as Green Farm) and is in fact at least 300 m further north than it is drawn to be.

The various witness statements make it clear that the accepted landing site is at a distance of something like 50 m to 100 m of the eastern edge of the forest. If we take the centre line of the area in which the lighthouse is visible, 63 m north of the field division, and then go back 50 to 100m into the wood, this takes us to a location midway between grid references TM363490 and TM364490. This places the accepted landing site about 235m north-north-west...

...The direction towards the lighthouse across the field leads, coincidentally, to an entrance drive to the field about 25 m south of the farmhouse...
[End]


There's much more, however, as those original witness statements corroborate, if you follow their trail, it essentially leads back to the farm...

So why would the UFO eventually end up there...all I can do is illustrate the dilemma
 
This is presumably David Boast and also therefore related to Victor Boast who seemingly owned the field at Capel Green?

This is from fragments I can readily locate, not necessarily accurate and any insight you can add would naturally be most welcome.

I have a note of David Boast confirming recollections of cattle being disturbed on apparently that initial early morning incident.

Nothing related to himself being 'warned off' by military personnel.

There are no personal accounts from any 81st Security Police Squadron participants of being 'threatened', in fact quite the opposite, Burroughs testifying to myself this was never an issue.

Why therefore would the gamekeeper be and when giving his relatively mundane account of cattle disturbance, no mention of same?
I can only repeat that this is what he told his family, and that he had been genuinely frightened by the (presumably UK) military threats. I would also add, regarding the meteor theory, that as someone whose work entailed being out at all times of day and night, he had probably seen more meteors than most other people, and would have been perfectly capable of distinguishing one of them from an aerial device making a controlled descent into the forest. Regarding his public statements, I recall (probably from Bruni) that reporters got the impression that he knew more than he was saying.
 
As an amateur astronomer; I've seen more meteors than most people, and I've only ever seen one bolide. It was completely different in characteristics from any other meteor I've seen, and could easily have been mistaken as an aerial device making a controlled descent. Having said that, this is a second-hand account, and we really can't say very much about what he saw or didn't see, on the strength of someone else's recollections.

Especially since he apparently did make statements which did not include any such sighting.
 
Especially since he apparently did make statements which did not include any such sighting.
Welcome to that enigma. :)

Having gone over all the early data again, any meteorology phenomena would have been transient and simply doesn't factor in.

Nothing whatsoever related is reported in those crucial original statements, nor in any of the considerable testimonies I acquired over the years from personell who can be documented as participants in events.

Baffling and something.... I have this sense might be explained if further persued re apparent documented astronomical observation at such a pivotal point.

I have accordingly contacted Ian and let's see...
 
Regarding his public statements, I recall (probably from Bruni) that reporters got the impression that he knew more than he was saying.
That's entirely inconsistent with a new account I shall highlight when hopefully clearer, shortly. In essence, there is no supportive evidence - categorically zero.
 
In essence, there is no supportive evidence - categorically zero.
Will this screenshot now suffice?

Screenshot_20201202_203938_resize_26.jpg
 
Having gone over all the early data again, any meteorology phenomena would have been transient and simply doesn't factor in.
Nothing whatsoever related is reported in those crucial original statements, nor in any of the considerable testimonies I acquired over the years from personell who can be documented as participants in events.
Ridpath mentions one witness, Richard Bertolino, who saw a bright shooting star on that night; but none of the other witnesses mention it in their statements. I assume they didn't see it come down at all. But if Boast saw it as well, there may be some relevance.
 
Judging by the quote from Ms Bruni's book, Boast saw and heard nothing, not even Penniston & co, or Halt a few days later. Weird.
 
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Today, the BBC asks...

Rendlesham Forest UFO: Are we any closer to the truth 40 years on?
Most grateful for highlighting this article. :bthumbup:

It is significantly revealing, with the following testimony new and pivotal:

Mr Thurkettle says he saw nothing unusual when he visited the scene of the supposed sighting.

He begged his boss to show him the scene, but when he got there, "my heart absolutely plummeted", he says.

"It was nothing. It was an absolutely normal glade in the forest with three rabbit scrapes, and they're all carefully marked, that happened to be roughly in a triangle," he says.

"I mean, there was a ring of sticks around it, marking it. And I think, fair-do's to the Americans.

"If they'd been out at night and saw a light and came back in the daytime looking for something, I could totally understand why they... said: 'This must be it.'"

As a "countryman born and bred", however, he saw nothing unusual.

"It was a completely natural glade. And they've said things like: 'But there were broken branches.' Well, the forest is full of broken branches.

"They saw burn marks on the trees. They said: 'Obviously there was heat radiating out from the spacecraft and it burnt these trees.' But it wasn't. It was one of the rangers, Bill Briggs, with an axe."

Mr Thurkettle, now 64, was one of the first people to suggest an alternative theory to explain the sighting.

It took place, he says, in the only part of the forest where it was possible to see the since-dismantled Orfordness Lighthouse.

"It's weird because you've got a slightly sloping patch of Rendlesham Forest. Then, probably a couple of miles, then Gedgrave Hill. And there was a gap in the trees on Gedgrave Hill, then eight miles or whatever to Orfordness Lighthouse.

"UFO believers have talked to lighthouse keepers who said: 'It never beamed towards the land'. And I think: 'Rubbish'.

"I've stood in the beam of the lighthouse. I've looked at it and the forest."
[End]

'Rabbit scrapings'... well, that's a belter!

IMG_20201231_195906_resize_85.jpg
 
Revisiting my archives, just to confirm the local police were indeed notified and this is a significant testimonial from Airman Chris Armold, of the 81st Security Police Squadron (SPS).

[Begin]
In any case here is some information regarding that wonderful goat rope outside the RAF Woodbridge East Gate that December morning. I was a member of the 81st Security Police Squadron on "B" Flight Law Enforcement. If I remember correctly, those of us working were having some fun as we actually were playing music over one of the Police Frequencies. It was very quiet and since it was the holiday season, not much was happening. Things were pretty laid back. In any case, we were playing Music on the Security Frequency and the Law Enforcement freq was being used in case someone had an emergency or actual work related transmission to make.

After midnight, John Burroughs radioed the LE desk and reported he had seen strange lights in the outside the East Gate on RAF Woodbridge. I was actually on RAF Lakenheath hanging out at the Law Enforcement Desk at the time. Burroughs wanted to know if there were any reports of downed aircraft.

We called the Control Tower and I even called the local Constabulary (I can't remember the town the constabulary was in, but I do know it was outside of Ipswich and I think it used to be an air base during WWII, I believe the control tower was restored in the 80's).

In any case, after getting a negative reply from the British Cops, my flight chief asked me if I wanted to head out to Woodbridge to meet up with Burroughs and see what was up. I grabbed the back gate keys, and took the back way to RAF W/B. I met Burroughs at the East Gate of WB. We left our guns with the guy riding with Burroughs and drove to the end of the long access road. We left our vehicle and walked out there.

There was absolutely nothing in the woods. We could see lights in thedistance and it appeared unusual as it was a sweeping light, (we did not know about the lighthouse on the coast at the time). We also saw some strange colored lights in the distance but were unable to determine what they were.

Eventually we found three depressions in the ground, about the diameter of a coffee can in a triangular pattern. However, there was no damage to trees or scorch marks, or any damage to any plant life in the area. We noted the location of the impressions and departed the area.

Burroughs and his partner went back to patroling RAF WB and I returned to RAF BW. I reported what I saw to my flight chief. In the morning several of us were asked if we would return to the area to point out the depressions. During the trip to the woods, Lt Col Halt, the deputy base commander (who's radio call sign was "Stopper") showed up. He was intrigued by the report.

Now you must understand that we had a very interesting relationship with Col Halt. You see he really enjoyed hanging out with the Law Enforcement troops. He found our job interesting and I think he had fun. He would routinely stop by the office on swing and midnight shifts on Friday and Saturday nights and ride with patrols. I would say he rode with me 10 or 12 times during my time at RAF BW. I considered him a very friendly, relaxed individual and very down to earth for an officer.

Halt essentially said he planned on coming out to the site in the evening and one way or another several of us said we'd keep him company.

I brought a camera with me and I think Halt had a tape recorder. We were out there for hours and someone noticed some lights in the distance. While they often seemed to be very close in reality as we tried to approach them we discovered they were very far away. Now don't confuse what I just wrote. Little balls of light were not flying around us or getting closer and flying away. We initially thought the lights were closer than they actually were.

In the end I would say we were in the woods for 4 or 5 hours. The next morning we went home and "B" flight went on break (our three days off). Three days later we returned to work and made fun of Burroughs for screwing up our radio fun with his bogus UFO sighting.

As for the photographs, they were essentially useless as their was nothing distinguishable at all, very black with a couple white spots. Nothing substantial or even boarding on useful.

There were no secret debriefings, no threats, no sudden assignments.Nothing. It was no big deal.
[End]

I also have another testimony from a member of the 81st SPS, who confirms seeing local 'bobbies' on base the morning afterwards.
 
Ok....so after all this time nothing extraordinarty happened in the Rendlesham Forest those 2 days....so what is the story with the soldier who claimed he came up close and touched it ,saw writing , and had visions or something...? Is that total fabrication or was he mentally ill or what?
And didn't several say they saw it moving as well as sitting on the ground and it was circular in shape? How does one mistake a far away lighthouse beam for that?
btw...my initial thoughts many years ago (after this incident made the news and was reported) was that it was some manner of psych test on the soldiers to see how they would react in such a situation.
 
Ok....so after all this time nothing extraordinarty happened in the Rendlesham Forest those 2 days....so what is the story with the soldier who claimed he came up close and touched it ,saw writing , and had visions or something...? Is that total fabrication or was he mentally ill or what?
And didn't several say they saw it moving as well as sitting on the ground and it was circular in shape? How does one mistake a far away lighthouse beam for that?
btw...my initial thoughts many years ago (after this incident made the news and was reported) was that it was some manner of psych test on the soldiers to see how they would react in such a situation.
That's Penniston, and he seems to be lying about the experience from what I've heard. If you listen to Halt's testimony and recording, he describes objects coming near them and emitting a pencil-thin beam of light down at their feet, I don't know what to think about it, haven't followed it much after Penniston. I don't know about Halt, but he seems sincere.
 
That's Penniston, and he seems to be lying about the experience from what I've heard. If you listen to Halt's testimony and recording, he describes objects coming near them and emitting a pencil-thin beam of light down at their feet, I don't know what to think about it, haven't followed it much after Penniston. I don't know about Halt, but he seems sincere.
I'm not buying that these trained soldiers mistook a far away lighthouse beam for a ufo...on the other hand I'm not convinced this was a genuine alien ufo either.
Just curious but does that area have any history of weirdness going back through the ages?
 
I'm not buying that these trained soldiers mistook a far away lighthouse beam for a ufo...on the other hand I'm not convinced this was a genuine alien ufo either.
Just curious but does that area have any history of weirdness going back through the ages?
I don't buy the lighthouse explanation either. I think it wasn't even in operation during the events (it happened twice, and Halt was there the second time).
 
One interesting thing is that the symbols Penniston says he copied from a register on the craft are very similar to some of those in the Japanese Utsuro-Bune legend. Perhaps Penniston was aware of it, or it is just by chance:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utsuro-bune
utsuro-bune-tales-from-the-rabbit-garden.jpg


Penniston's symbols:
original
 
If you listen to Halt's testimony and recording, he describes objects coming near them and emitting a pencil-thin beam of light down at their feet,
Halt doen't mention objects coming near his party on the second night, but he does describe an object that sent a beam down towards them. I think he was using a Starscope light intensifier at the time, and this beam was an artifact caused by the scope itself rather than a real external phenomenon.
 
Halt doesn't mention objects coming near his party on the second night, but he does describe an object that sent a beam down towards them. I think he was using a Starscope light intensifier at the time, and this beam was an artifact caused by the scope itself rather than a real external phenomenon.
I'm open to all possibilities with it now, and that is an interesting idea. We should post some Halt video testimony --it's out there. I will after a bit unless someone beats me to it.
 
I don't buy the lighthouse explanation either. I think it wasn't even in operation during the events (it happened twice, and Halt was there the second time).
The lighthouse was in operation and the role it played is documented in the original witnes testimonies!

See my post #284 above, from which:

Burroughs: "We got up to a fence that separated the trees from the open field and you could see the lights down by a farmers house. We climbed over the fence and started heading towards the red and blue lights and they just disappeared. Once we reached the farmer's house we could see a beacon going around so we went towards it. We followed it for about 2 miles before we could see it was coming from a lighthouse".
 
The lighthouse was in operation and the role it played is documented in the original witnes testimonies!

See my post #284 above, from which:

Burroughs: "We got up to a fence that separated the trees from the open field and you could see the lights down by a farmers house. We climbed over the fence and started heading towards the red and blue lights and they just disappeared. Once we reached the farmer's house we could see a beacon going around so we went towards it. We followed it for about 2 miles before we could see it was coming from a lighthouse".
Huh! I could have sworn I saw a show where a local said it wasn't but I certainly could be imagining it.
 
The lighthouse was in operation and the role it played is documented in the original witnes testimonies!

See my post #284 above, from which:

Burroughs: "We got up to a fence that separated the trees from the open field and you could see the lights down by a farmers house. We climbed over the fence and started heading towards the red and blue lights and they just disappeared. Once we reached the farmer's house we could see a beacon going around so we went towards it. We followed it for about 2 miles before we could see it was coming from a lighthouse".
Here is a pretty exhaustive discussion of the lighthouse and it fits the bill as you and others have mentioned:
http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/rendlesham2a.html
 
One interesting thing is that the symbols Penniston says he copied from a register on the craft...
This is a much later story, the genesis of which is Penniston undergoing the dreaded, 'hypnotic regression'. As I have emphased previously, quoting Burroughs direct statement to myself, he acknowledges how that had influenced Penniston's tales.

The sketch with those symbols is also a later incarnation which is again presumably related to the, 'hypnotism'.

As also previously highlighted, this was Penniston's original sketch, which accompanied that early written statement, written only a few days after events.

Screenshot_20210101_215628_resize_57.jpg


This seemingly corroborates all testimonials detailed in post #284 and the nearest they ever got to those enigmatic lights, before chasing the source close to a nearby farmhouse and Burroughs revealing at least one of the lights was the beacon from Orfordness lighthouse.
 
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