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See post #572 !
Yes I know. I'm thinking of Halt's interview with Rayl.
RAYL: Bobby Ball. I, I've heard that name. But I'm, I'm passing on questions here from Scotland, so...
HALT: No. I don't know any Fail. I'm sure somebody's got Bobby Ball's name wrong.
RAYL: Fail. It's actually Fail, as in, F-A-I-L is what he said.
HALT: Yeah.
Fail didn't ring any bells with Halt, although Bobby Ball did.
Is Tommy Cannon in there too?
 
Fail didn't ring any bells with Halt, although Bobby Ball did.
Is Tommy Cannon in there too?
I've spent a couple of hours going through my archives and can't find any mention of him.

I did however come across a new witness, MSgt Robert C. Nesbitt.

Reputedly became a physicist and had academic papers published on his string vest theory.

Du31TXvWwAUuUMW_resize_90.jpg
 
I've spent a couple of hours going through my archives and can't find any mention of him.

I did however come across a new witness, MSgt Robert C. Nesbitt.

Reputedly became a physicist and had academic papers published on his string vest theory.

View attachment 37679
I've heard that he works for the Govan-ment.
 
Well the following post from way back upstream may (or may not) suggest some pointers:




I'm a UFO believer (albeit not committed to any particular paradigm) but I do feel that the Rendlesham case has a significantly different aspect to it than other close encountr cases. For one thing, the description of the object as seeming to eject `molten metal` seems pretty unique to me.I can think of no parallel from the UFO annals.

I dislike most conspiracy theories, but I do find myself gravitaring more in that direction when considering all the ins and outs of this series of events.

There are some other oddities from the surrounding area that no-one else seems to have mentioned. According to Graham Birdsall a former prison officer informed him that staff of High Point Prison in Suffolk had been advised of a potential need to evacuate persons in the jail as some kind of incident concerning national securiyy was going to take place on the night of 27th December 1980.*

I do find Ebaracum's hypothesis about certain stars being disstorted through a viewfinder as contributing to the sighting as quite a compelling one- at least as far as Halt's testimony goes (less so the lighthouse and the perseid meteors). However what this does not explain on its own is why two military men (a social group not known for flights of fancy) would get so worked up over an optical phenomena. In the podcast by Paranet that Comfortably Numb shared above, the two air base policemen interviewed are at pains to emphasise the emotional impact of the event - as though they themselves feel it to have been quite extraordinary.

The same podcast goes on to mention the possibility of experimental `psychotropic` weapons being deployed at the base - as an explanation for the conundrum. Certainly microwaves or even just some kind of infrasound could have made personnel jittery and paranoid.

It could also maybe explain why farm animals in the vicinity were reportedly acting out on those nights....

So.. piece all the above together: a test flight of an American prototype aircraft - perhaps one deploying psychtronic weaponry of some kind - and perhaps which crashed or came to grief - thus accidentally activating the weaponry? - at the Rendlesham base.

* Source: Redfern, Nicholas A Covert Agenda (London: Simon & Schuster, 1997).
Yes, you're thinking along similar lines to me. If there was some catastrophic accident to a newly developed aircraft, maybe even a field propulsion device, that had recently arrived at the base, the powers that be would have had to act quickly to cover it up as a UFO, and if all that Halt and co saw were lights in the sky and beams, as well as the red thing in the woods, they could very well have created effects like that using drones of some kind. Then to confuse matters further, they do mind control on some of the witnesses to convince them that they had seen landed craft with or without attendant aliens. The extraterrestrial card worked at Roswell, so why not try it here?

The dropping of hot or molten substances from UFOs is rare -- the Maury Island case was the first, and that's been ruled out as a hoax. But it's somewhat similar to the Cash-Landrum case, which is in the same time period as Rendlesham.

Maybe you're right that they were also testing psychotronic devices, or using them to create the secondary events of Penniston and the other more extreme alleged experiences.

Halt was clearly out of the loop but it would be interesting to look into the more senior officers for a possible connection in their careers with known black projects.

It's odd that Vallee in his Messengers of Deception mentions a high ranking retired intelligence officer who suggested to him that UFOs might have been due to a field propulsion experiment that yielded poor performance but had an unexpected effect on nearby witnesses, giving them hallucinations. Could this be relevant here?
 
There is so much detail in Robert's research I am simply going to upload the record I have of our correspondence and associated material. I'm trusting Robert would have zero objections and indeed quite the contrary.

It's raw, unedited and exactly as it should be! Although some of the contents probably look a bit naive now, that's how it was at the time.

Is the answer to your question therein?

Even from a cursory revision, there are currently some things which appear to merit revisiting, perhaps not least for myself, observations I made re Halt's tape recording way back then.

www.forteanmedia.com/R_McLean.txt

If nothing else, dare I say an engrossing Fortean read, on a very late winter's evening.

Can't believe it's actually snowing here... :cshock:
Thanks for all this amazing new information. You have so much interesting stuff.

It's been snowing here, too (Suffolk), but stopped fairly quickly Thank Heavens!
 
The dropping of hot or molten substances from UFOs is rare -
Far be it for myself to add further entanglement....

In another of our seemingly symbiotic correlations, I came across another new rediscovery only last night.

Whilst it's the only account I have seen of this, if factual, surely the only one which we would expect exists.

It's such an unexpected coincidence...

:thought:

An email on 18 April, 2001 from someone who's name I strictly dont have permission to reveal.

As always, make of it what you may...

"Well, I won't go into the chasing of balls of light through the woods and across farmers fields. I was not actually in that part of it all, so I can't really comment on it or I won't comment on that area.

However, let me tell you what I did see. What I remember is that it seemed that a craft actually landed in a clearing in that forest. The craft was about 30 to 50 feet wide and the same long, resting on a tripod landing gear.

The craft had to be rather heavy because the landing gear sunk about 6 inches into the ground where the craft landed.

Measurements between the landing gear pod prints measured approximately 15 to 20 feet. In the direct center of these prints was something resembling a residue like melted metal.

There were burn marks on the grass surrounding the site and also burn marks on the nearest trees.

The day after. A few of us went to the spot where this craft landed and took pictures and made plaster casts of the tripod prints. We simply mixed the plaster and poured it into the holes the tripod made.

We went early in the morning before the commander and all those who were still in shock could collect their senses and destroy any of the evidence in that forest.

MSgt Ray Gulyas had that idea that we should visit the site and do this. He took all the pics and the plaster cast of the tripod print".
 
Far be it for myself to add further entanglement....

In another of our seemingly symbiotic correlations, I came across another new rediscovery only last night.

Whilst it's the only account I have seen of this, if factual, surely the only one which we would expect exists.

It's such an unexpected coincidence...

:thought:

An email on 18 April, 2001 from someone who's name I strictly dont have permission to reveal.

As always, make of it what you may...

"Well, I won't go into the chasing of balls of light through the woods and across farmers fields. I was not actually in that part of it all, so I can't really comment on it or I won't comment on that area.

However, let me tell you what I did see. What I remember is that it seemed that a craft actually landed in a clearing in that forest. The craft was about 30 to 50 feet wide and the same long, resting on a tripod landing gear.

The craft had to be rather heavy because the landing gear sunk about 6 inches into the ground where the craft landed.

Measurements between the landing gear pod prints measured approximately 15 to 20 feet. In the direct center of these prints was something resembling a residue like melted metal.

There were burn marks on the grass surrounding the site and also burn marks on the nearest trees.

The day after. A few of us went to the spot where this craft landed and took pictures and made plaster casts of the tripod prints. We simply mixed the plaster and poured it into the holes the tripod made.

We went early in the morning before the commander and all those who were still in shock could collect their senses and destroy any of the evidence in that forest.

MSgt Ray Gulyas had that idea that we should visit the site and do this. He took all the pics and the plaster cast of the tripod print".
If this is right, then the implication is that the accepted "landing site" where Penniston and Burroughs had their experience is a fake and their stories implanted using narcohypnosis! But what did this witness actually see -- a genuine UFO or a fairly advanced secret project? And how is it this man and a few others were able to go out and take plaster casts and photos? Why wasn't it surrounded by guards? Can't help suspecting more disinformation.
 
Why wasn't it surrounded by guards?
Because it was a 'UFO' and they are not known to pose a hostile threat?

Perhaps encapsulated by Halt's concluding remarks to Salley Rayl.

Reflecting on the entire night's proceedings, incorporating 'beams of light' being reported near the weapons storage area:

"Then went back to the base and went home and, in disbelief, I guess".
 
Maybe the UFOs came to study a new secret project?

I seem to recall a comment somewhere amongst all the info you have uploaded to the effect that the landing site has now been opened up but attempts to plant new trees there have all failed. I also seem to recall other UFO cases where something like this has been reported. Do you know if anybody has tried dowsing that area? Russian ufologists sometimes use "biolocation" on landing sites.
 
However, what we do have in the documentary is Bobby Ball confirming Halt's assertion those three aerial objects operated as if carrying out a coordinated grid search.

Just another profound optical abbreviation, exactly the same one which Halt was having, at the exact same moment?

I am no longer confident about this being trustworthy evidence.

Something related I documented way back, have come across in my notes and which I must highlight:

(Start)
In "Left at East Gate", page 365, Halt is speaking with Larry Warren and, recorded on tape, states, "Bobby Ball pointed out when he saw the things in the sky, he thought it was a grid pattern and they were searching. I'm not sure I remember it that way, I remember the pattern, but I'm not sure it was a grid. There were sharp angular movements, and I'm not - I wouldn't argue with him".

In the interview with Salley Rael, he now claims, "They werestationary for a while and then they started to move at high speed in sharp angular patterns, as though they were doing a grid search".
(End)
 
I am no longer confident about this being trustworthy evidence.

Something related I documented way back, have come across in my notes and which I must highlight:

(Start)
In "Left at East Gate", page 365, Halt is speaking with Larry Warren and, recorded on tape, states, "Bobby Ball pointed out when he saw the things in the sky, he thought it was a grid pattern and they were searching. I'm not sure I remember it that way, I remember the pattern, but I'm not sure it was a grid. There were sharp angular movements, and I'm not - I wouldn't argue with him".

In the interview with Salley Rael, he now claims, "They werestationary for a while and then they started to move at high speed in sharp angular patterns, as though they were doing a grid search".
(End)
Sounds as if Halt was not convinced it was a grid search, it was "as though" it was a grid search -- but they agree on the sharp angular movements. So I don't see any big conflict.

Are you relating this to the theory about autokinesis? I have grave doubts about this. Autokinesis occurs if a single bright light is seen in pitch darkness, so because there are no comparison points to assess the light's position it becomes perceptually unstable. It might happen on a dark night with an isolated star showing through a gap in the cloud cover. However, if the Halt party were all equipped with torches, lighting up the woodlands, and there were other light sources around, whether stars or distant lights from farms etc, they would not have been observing under conditions conducive to autokinesis -- they could see enough of their surroundings to negate the effects of random eye movements. If they both saw the object moving in short angular patterns, regardless of their conceptual interpretation -- "grid search" or something else -- then I would say their accounts effectively agree.
 
Sounds as if Halt was not convinced it was a grid search, it was "as though" it was a grid search -- but they agree on the sharp angular movements. So I don't see any big conflict.
My exact note on this, at the time, ends:

"Perhaps not a major departure". :)

Although autokenesis is something I had heard of, i wasn't entirely sure what it involved. From Wikipedia:

"The autokinetic effect is a phenomenon of visual perception in which a stationary, small point of light in an otherwise dark or featureless environment appears to move. It was first recorded by a Prussian officer keeping watch, who observed illusory movement of a star near the horizon".

There's a fascinating and detailed analysis here:

https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-27492003000600006&lng=pt&nrm=iso

Could it have been the explanation; absolutely.

Was it; how can we ever know.

However, one conclusion we can surely come to, is that Halt's entire recorded aerial observations, all seemingly via a stlight scope, must arguably be inadmissible evidence?
 
Are you relating this to the theory about autokinesis? I have grave doubts about this. Autokinesis occurs if a single bright light is seen in pitch darkness, so because there are no comparison points to assess the light's position it becomes perceptually unstable. It might happen on a dark night with an isolated star showing through a gap in the cloud cover. However, if the Halt party were all equipped with torches, lighting up the woodlands, and there were other light sources around, whether stars or distant lights from farms etc, they would not have been observing under conditions conducive to autokinesis -- they could see enough of their surroundings to negate the effects of random eye movements. If they both saw the object moving in short angular patterns, regardless of their conceptual interpretation -- "grid search" or something else -- then I would say their accounts effectively agree.
Autokinesis can also happen in an environment with lots of dim lights, like low magnitude background stars, and a few brighter objects, like first magnitude stars and planets. This is because the sensitivity of the eye to bright stars is sufficient to allow colour vision, and the autokinetic effect can be seen more readily with the cones rather than the rods in the retina. A bright star can sometimes be seen to move against the background of dim stars.

Mind you, I'm not certain that the observers could see the dim stars in this case - but if they could, that would not prevent autokinetic movements.

I've seen very striking autokinetic effects involving bright lights apparently moving against a dim, but not featureless, background. It most certainly can be the explanation in this case, and there are many examples of observers who see apparent movements of stellar objects. The fact that several people saw this phenomenon makes it more likely, not less.
 
What are we left with that second night?

The radiation readings are erroneous and regarding our, 'beams of light', no supportive evidence for this whatsoever and the one witness Halt does cite, Base Commander Ted Conrad, is seemingly on record as observing no such thing at all.

As for the blue light Burroughs, situated on the periphery, describes as flying straight through the open windows of a truck and the light-alls going off and then back on at the same moment...

I have testimonies from others that the light-alls were generally unreliable and, 'played up all night'.

They were also gas powered.

So, we have a seemingly quite small blue light, flying through a countryside environment at night, where there is a close light source.

There are similar accounts online and the source identified as a large moth, brightly illuminated by a light source.

If we keep in mind that all three participents that first night were so alarmed by what sounded like a woman screaming and doubtless the forests's indigenous Muntjac deer (also known as a 'screaming' or 'barking' deer), that it was later related they all, "hit the dirt", is this an unrealistic explanation?
 
Fail didn't ring any bells with Halt...
In aforementioned tape recording of Halt's discussions with Larry Warren, Halt states he subsequently went back over what had been been documented on his own recording and had discussed same with Ball and Veranno.

Capt Veranno was a Shift Commander and sounds like maybe our other member from Halt's assembled team of five?
 
Autokinesis can also happen in an environment with lots of dim lights, like low magnitude background stars, and a few brighter objects, like first magnitude stars and planets.
I've had a thorough search on YouTube and can't find any videos showing this effect... :thought:

:)
 
A final decision as to the validity of apparent movement in stars can't be simplistically reduced to whether or not an autokinetic effect was in play.

For one thing, an indeterminate yet admitted proportion of the reported observations were seen through portable Starlight scopes. As with any intermediate visual device, the accuracy one can attribute to an observed object's position and / or motion(s) depends on how steady the device remains. Unless the scopes were fixed to (e.g.) tripods there's little confidence one can attribute to an object's apparent perceived motion when seen through them.

Especially on the second night these guys were trooping cross-country, often inside or skirting forested areas. The combination of their personal movements and certain (if intermittent) interference from the foliage around them makes for a high risk of mistaking one object for another and / or attributing excessive motion to an object seen from two different locations. If you look at the star chart I posted some pages earlier you'll see there was a plethora of bright stars, the moon, and even a planetary conjunction in the southern sky at the time.

Another factor no one seems to appreciate is that a Starlight scope is not a straightforward pass-through optical device like a telescope. Incoming light is received onto a grid or matrix of sensor nodes, and it is the processed or derivative mapping of these nodes (pixel-points, if you will ... ) that the observer's eye sees. In other words, it's a relatively low-resolution synthetic image subject to all sorts of distortions and variance. These quirks are most common when there are one or more relatively bright objects within the scene being viewed through the scope.

The autokinetic effect requires the observer to focus on a scene from a fixed orientation. Unless any of the guys reporting star movements had been standing still and staring fixedly at a particular star for at least a couple of minutes (if not more ... ) autokinesis is arguably the least likely explanation for reported movements. The issues noted above - plus others - provide plenty of basis for erroneous attribution of motion.
 
A final decision as to the validity of apparent movement in stars can't be simplistically reduced to whether or not an autokinetic effect was in play.
Fabulous summary of the overall subject.

It has occurred that I can occasionally see stars which, if I look at for a short time are not stars, they turn out to be airplanes, visually moving.

It takes a while to realise they haven't moved at all and are actually stars.

Would something like this be symptomatic?
 
It has occurred that I can occasionally see stars which, if I look at for a short time are not stars, they turn out to be airplanes, visually moving.

It takes a while to realise they haven't moved at all and are actually stars.

Would something like this be symptomatic?
That's true - I do a fair bit of satellite spotting, and especially when there's patchy cloud and a strong breeze it can throw reference points to pot: stars appear to move until you realise it's the clouds. See also flightpaths, as we're on more than one including an approach, seeing a plane oncoming at night will appear static for a relatively long time until it banks. No matter how experienced you are, these things can (albeit momentarily) catch you unaware.
 
Does anyone know it the afforementioned plaster casts and photos of the tripod landing gear are still around?
 
I've had a thorough search on YouTube and can't find any videos showing this effect...
No, you won't, as it appears to be entirely an artifact of the eye-brain system, and can't be reproduced electronically. A recent theory is that we use peripheral vision to establish our orientation, and a completely different, highly focussed form of vision to observe small points of light, and the two do not always agree. It may not be connected to involuntary eye movements after all.

The most dramatic example of autokinesis I've seen wasn't in astronomy, but involved a 'miraculous' moving statue; in Nice many decades ago I saw a statue of the Virgin Mary in a dimly lit niche, which had a brilliantly lit crown of tiny lights. The lights appeared to 'jiggle' about independently of the statue, and even having the statue as a reference I couldn't eliminate the effect. This seems to suggest that you don't need to have a featureless region around the light for the effect to work.

One interesting aspect of autokinesis is that it can be subject to mass reinforcement and suggestion; if there are other people there who can see it, the effect takes longer to fade. On the other hand negative suggestions can make the effect fade more quickly. In other words you need a skeptic on hand to dispel the effect. This may have relevance to Rendlesham, where no-one seems to have been familiar with the phenomenon, so there was no one to suggest that the effect would fade over time.
autokinesis.png

The effect doesn't seem to have been actually amplified very much by the expectation of 'more' movement, but the suggestion that 'less' movement would occur resulted in a marked reduction in the effect. So a practiced observer would probably barely notice the effect at all.
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03211337.pdf
 
From Ridpath’s investigation, which having been conducted close to the time of the incident probably gives a more accurate telling of events without the clouds of obfuscation we have to wade through today.

http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/rendlesham1a.html

1617781500742.jpeg

‍Night ‍light: ‍‍I ‍took ‍this ‍photograph ‍looking ‍east ‍from ‍within ‍Rendlesham ‍Forest ‍on ‍my ‍second ‍visit ‍there, ‍
in ‍1983 ‍November. ‍The ‍Orford ‍Ness ‍lighthouse ‍is ‍the ‍bright ‍yellow-white ‍light ‍at ‍right ‍of ‍centre, ‍seen ‍between ‍trees ‍that ‍were ‍still ‍standing ‍at ‍the ‍forest ‍edge, ‍although ‍the ‍area ‍in ‍which ‍I ‍was ‍standing ‍had ‍by ‍then ‍been ‍cleared. ‍Two ‍other ‍whitish ‍lights ‍left ‍of ‍centre ‍were ‍on ‍a ‍building ‍or ‍buildings ‍in ‍the ‍valley ‍(or ‍perhaps ‍even ‍streetlights), ‍which ‍I ‍did ‍not ‍identify ‍at ‍the ‍time. ‍At ‍far ‍left ‍are ‍two ‍red ‍lights ‍on ‍tall ‍aerials ‍on ‍Orford ‍Ness ‍itself. ‍Click ‍on ‍the ‍image ‍for ‍a ‍larger ‍version. ‍(Ian ‍Ridpath)
‍On ‍a ‍separate ‍page ‍you ‍can ‍see ‍‍other ‍photographs ‍of ‍the ‍area ‍taken ‍during ‍my ‍visit ‍in ‍1983 ‍November, ‍
including ‍a ‍daytime ‍view ‍of ‍these ‍same ‍trees.

Some ‍weeks ‍later ‍[in ‍1983 ‍November] ‍I ‍returned ‍to ‍Rendlesham ‍Forest ‍in ‍search ‍of ‍answers. ‍The ‍landing ‍marks ‍had ‍long ‍since ‍been ‍destroyed ‍when ‍the ‍trees ‍were ‍felled, ‍but ‍I ‍now ‍knew ‍an ‍eyewitness ‍who ‍had ‍seen ‍them: ‍Vince ‍Thurkettle. ‍He ‍recalled ‍for ‍me ‍his ‍disappointment ‍with ‍what ‍he ‍saw.

‍The ‍‍three ‍depressions ‍were ‍irregular ‍in ‍shape ‍and ‍did ‍not ‍even ‍form ‍a ‍symmetrical ‍triangle. ‍He ‍recognized ‍them ‍as ‍rabbit ‍diggings, ‍several ‍months ‍old ‍and ‍covered ‍with ‍a ‍layer ‍of ‍fallen ‍pine ‍needles. ‍They ‍lay ‍in ‍an ‍area ‍surrounded ‍by ‍75ft-tall ‍pine ‍trees ‍planted ‍10ft ‍to ‍15ft ‍apart ‍– ‍scarcely ‍the ‍place ‍to ‍land ‍a ‍20ft-wide ‍spacecraft. ‍[Note: ‍this ‍is ‍one ‍of ‍the ‍various ‍estimates ‍of ‍size ‍that ‍have ‍been ‍made. ‍Witness ‍Jim ‍Penniston ‍has ‍said ‍the ‍object ‍was ‍‘the ‍size ‍of ‍a ‍tank’ ‍although ‍Halt’s ‍memo ‍described ‍it ‍as ‍2–3 ‍metres ‍across].

‍The ‍‘burn ‍marks’ ‍on ‍the ‍trees ‍were ‍axe ‍cuts ‍in ‍the ‍bark, ‍made ‍by ‍the ‍foresters ‍themselves ‍as ‍a ‍sign ‍that ‍the ‍trees ‍were ‍ready ‍to ‍be ‍felled. ‍I ‍saw ‍numerous ‍examples ‍in ‍which ‍the ‍pine ‍resin, ‍bubbling ‍into ‍the ‍cut, ‍gives ‍the ‍impression ‍of ‍a ‍burn ‍[‍see ‍photos ‍below].
http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/images/rendlesham2-451.jpg
http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/images/rendlesham3-451.jpg
 
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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.

‍UFO ‍hunters ‍will ‍continue ‍to ‍believe ‍that ‍an ‍alien ‍spaceship ‍landed ‍in ‍Rendlesham ‍Forest ‍that ‍night. ‍But ‍I ‍know ‍that ‍the ‍first ‍sighting ‍coincided ‍with ‍the ‍burn-up ‍in ‍the ‍atmosphere ‍of ‍an ‍exceptionally ‍bright ‍meteor, ‍and ‍that ‍the ‍airmen ‍who ‍saw ‍the ‍flashing ‍UFO ‍between ‍the ‍pine ‍trees ‍were ‍looking ‍straight ‍at ‍the ‍Orford ‍Ness ‍lighthouse. ‍The ‍rest ‍of ‍the ‍case ‍is ‍a ‍marvellous ‍product ‍of ‍human ‍imagination.

I’m pretty certain there was no Alien craft but a meteor and a lighthouse lamp multiplied by imagination.
 
...an indeterminate yet admitted proportion of the reported observations were seen through portable Starlight scopes. As with any intermediate visual device, the accuracy one can attribute to an observed object's position and / or motion(s) depends on how steady the device remains. Unless the scopes were fixed to (e.g.) tripods there's little confidence one can attribute to an object's apparent perceived motion when seen through them.

Especially on the second night these guys were trooping cross-country, often inside or skirting forested areas. The combination of their personal movements and certain (if intermittent) interference from the foliage around them makes for a high risk of mistaking one object for another and / or attributing excessive motion to an object seen from two different locations. If you look at the star chart I posted some pages earlier you'll see there was a plethora of bright stars, the moon, and even a planetary conjunction in the southern sky at the time.

Another factor no one seems to appreciate is that a Starlight scope is not a straightforward pass-through optical device like a telescope. Incoming light is received onto a grid or matrix of sensor nodes, and it is the processed or derivative mapping of these nodes (pixel-points, if you will ... ) that the observer's eye sees. In other words, it's a relatively low-resolution synthetic image subject to all sorts of distortions and variance. These quirks are most common when there are one or more relatively bright objects within the scene being viewed through the scope.
Absolutely. I'm sure the Starlight scope contributed most of the noise in this data, as I've said before. But Ball and other observers seem to have seen the objects moving even when they were not holding the scope, and autokinesis may explain that.

If they were really unskilled at using the scope, there is one object that would have been the source of much brighter lens-flare effects than anything else in the sky; the Moon was up there, and it would have been sending out 'needle-thin' rays even when it was out of direct vision. Perhaps some of the beams that 'fell at their feet' were lens flare artefacts caused by the Moon.
 
Absolutely. I'm sure the Starlight scope contributed most of the noise in this data, as I've said before. But Ball and other observers seem to have seen the objects moving even when they were not holding the scope, and autokinesis may explain that.

If they were really unskilled at using the scope, there is one object that would have been the source of much brighter lens-flare effects than anything else in the sky; the Moon was up there, and it would have been sending out 'needle-thin' rays even when it was out of direct vision. Perhaps some of the beams that 'fell at their feet' were lens flare artefacts caused by the Moon.
Wasnt there a story of one of the men seeing a craft on the ground and describing strange 'writing' on the hull, or was that a different encounter? I may be confusing it.
 
Wasnt there a story of one of the men seeing a craft on the ground and describing strange 'writing' on the hull, or was that a different encounter? I may be confusing it.

Yes there is. But according to Ridpath, this information is also problematic.

Summary

Potentially one of the most explosive documents in the Rendlesham Forest case – if not all of UFOlogy – is the notebook allegedly made by Sergeant Jim Penniston during the UFO encounter experienced by himself, John Burroughs, and Ed Cabansag in December 1980. The notebook contains descriptions of a landed craft of unknown origin (see below) that Penniston claims to have examined for 45 minutes and even touched, along with sketches of hieroglyphic inscriptions he says were engraved on its side. None of the other witnesses that night claims to have seen any such craft, only lights. Hence this document deserves closer scrutiny than it has hitherto received. The results raise serious doubts about its authenticity.

Wrong date and time

Penniston first showed this notebook publicly on the Sci Fi channel documentary UFO Invasion at Rendlesham broadcast in 2003 December. (This is the same notebook which in 2010 December we were told also contained many pages of telepathically downloaded binary code, but more of that in the 30th anniversary update, below.) Immediately we can see a problem – the notebook contains the wrong date and time for the event.

http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/pennistonnotebook.html

Definitely worth a read.
 
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