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The British head of scientific intelligence, R.V. Jones, often quoted the unreliability of shipboard sightings of mines at sea. He found that the only reliable element in such accounts was whether the mine was seen to the port or starboard.
And he also wrote this very perceptive article about UFOs in general, back in goodness-knows-when, that was included as an Appendix in the Condon Report of 1968. And here we are, over half a century on, and nothing has changed.
 
And he also wrote this very perceptive article about UFOs in general, back in goodness-knows-when, that was included as an Appendix in the Condon Report of 1968. And here we are, over half a century on, and nothing has changed.
That would be Appendix V - The Natural Philosophy of Flying Saucers. It's a very good essay on the ways that observer errors and biases can distort or nullify observations of strange or remarkable things as well as the interpretation of such observations. There's even an extended discussion of the limits of reliability in applying Occam's Razor.

It's accessible at: http://www.project1947.com/shg/condon/appndx-v.html
 
That would be Appendix V - The Natural Philosophy of Flying Saucers. It's a very good essay on the ways that observer errors and biases can distort or nullify observations of strange or remarkable things as well as the interpretation of such observations. There's even an extended discussion of the limits of reliability in applying Occam's Razor.

It's accessible at: http://www.project1947.com/shg/condon/appndx-v.html
Jones also wrote a fascinating autobiography where he rather hints at the possible origins of the UFO legend in experimental developments. He was also a close friend of Robertson of Robertson Committee fame.
 
I noticed no posts had appeared in the Rendlesham Forest Incident section today. Has it finally died a death?

Oops! Spoke too soon!
 
I noticed no posts had appeared in the Rendlesham Forest Incident section today. Has it finally died a death?

Oops! Spoke too soon!
I think it's ended in a stalemate between the ET theory, the sceptical approach, and the black project cover-up notion. I suspect that the gamekeeper's daughter holds the key...
 
You know that feeling when you have a nagging doubt about overlooking something blindingly obvious...

Our forest clearing, where events unfolded that first early morning...

Do we know definitively if that was a 'new clearing', i.e. a small area which had only recently been cleared of trees?
 
Our forest clearing, where events unfolded that first early morning...
Do we know definitively if that was a 'new clearing', i.e. a small area which had only recently been cleared of trees?
Considering the circumstances of the first night's escapades, I have to wonder whether anyone should be confident the clearing identified later as the key location was in fact a place the guys actually visited that night.
 
Considering the circumstances of the first night's escapades, I have to wonder whether anyone should be confident the clearing identified later as the key location was in fact a place the guys actually visited that night.
What seems to have happened is that someone went out the following morning, scouted around, found what looked a likely place, and declared it The Site. They then marked it with sticks, called out the local police to look at it, and took a few photographs. Since nothing actually landed in Rendlesham Forest there cannot, of course, have been any real 'site'.
 
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Since nothing actually landed in Rendlesham Forest there cannot, of course, have been any real 'site'.

Ian, you lie!


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;)
 
I have come across the following and wondered if perhaps of related interest:


There's a separate upload, which features the same footage.

At 5:50 into this presentation, it's mentioned there is available background audio, which notes the, 'beams of light' are visible 'all over the place' and someone questions could they be related to observable stars:

 
Considering the circumstances of the first night's escapades, I have to wonder whether anyone should be confident the clearing identified later as the key location was in fact a place the guys actually visited that night.
I have since had a further, meticulous (!), search through my email archives and discovered the following email from Vince Thurkettle, in response to a related question some 20 years ago:

Dear James,

'Clearing' There are constant references to a clearing in the forest that the USAF staff all seemed to know of?

There was a large block of standing Corsican pine (the 'landing site' block). These were mature trees with room for a vehicle to drive, with care, between the trees. Due west from that block, across a 5m grassy track, was a large block of trees so young that an airman may have refered to the whole area as a 'clearing'. However, these were commercial stands of trees and there were not large random 'clearings' within the crop.

'Cattle' I cannot say there were not cattle in the field, just that I do not remember any cattle in the field. I do not recall working against a stock proof fence on the edge of the forest nor of cattle - which are usually curious - coming over to look at the forestry operations. But just note this is not a point that I can be certain on.

'Tractors' etc. I do not recall farmers ever driving about the forest, it isn't a short cut to anywhere! And agree that it is most unlikely that they would have done this at 03.00 hrs.

...the lighthouse and USAF staff's unfamiliarity with the natural workings of the forest would readily explain all but the most inventive witnesses part of the mystery!

Vince
+++++ The Forestry Commission's computer systems may be monitored and communications carried out on them recorded, to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes. +++++
(End)
 
I tend to sway between thinking of Halt as a bit dim and somone who likes the limelight as well as someone who has made a career out of keeping the "story" alive...and then thinking of him as an active disseminator of misinformation.
I think the first alternative is the right one.
 
I'm watching the second Halt video, and It is hard to believe they saw a beam from a lighthouse, and mistook it for the described.
As others have said, you have to listen to what he said at the time, not the stories he made up years after the event. How carefully have you listened to the tape?
 
That would be Appendix V - The Natural Philosophy of Flying Saucers. It's a very good essay on the ways that observer errors and biases can distort or nullify observations of strange or remarkable things as well as the interpretation of such observations. There's even an extended discussion of the limits of reliability in applying Occam's Razor.

It's accessible at: http://www.project1947.com/shg/condon/appndx-v.html
This is very funny, in parts. A little bit of lost history, here;
Air Commodore Helmore, one of our ablest pilots in World War I, recalled to me in 1939 that he and his contemporaries had been scared of a particular kind of German antiaircraft shell which burst with a purple flash. The legend was that these shells somehow radiated venereal disease — one can only guess at the chain of events that led up to these speculations.
Indeed - correlation does not imply causation.
 
I was intrigued the other day by a brief reference to Orford Ness in Robert Macfarlane's - eminently readable and highly Fortean - Underland. Specifically, he referred to nuclear weapon testing being carried out there, which brought to mind the coy allusions to various storage areas on the bases made by personnel quoted in this thread, and the wider correlation that some UFOlogists draw between human nuclear weapons and UFO activity. This was enough to make me think it warranted a brief mention in this thread, but IRL matters took precedence.

Then, over the weekend, the Guardian published this article, which describes Orford Ness as a much stranger place: yes, nuclear testing, but also mysterious war-time disasters and secret evacuations. Before that, a centuries-long reputation for ship-wrecks, and, perhaps relatedly, short-lived lighthouses, of all things. It turns out that in fact Macfarlane is obsessed with the place, and W G Sebald also wrote about it.

All of which makes me wonder whether the focus on Rendlesham itself is too tight, and whether we should perhaps zoom out a little, to consider whether the weirdness associated with Orford Ness may merit closer attention and whether it might, if you'll forgive the expression, shed some light in our particular direction.
 
I was intrigued the other day by a brief reference to Orford Ness in Robert Macfarlane's - eminently readable and highly Fortean - Underland. Specifically, he referred to nuclear weapon testing being carried out there, which brought to mind the coy allusions to various storage areas on the bases made by personnel quoted in this thread, and the wider correlation that some UFOlogists draw between human nuclear weapons and UFO activity. This was enough to make me think it warranted a brief mention in this thread, but IRL matters took precedence.

Then, over the weekend, the Guardian published this article, which describes Orford Ness as a much stranger place: yes, nuclear testing, but also mysterious war-time disasters and secret evacuations. Before that, a centuries-long reputation for ship-wrecks, and, perhaps relatedly, short-lived lighthouses, of all things. It turns out that in fact Macfarlane is obsessed with the place, and W G Sebald also wrote about it.

All of which makes me wonder whether the focus on Rendlesham itself is too tight, and whether we should perhaps zoom out a little, to consider whether the weirdness associated with Orford Ness may merit closer attention and whether it might, if you'll forgive the expression, shed some light in our particular direction.
Have you ever been there? It is quite creepy. I was there a few years ago and tried to go back while on holiday a couple of months ago but unfortunately the boat wasn’t running.
There is a building there that you can go into with a nuclear missile on a trolley. There are parts of old bomb shells scattered around as well. If I remember correctly there is an abandoned car repair garage with a car still inside but the car still being there might be a false memory. It’s well worth a visit.
 
Have you ever been there? It is quite creepy. I was there a few years ago and tried to go back while on holiday a couple of months ago but unfortunately the boat wasn’t running.
There is a building there that you can go into with a nuclear missile on a trolley. There are parts of old bomb shells scattered around as well. If I remember correctly there is an abandoned car repair garage with a car still inside but the car still being there might be a false memory. It’s well worth a visit.
No, sadly not, it's a long way south from my UK stomping grounds, although on the plus side I'm a lot closer now than was the case for the past few years... It certainly is now emphatically on my list.
 
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he referred to nuclear weapon testing being carried out there
Not actual weapons testing, just the triggers, which were non-nuclear. They were subjected to environmental testing - heat, cold, vibration, etc - to ensure they didn't accidentally go off while being transported in an aircraft. The famous pagodas were designed so that the roof would fall in and contain the blast if the trigger accidentally went off. Fortunately they never did.
 
Interesting video about the black triangle craft. If what came down at Rendlesham was an early prototype you could understand why they would have gone to such lengths to cover it up beneath crazy alien contact stories.

 
A repeat show on Ancient Aliens had Jim Penniston and John Burroughs walking through Rendlesham Forest retelling their story.

These guys came off so likable and sincere, how could you not believe their UFO story ?
 
Obviously there is a connection between UFOs and nuclear weapons.
This was in strict confidence at the time, many years ago now, however, I subsequently requested and obtained permission to 'disclose' the contents.

Did I ever mention that in lengthy correspondence with John Burroughs, he claimed that some years after the late December, 1980 incidents, Col. Halt revealed to Burroughs, face-to-face - quoting John's email:

"He had all of the weapons checked inside the bunkers after the incident because of the beams of lights that went into the bunkers. He stated some were damaged and he said there was no damage done to a highly secret bunker".
 
"He had all of the weapons checked inside the bunkers after the incident because of the beams of lights that went into the bunkers. He stated some were damaged and he said there was no damage done to a highly secret bunker".
The curious thing is that only Halt and his crew saw these 'beams of light', and they were miles away from the bunkers. No-one at the bunkers saw these events.
See our marathon Rendlesham thread for more info.
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/rendlesham-forest-incident.1914/
 
See our marathon Rendlesham thread for more info.
Yes, that's largely myself emphasising the 'anomalies' with Halt's claim regarding same.

He did also make this assertion to Larry Warren and Peter Robbins (documented in 'Left at East Gate') and one other person I know of.

It's quite specific and evidently not open to any misunderstandings.

Either it's true, or.... what to conclude otherwise?
 
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