Rendlesham Forest Incident
USAF security personnel stationed at the joint RAF Bentwaters / RAF Woodbridge bases reported encountering an unidentified object in the adjacent Rendlesham Forest over the nights of December 26-28, 1980.
The Halt memo. Memorandum For The Record from Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt, USAF Deputy Base Commander RAF Bentwaters, dated 13 January 1981, describing the events of December 26-28, 1980 in Rendlesham Forest.
The Halt tape. Approximately 18 minutes of contemporaneous audio recorded by Lt. Col. Halt on his handheld dictaphone during the second-night event, December 28, 1980. Audio-only recording, no visual content.
Charles I. Halt / released via FOIA
Provenance metadataFields marked “not disclosed” are transparent gaps in the release, not omissions on our end.
- Coordinates
- Not disclosed in this release
- Altitude
- Not disclosed in this release
- Sensor detail
- Not disclosed in this release
- Encounter duration
- Not disclosed in this release
- Witness count
- Not disclosed in this release
- Operational context
- Not disclosed in this release
- Weather / visibility
- Not disclosed in this release
- Chain of custody
- Not disclosed in this release
- Classification
- Not disclosed in this release
Official description
The 'Halt memo', a memorandum dated 13 January 1981 from Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt, Deputy Base Commander, describes lights observed in the forest, beam-like illuminations directed at the base, and ground impressions found at a clearing the following morning. Halt also recorded a contemporaneous audio cassette during the second night.
Editor's context
Often referred to as 'Britain's Roswell' in popular discourse. Independent analyses have proposed the Orfordness Lighthouse, bright stars, and re-entering Soviet rocket debris as candidate explanations for portions of the events. Other elements (the ground impressions, radiation readings reported by Halt) remain harder to attribute. UK Ministry of Defence records on the case were declassified in stages from 2001 onward.
In the margins
Transcribed redactions, stamps, and handwritten markings, the paratext of the file. Often the most human part of a declassified document, and worth reading on its own.
- Stampp. 1MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD, 13 January 1981
- StampDEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE, RAF BENTWATERS / RAF WOODBRIDGE
- AnnotationSigned: Charles I. Halt, Lt Col, USAF, Deputy Base Commander
- AnnotationHalt memo paragraph 3: 'The object was described as being metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, approximately two to three meters across the base...'
- AnnotationLight meter readings recorded at the alleged landing site: 0.07 milliroentgens. Three ground depressions approximately 1.5 meters apart in a triangular pattern.
- AnnotationHalt's contemporaneous audio recording (~18 minutes) preserved separately; transcript widely circulated.
- Redaction[Names of additional security police personnel redacted in subsequent FOIA releases under (b)(6)]
Cite the primary source
Citations center the originating government agency and link to the official record. This archive is listed as the access point, not the author.
U.S. Department of Defense. "Rendlesham Forest Incident." Released via PURSUE program, 1981-01-13. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/ufos/. Accessed 2026-08-12 via Social Media for Aliens archive, https://socialmediaforaliens.com/files/rendlesham-forest-1980.
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