In the last newsletter, I made available the previously unpublished, original US Air Force witness affidavit and accompanying sketches from Staff Sergeant Jim Penniston, subsequent to his pivotal involvement in the celebrated 1980 RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge/Rendlesham Forest 'UFO' case.
(The newsletter is here).
This is a brief extract:
"When I acquired copies of the original witness testimonies, I provided them to various researches with an long-term interest in this classic British mystery. The pivotal statement of Airman Ed Cabansag was also made available on my web site.
Now, the equally important affidavit and accompanying sketches from Staff-Sergeant Jim Penniston are being published and for the first time ever, the UFO which Penniston originally portrayed can be seen.
Although I have previously confirmed details of this depiction, it may still be something of a surprise for those more familiar with the triangular UFO of Rendlesham lore".
Following publication, I received considerable feedback and correspondence, including the following comments:
James,
Just wanted to drop you a note to say how impressed I am with your research in showing what a sham the RAF Woodbridge UFO farce was.
For someone not in the USAF you did an admirable job in accurately describing the situation especially details such as getting the unit call signs correct (Police 4 and Police 5).
You get a big thumbs up from me.
Chris Armold
MSgt, USAF (Ret)
[END]
Chris served with the 81st Security Police Squadron and was a close colleague of Burroughs and Penniston. It was Chris who reported initial concerns about 'strange lights in Rendlesham forest' - which was outwith the jurisdiction of the USAF twin-base complex - to local police at the Suffolk Constabulary. A more detailed background can be found here.
Chris has been scathing about the 'UFO tales' which emerged in later years and some of his comments are unprintable!
I appreciate Chris's kind words here. Michael Lindemann wrote:
James,
Thank you very much for sending your latest release on Bentwaters. This is very significant material and certainly lends credence to the supposition that something very out of the ordinary did occur in Dec 1980. I will feature your new information in the upcoming June 1 issue of CNI News and will direct our readers to your web site.
Best regards,
Michael Lindemann,
Editor, CNI News
[END]
Michael expresses a different take on this material evidence and whatever anyone's viewpoint, I was pleased to see these historical UFO documents reach a wider audience. Science writer Ian Ridpath, who was the first to suggest that the beacon from nearby Orfordness lighthouse had been mistaken for a UFO, wrote:
Dear James,
Thanks for sending me the latest copy of your Voyager Newsletter.
It was interesting to see Penniston's sketch which confirms the route taken into the forest (so much for turn *left* at East Gate).
However, I can't entirely agree with this quotation from your Newsletter: "Completely absent from this statement is any mention of having next pursued an unidentified light for some two miles".
Actually, Penniston does say (and I quote from his affidavit) "We then proceeded after it. It moved in a zig-zagging manner back through the wood then lost site (sic) of it. On the way back we encountered a blue streaking light to the left lasting only a few seconds. After a 45-minute walk arrived at our vehicle."
It is difficult to know how accurate the duration of 45 minutes is, and whether it refers to the total time since leaving the vehicle or the time taken to return from their most distant point. Either way, it is a shorter duration than that reported by Burroughs, and may suggest that Penniston gave up before they did.
As for the difficult-to-decipher writing on the sketch in Penn5 - it looks as though it might say "Couple of feet", possibly referring to the perceived size of the object.
Regards,
Ian
[END]
I accept this point and despite all those who were sceptical and tried to debunk the lighthouse theory, Ian was of course proven to be absolutely correct.
Renowned sceptic Philip Klass wrote:
Dear James Easton:
Thank goodness the "mysterious" lights that Lt. Col. Halt saw were "UFOs" and NOT Soviet covert craft-precursors to a Soviet nuclear attack on the UK. If Halt had seen aircraft with Soviet insignia flying over Bentwaters during daylight, he probably would NOT have reported it to his superiors because of all the then recent excitement about UFOs.
If Halt had indeed seen Soviet aircraft overhead, he probably would not have reported it to MOD-figuring that it was up to British military to detect Soviet overflights, NOT the USAF. (I'm pulling your leg a bit.)
More seriously, surely Lt. Col. Halt knew the "official USAF position" that all UFOs have prosaic explanations and knew of the contrary position that some UFOs were ET craft. In view of Halt's subsequent (TV) accounts of laser-like beams, etc. IF the UFOs he was witnessing were Soviet satellites or aircraft-outfitted with lasers-he should have reported same promptly BOTH to USAF and MOD officials. And IF the UFOs he witnessed chanced to be ET craft, he should have done the same.
Yet the record shows that more than TWO WEEKS ELAPSED before he wrote his SKIMPY report. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. No wonder the person(s) who received Halt's Jan. 13 memo did not take any drastic action.
[END]
Adding to the public availability of evidence, I'm now able to provide a transcript (Edit: James originally supplied the audio as well) of the entire 'Halt Tape', a microcassette recording which Lt. Col. Halt made on the night of the second 'UFO scare'
IT'S CRUCIAL TO REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING "At this time, Lt. Col. Halt is unaware how during the base's recent 'UFO alert', during the early hours of 26 December, the patrol which investigated that incident ended up pursuing the beacon from Orfordness lighthouse. Halt didn't request statements from those participants until a week later.
No-one else in Halt's team is as yet aware of this either - indeed, it's quite probable they were never made aware of it as this critical factor, confirmed by those statements, was never disclosed by the participants, nor Halt, in any subsequent public accounts of events.
The Geiger counter readings are so small as to be irrelevant, nor does anyone seem to catch on that the 'radiation' readings from the next farmer's field are actually higher then those from the supposed 'UFO landing site'!.
The observation of a 'strange flashing light' within the forest (Orfordness lighthouse, some five miles away, was visible through the trees and appeared as a small light at eye-level) was almost certainly also the lighthouse beacon. Halt has subsequently confirmed it was a tiny light they noticed and it's also stated on tape how "it's clear off to the coast" and "right on the horizon".
From discussions - most recently on the UFO Research List - a consensus is that those three star-like objects reported on tape were almost certainly stars. The objects remained in the sky for several hours and the stated elevation and azimuths are consistent with the bright star Sirius, plus Deneb and Vega. Halt has subsequently acknowledged how these objects gradually faded from view as dawn approached.
The 'beam of light' Halt reports on tape as periodically emanating from the object to the south was a perceived occurrence which continued for at least forty-five minutes. What isn't clear from the recording alone and was only clarified afterwards, is that some of Halt's observations were made through binoculars and would be prone to image and light distortion. Halt is also sometimes using the Starlight 'image intensifier' scope.
Alternatively, we have to ask - how likely is it that whilst this patrol are taking irrelevant Geiger counter readings, watching a deceptive lighthouse beacon and excitedly thinking 'UFOs', that alien visitors should actually drop in
As some of the tape's contents are indistinct, a complete transcript is helpful (if not essential!) and is available here. This is the most accurate transcript available and was the result of combined efforts by Ian Ridpath and myself in 1998.
Further online FACTUAL background details to the entire affair can be found here.
The new evidence uncovered and significantly greater understanding of this UFO case during the last 3 years - a number of people have contributed to that - has gradually been recognised and during the past year I have been asked to assist with a book publication and major TV series which would have featured the case as a foremost 'unsolved UFO mystery'. I'm pleased to say both sources were willing to look at the overall evidence and came to the same conclusions of their own volition. As a result, the book publishers have radically revised their previous perception of the case evidence - much of which was factually mistaken and borne of mythology.
I hope to mention more about these projects in due course. Should there be any new, reliable evidence [and I don't mean claims of an alien base underneath the complex] that does endorse the enigmatic nature of those 1980 events, it would be welcome and I've certainly looked long and hard for it.
Recently, I was able to persuade one of the UK's most prestigious national newspapers that there were some puzzling aspects and related claims concerning nuclear weapons on base and they might care to look into these.
They agreed to do so and I understand contacted Col. Halt directly.
Halt has reportedly stated he 'wants to have his day in court in England' and I doubt he will ever have a better opportunity.
I would be surprised if anything comes of it and there's little more I can do in this respect.
Nevertheless, like Penniston's affidavit, the 'Halt tape' remains a classic UFO testimony!
