Beyond the Veil Magazine

The Rendlesham Forest: Witness Testimonies

Issue #56: August 1983

It has been two years and eight months since the events in Rendlesham Forest that we first reported in Issue #25. In that time, official denials have continued. But the witnesses have not been silenced.

The Official Position

The Ministry of Defence maintains that nothing of significance occurred in Rendlesham Forest. The lights, they suggest, were from the nearby Orford Ness lighthouse. The supposed landing traces were rabbit diggings. The elevated radiation readings were natural background levels.

The US Air Force has said little, deferring to British authorities on matters occurring on British soil.

But dozens of military personnel know what they saw. And their accounts contradict every official explanation.

The Halt Memorandum

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt’s memorandum to the Ministry of Defence, dated 13 January 1981, has now been obtained through official channels. It provides the most authoritative account of the events.

Halt describes “unexplained lights” observed on 26 December 1980. The following night, he personally led a team into the forest. His memorandum states:

“Later in the night a red sun-like light was seen through the trees. It moved about and pulsed. At one point it appeared to throw off glowing particles and then broke into five separate white objects and then disappeared.”

He further reports that the object “moved in a sharp angular movement, then beamed down a stream of light from time to time.”

This is a serving senior officer, documenting in official correspondence phenomena that defy conventional explanation.

The First Night: 26 December 1980

According to accounts now circulating among researchers, security personnel responding to reports of downed aircraft encountered something extraordinary.

Two airmen approached an object in a clearing. It was triangular in shape, metallic in appearance, and surrounded by a strange mist. It bore markings or symbols on its surface. When approached, it rose and moved through the trees without sound before departing at incredible speed.

The airmen reported their experiences through proper channels. They have faced pressure not to discuss what they saw.

The Second Night: 28 December 1980

Lieutenant Colonel Halt recorded his observations on a micro-cassette recorder as events unfolded. This recording, obtained by researchers, provides real-time documentation of the encounter.

On the tape, Halt’s voice conveys genuine surprise and concern. He describes lights that blink, move, and seem to be under intelligent control. He notes the elevated radiation readings. He observes the object as it moves through the forest.

The Halt Tape is among the most significant pieces of evidence in ufology: a senior military officer, on active duty, recording his encounter with an unidentified craft.

Emerging Testimony

Several witnesses have begun speaking to researchers, though most remain reluctant to go on record publicly. Career concerns and official discouragement have kept many silent.

Those who have spoken describe:

• A structured, metallic craft observed at close range
• Physical traces left at landing sites
• Radiation readings significantly above background levels
• The craft demonstrating capabilities far beyond known technology

One witness, speaking anonymously, told a researcher: “We were told it didn’t happen. We were told we’d misidentified the lighthouse. But we were trained observers. We know what we saw, and it wasn’t a lighthouse.”

The Pattern

What emerges from the witness accounts is a consistent picture:

• Multiple witnesses observed unusual lights in the forest on multiple nights
• At least one structured craft was observed at close range
• Physical traces were left at the landing site
• Radiation readings were elevated
• The craft displayed capabilities far beyond any known technology

The witnesses are military personnel, trained observers, with nothing to gain and much to lose from their testimony.

Obstacles to Truth

Why do the Rendlesham witnesses face such difficulty in speaking out?

Official channels have proven unreceptive. Witnesses who reported through proper chains of command found their reports dismissed or ignored.

Career pressures discourage public statements. Military personnel who speak about UFO encounters risk professional consequences.

Yet the story refuses to die. Too many people witnessed too much. The Halt Tape exists. The memorandum exists. The physical evidence was documented.

Conclusion

Two years after Rendlesham, the official story remains unchanged: nothing happened. But the witnesses tell a different story. They saw something extraordinary in that forest. They documented it. They reported it through proper channels.

And now, slowly, they are speaking to researchers and investigators, hoping that the truth will eventually emerge.

Rendlesham is not a closed case. It is an ongoing investigation, with witnesses who refuse to be silenced.

The forest keeps its secrets. But the men who were there remember what they saw.

Readers with connections to Rendlesham witnesses are invited to contact our research department.