Rendlesham Forest UFO case
The Halt memo
ON OTHER PAGES
This is the text of the single-page memo written by Lt. Col. Halt to the UK’s Ministry of Defence. It was on official US Air Force headed notepaper but was
not classified in any way. The memo was released under the US Freedom of Information Act in June 1983 by the US Air Force to Robert Todd of the pressure group Citizens Against UFO
Secrecy (CAUS). Note that the USAF had thrown out their own copy, evidently
regarding it as of no further interest, and this copy actually came from the
British MoD. The memo was dated 13 January 1981, over a fortnight after the
events that are described had happened, and headed Unexplained Lights. The
items in parentheses are all Halt’s:
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1. Early in the morning of 27 Dec 80 (approximately 0300L) two USAF security police
patrolmen saw unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge. Thinking
an aircraft might have crashed or been forced down, they called for permission
to go outside the gate to investigate. The on-duty flight chief responded and
allowed three patrolmen to proceed on foot. The individuals reported seeing a
strange glowing object in the forest. The object was described as being
metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, approximately two to three
meters across the base and approximately two meters high. It illuminated the
entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on
top and a bank(s) of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on
legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it maneuvered through the trees
and disappeared. At this time the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy.
The object was briefly sighted approximately an hour later near the back gate.
2. The next day, three depressions 1.5 inches deep and 7 inches in diameter were
found where the object had been sighted on the ground. The following night (29
Dec 80) the area was checked for radiation. Beta/gamma readings of 0.1
milliroentgens were recorded with peak readings in the three depressions and
near the center of the triangle formed by the depressions. A nearby tree had
moderate (0.05–0.07) readings on the side of the tree toward the depressions.
3. 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. Immediately
thereafter, three star-like objects were noticed in the sky, two objects to the
north and one to the south, all of which were about 10 degrees off the horizon.
The objects moved rapidly in sharp, angular movements and displayed red, green
and blue lights. The objects to the north appeared to be elliptical through an
8-12 power lens. They then turned to full circles. The objects to the north
remained in the sky for an hour or more. The object to the south was visible
for two or three hours and beamed down a stream of light from time to time.
Numerous individuals, including the undersigned, witnessed the activities in
paragraphs 2 and 3.
(Signed)
Charles I. Halt, Lt Col, USAF
Deputy Base Commander
POSTSCRIPT: In 2010 Dr David Clarke revealed the previously undisclosed background to the Halt memo and the reaction to it at the MoD. Clarke interviewed Halt’s boss Col Conrad, the UK base commander Donald Moreland, and Simon Weeden who
received the memo at the MoD UFO desk. The interviews confirm that the MoD made
only a cursory investigation, not even interviewing the witnesses, and regarded
the incident as of little importance. No further official report was made, or
action taken, by the US or UK authorities beyond this memo. Halt has since
claimed otherwise but it is clear that he was not in a position to know.
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