Rendlesham Forest UFO case —
the landing marks

This photograph, taken by Master Sergeant Ray Gulyas and unearthed by researcher Georgina Bruni, shows PC Brian Cresswell of Suffolk Police examining a triangle of marks with Capt. Mike Verrano in Rendlesham Forest after daybreak on the morning of 1980 December 26, just hours after the famous UFO encounter by Jim Penniston, John Burroughs, and Ed Cabansag. The three marks had been interpreted as landing marks and each was identified with a stick on its outside. The rightmost stick is difficult to see but is in fact next to Verrano’s leg; a smaller mark near the centre of the picture is sometimes wrongly identified as one of the landing marks. North is to the left. Photographs of two of the marks taken on the same occasion can be seen on this page, compared with normal rabbit diggings in the soil.

The triangle is approximately 3 metres across at its widest. It is difficult to imagine how something this large could have manoeuvred between the trees as is claimed. Of course, we cannot tell from this photograph whether these were the only three such marks in this area or whether there were others that were ignored because they did not fit with the big triangle.

Daylight visible between the trees in the background confirms that this site was within a hundred yards or so of the eastern forest edge (for an aerial map of the location, see here). This is the site that was investigated by the deputy base commander, Col Charles Halt, two nights later when the UFO was seen again.

Content last revised: 2021 May

© Ian Ridpath. All rights reserved