Suffolk's UFO mysteries revealed

IT'S regarded by those with a penchant for the paranormal to be one of the most significant UFO sightings of modern times.

The Rendlesham Forest incident, or “Britain's Roswell,” as it has come to be known, has kept people guessing about the existence of little green men for nearly 30 years.

For the second time this year, the Ministry of Defence has disclosed previously classified files on sightings in the UK reported between 1981 and 1996.

In March we heard about boomerang-shaped objects seen from airport control towers and a woman's encounter with a Scandinavian-sounding “alien” in Norfolk.

Now, a new set of files may shed light on Britain's Roswell, as well as some other bizarre encounters.

The release is part of a three-year project between the MoD and The National Archives, aimed at opening up records to a worldwide audience.

The Rendlesham file reveals previously unseen letters between the MoD and members of the public and includes a memo from Lt Col Charles Halt (USAF deputy base commander), who was present during one of the sightings in December 1980.

File DEFE 24/1948 exposes more evidence surrounding Britain's best-known UFO incident, involving several sightings of lights in the forest outside the perimeter fence of RAF Woodbridge.

USAF personnel claimed a UFO had landed in the forest, leaving traces including markings on the ground and radiation.

The file also contains the MoD's final statement on the Rendlesham incident in a briefing for the House of Lords Defence Debate, along with a letter from a Chief of Defence Staff to Michael Heseltine, then Secretary of State for Defence, in which the incident was described as “a potential banana-skin” looming for the MoD.

Lord Hill-Norton, a member of what he described as the ``rather ineffective' House of Lords UFO Group, wrote to Mr Heseltine in May 1985 to express his concern over the ``puzzling and disquieting features' of the case.

Lt Col Halt wrote: “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 metres across the base and approximately two metres high.

“It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it manoeuvred through the trees and disappeared.”

The commander himself described witnessing three depressions in the ground the next day where the object had been sighted.

And later that night he was among several men who saw a “red sun-like light” through the trees which “moved about and pulsed.”

He said: “At one point it appeared to throw off glowing particles and then broke into five separate white objects and then disappeared.”

Lord Hill-Norton said if Lt Col Halt's report was accurate “there is evidence that British airspace and territory are vulnerable to unwarranted intrusion to a disturbing degree.”

He added that if the report was to be dismissed “then we have evidence - no less disturbing, I suggest - that a sizeable number of USAF personnel at an important base in British territory are capable of serious misperception, the consequence of which might be grave in military terms.”

A note on the MoD's final position on the incident, says the USAF report was “carefully examined” and the conclusion was that there was “no Defence interest” and “no evidence of anything having intruded into British airspace.”

The news comes as another UFO video captured in the Suffolk skies can be revealed today.

Nick Purple-Beard of Felixstowe said he saw the lights over Ravenswood last Sunday.

He said: “We thought it was a plane to start with, but then I thought planes don't actually fly into Ipswich. It was following the River Orwell.”

He said he saw four lights in the space of about 15 minutes and managed to start videoing when the third one appeared.

Mr Purple-Beard added: “A plane did fly over-head and you could hear that. It can be seen in the video. But there was no sound from any of the lights, it was really weird.”

- The latest instalment of UFO files is available to download for free for a month from The National Archives dedicated website - follow the link above.

More revelations from the MoD files released today:

- Two men returning home from an evening out in Staffordshire were confronted by a lemon-headed alien who appeared from under a hovering UFO.

- More than 30 sightings of bright lights were reported over central England in the space of just six hours in March 1993 - it was later discovered that most of the sightings were caused by a Russian rocket re-entering the earth's atmosphere.

- The Belgian Air Force scrambled F-16 fighters to intercept UFOs reported by police officers and members of the public in March 1990 - the jets obtained 'lock-ons' with their radars, but could not explain what caused the phenomena.

- A young man returning home near Widnes ran off after seeing a UFO over a cemetery in July, 1996. He reported beams of light projecting onto the ground, a wailing noise and smoke rising from the ground.

Investigators discovered four smouldering railway sleepers at the scene - one with a hole burnt through it and still smouldering.

- Dozens of sightings of a brightly illuminated oval object were reported over London in 1993 - the lights were actually caused by a Virgin airship.

The last few months have seen a rash of UFO sightings in Suffolk - a county renowned for paranormal goings on:

- Last week an Ipswich pensioner reported seeing a UFO hovering above the Woodbridge Road area of the town several times in the space of around six weeks ago.

Frank Pearsons, 89, of Bolton Lane, was adamant the orange-coloured disc was out of this world.

“I don't think British technology could produce anything like that,” he said. “Somebody suggested to me it could be a satellite but it would not behave in that way and it wouldn't be the bright orange colour.”

- In July an Ipswich couple had a close encounter when they spotted a mystifying orange light in the sky above their Frobisher Road home.

Cathy Calthorpe was putting her children to bed when her partner Chris Betts screamed for her to join him at the window.

She rushed to his side and saw a perfect formation of a geometric shape with five bright orange lights.

- Psychic healers Tom and Carol Spencer claimed to have seen 30 bright orange UFOs in convoy above Thetford.

- Gary Clark, of Fisk Farm, near Badingham, said he and wife Beverley saw a “tremendous ball of fire” flying above the sea at Sizewell beach.

- Evening Star and EADT photographer Simon Parker was driving home through Lower Hacheston when he also saw a “big ball of fiery orange light in the sky”.

- David Galvan, of High Street, Wickham Market, was checking the garden for hedgehogs when he saw a large red light moving across the sky.

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