RAF Woodbridge was abandoned by the United States Air Force in 1992, the base was no longer needed, as was RAF Bentwaters. RAF Bentwaters was very close to RAF Woodbridge, so they were usually thought of as a single base complex. Some people called them the 'sisters bases' or 'twin bases' because of this. The USAF's time at the bases was eventful, there were various aircraft accidents and many of the latest aircraft had visited the bases (for example, the highly classified Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird) and apparently RAF Bentwaters housed nuclear weapons.
If you have ever been to this area of Suffolk, you may have heard about the UFO stories. Many of the stories you may hear could have been been exaggerated as they have been re-told, but a very real case lies behind this shroud of mystery. Some locals think the UFO story is akin to a ghost tale - nothing more than folklore, others are interested but see the events as being of little importance, some believe that the UFO story was created to act as a distraction from something dangerous, perhaps a nuclear weapon accident - there had been a near miss only a few decades earlier. On the other hand, some people believe that the UFOs seen were from another world!
Some people, myself included, think this area of Suffolk has a very strange feel to it. Perhaps, it is just the winding country roads or the old-looking thatched houses which attach a rather mystical atmosphere to the area - who knows? Although the UASF personnel at RAF Bentwaters were of as much importance to the Rendlesham Forest Incident as the men from RAF Woodbridge, the event actually began and ended in Rendlesham Forest, which is only metres from RAF Woodbridge's back perimeter fence.
Rendlesham Forest was grown in the 1940s, to act as a protective shield for the bases. The forest was damaged by the "Great Storm" of 1987 but since then all of the trees have been replanted and the forest looks normal, once again. Although it has changed significantly since the Rendlesham Forest Incident, which occurred over 26 years ago.
It was some time after midnight on the 25 December 1980. Christmas day was just ending, there was only a skeleton of staff on duty at the two bases and no aircraft were in the sky.
Airman First Class (A1C) John Burroughs - who was only 19 at the time - was stationed at RAF Woodbridge's back gate, commonly known as the East Gate. He was with Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Bud Steffens (then known as Bud Parker).
It was John Burroughs who first noticed the strange lights. They just appeared, hovering at about tree-top level, they seemed to be originating from the edge of Rendlesham Forest. Thinking that they had never seen lights like this before during their patrols, Burroughs and Steffens decided to take a closer look, especially as the lights seemed to be rather close to the base. John Burroughs describes the lights, "there were strange lights out in the forest. To me, it almost looked like Christmas lights at first, a Christmas display. At that point we looked at each other and we decided that we'd better go out and take a closer look because we weren't sure what we were dealing with. What we were looking at wasn't real." They left RAF Woodbridge through the Back gate ("East Gate") of RAF Woodbridge in their patrol vehicle. As they came along the long road past East Gate, leading to the edge of Rendlesham Forest, it became apparent to them that the lights were quite close, closer than they had originally suspected.
The lights reminded Burroughs of a Christmas lights display, they were flickering different colours, red; yellow and green. They drove a bit closer, as they did this a large white light (which appeared to be another part of the main object) moved along the forest, as if mirroring their movement. It seemed closer than ever. This startled them. Burroughs and Steffens returned quickly to the East Gate, they were going to ask for assistance.
When they returned, John Burroughs rang through to Sergeant McCabe, Burroughs used the guard shack's landline - it was safer this way, their conversation could not be intercepted by hand-held receivers. Sgt. Mccabe was on the other end of the line. Burroughs was having trouble explaining what they had just seen to him, and McCabe was having trouble believing it, "he had a lot of trouble believing what I was telling him."
McCabe asked to speak to Bud Steffens, he needed confirmation, Steffens confirmed everything that Burroughs had said, adding that the lights were still visible. McCabe decided the best thing to do would be to alert the bases Central Security Control - it sounded rather like a plane had crashed into the nearby forest. Staff Sergeant (SSgt), James W. Penniston was the on duty flight chief at RAF Woodbridge. He was eating a sandwich when he received a call from Sergeant John Coffey, who had spoken to Sgt. Mccabe.
Coffey refused to explain what was happening, he insisted that the men who were already at East Gate would explain the situation instead. "I received a call from the Control Centre to go on down to the east gate and contact John Burroughs. About 12:02 am - I remember that distinctly - I was dispatched to the East Gate, which was sometimes referred to as the back gate at Woodbridge. I asked them what was the nature of the problem down there and they said that they'd rather not tell me, they'd rather have me go down there and talk to the patrol man on the scene.", recalls Penniston.
Jim Penniston was driven to the East Gate by Edward Cabansag (pronounced Cavansac). On arriving at East Gate, John Burroughs and Bud Steffens explained to Jim Penniston what they had seen. "The first thing that came to mind was an aircraft crash. I've had at least 30 or 40 crashes that I had been to at that point in time and that's definitely what I thought it was." Jim Penniston could identify almost any type of aircraft which was around at the time, thinking logically it was really the only thing which could have crashed into the forest. Bud Steffens quickly pointed out, 'It didn't crash, it landed." It was also Christmas time, so there was no scheduled flying - it didn't make sense, what could have landed in the forest?
"Master Sgt. Chandler contacted the shift commander's office, and within a minute or so I got the go-ahead to proceed off base with two other security policemen. We were told to leave our weapons behind, so as to not violate the Status Forces Agreement with the British. I and Airman First Class John Burroughs and Ed Cabansag, also an Airman First Class, got into our Jeep and proceeded out the East Gate, then down a logging road adjacent to the perimeter", recalls Penniston.
Credit: lights-in-sky.blogspot.com
