1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:23,800 MUSIC 2 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,280 Every year, hundreds of unidentified flying objects, UFOs, 3 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,600 are reported over the British Isles. 4 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:35,880 Most of them can be explained, but about one in ten defy the investigators. 5 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,280 Witnesses make astonishing claims of their close encounters, 6 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:41,880 of bizarre lights darting round the sky, 7 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,520 communication with other forms of intelligence, 8 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,680 even of being abducted by aliens. 9 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,840 But none is more remarkable than the story we're going to tell tonight. 10 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,760 It resulted in inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,600 and questions in Parliament. 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,320 It involved senior American Air Force personnel 13 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,480 and a former Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Defense. 14 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,640 The witnesses and the evidence they gathered are impossible to ignore. 15 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,840 This is the first time all those directly involved have told their story, 16 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,320 and we've reconstructed what they describe. 17 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:18,160 American airmen stationed in Britain tell of events that would change their lives. 18 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,640 ROAR 19 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,960 I came to Britain from a tour in the Pentagon, 20 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:26,880 having previously served in the Far East and, of course, in Vietnam, 21 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,120 like many other people, and I kind of expected it to be a somewhat of a quiet tour. 22 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,120 ROAR 23 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,120 I was at the height of the Cold War, 24 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,280 but we weren't directly involved like the bases in Europe. 25 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,040 ROAR 26 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,480 It was very laid back, not much happened, 27 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,520 and you never expected much to happen, especially at Christmas time. 28 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:53,000 Bent waters and Woodbridge, twin military air bases in East Anglia. 29 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,560 The three miles that divide them are filled by a Rendlesham Forest. 30 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,440 ROAR 31 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,800 Until last year, the bases were occupied by the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:05,880 of the United States Air Force. 33 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:07,920 Although a normally uneventful assignment, 34 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,160 they formed a strategic part of Western Europe's defenses. 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,600 As such, they had top security status. 36 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,520 Nothing could get in or out without being detected. 37 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:18,320 ROAR 38 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,880 An RAF radar station nearby. 39 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:26,080 During the monitoring of a night-flying exercise, a strange object was picked up. 40 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,360 We didn't have the faintest idea where it was. 41 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,200 We checked through the air traffic agencies. 42 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,800 There should have been nothing in that area at the time. 43 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,800 Colin, have a look at this. 44 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,000 It's just completely static. It's just hovering there. 45 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,880 The only thing we could do was send the jet aircraft in to find out where it was. 46 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:47,360 ROAR 47 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,520 Bravo 60, Bravo 60. 48 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,560 We have unidentified traffic in your area. 49 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,560 Your new target is 270 degrees, 50 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:01,320 range 10 miles, indicating 5,000 feet over. 51 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:02,720 Thanks, Richard. 52 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:03,720 Bye. 53 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,720 ROAR 54 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:08,840 They got to within about a quarter of a mile, 55 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,000 and the pilots suddenly started reporting that they could see 56 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,160 a very bright light in the sky in front of them. 57 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,440 And it's extremely bright lights. 58 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,320 It's moving away. Target is following us. 59 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:21,800 Look at that thing go. 60 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,600 Bravo 60, target is still in front of you. 61 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,480 It's going straight up. Target going straight up. Over. 62 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,600 It was stationary on the screen. 63 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:35,040 And then, in seconds, it moved off at a fantastic rate of speed. 64 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:40,640 Within a space of five minutes, it was reaching 65 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,840 90,000 feet and higher. 66 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,560 And we lost it off the top end of the radar scope. 67 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,600 Target's accelerating too far. We can't keep up with it. 68 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:53,040 We're disengaging. 69 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,480 Radar operators were mystified. 70 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,240 There's nothing we have in this day 71 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,840 that can perform those kind of maneuvers. 72 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,680 The pilots wouldn't be able to take it. 73 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,200 You tell me what it was. 74 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,840 Back on Woodbridge Base near the East Gate, 75 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,240 Airman John Burroughs was on security patrol with a colleague. 76 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,600 Stop the car. 77 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:15,360 Look at that. 78 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,720 Do you see that in the woods? 79 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,240 There were strange lights out in the forest. 80 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,640 To me, it almost looked like Christmas lights at first, 81 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:24,320 a Christmas display. 82 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,640 I'll open the gate. 83 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:27,920 At that point, we looked at each other 84 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,400 and we decided that we better go out and take a closer look 85 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,760 because we weren't sure what we were dealing with. 86 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:37,680 What we were looking at wasn't real. 87 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,280 Those are no Christmas lights. 88 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:41,360 Come on, let's get out of here. 89 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:42,680 Airman Burroughs and his colleague 90 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:44,160 raced back to the gatehouse, 91 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,680 where he contacted the security controller. 92 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:57,160 Hi, this is Burroughs here. 93 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,920 I'm out at the East Gate. 94 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:01,520 We've got a problem here. 95 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,160 He had a lot of trouble believing what I was telling him 96 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:05,720 because it was Christmas 97 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,360 and I played a lot of jokes on him before. 98 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,360 I'm serious. This is not a joke. 99 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,360 There's something out there. 100 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,560 Eventually persuaded by the Airman's tone, 101 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,360 the controller contacted Sergeant Jim Peniston. 102 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,120 Roger control, we're on our way over. 103 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:23,920 We received a call from the control center 104 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:25,560 to go on down to the East Gate 105 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:27,760 and contact John Burroughs. 106 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,600 And I asked him what was the nature of the problem down there 107 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,960 and they said that they'd rather not tell me 108 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:33,960 or they'd rather have me go down there 109 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,280 and talk to the patrolman on scene. 110 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:38,080 What is that? 111 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,480 I don't know and I don't want to know. 112 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,200 Did you hear an explosion, John? 113 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,400 It didn't crash. It landed. 114 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,840 The first thing that came to mind is the aircraft crash. 115 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:53,400 I've had at least 30 or 40 crashes that I have been to 116 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,560 at that point in time 117 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:59,200 and that's definitely what I thought it was. 118 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,200 I'm going to contact control. 119 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,600 Sergeant Peniston at the East Gate. 120 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,040 I've got a possible aircraft down just beyond the perimeter. 121 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,000 They notified me that they were tracking 122 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,800 undidunified bogey about 15 minutes ago 123 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,400 and they confirmed it with contact with Eastern radar 124 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,400 and Heathrow in London. 125 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,400 And at the approximate location, about five miles off, 126 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,400 basically they lost contact with it. 127 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,080 Well, they registered it. They don't know what it is either. 128 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,040 So a plane or a want? 129 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:31,960 It was Christmas time 130 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,680 and there was no scheduled flying for that night. 131 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,800 I'd heard rumors that it possibly could have been 132 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,800 a British exercise with ships and planes out at sea. 133 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,800 Whatever it was, Sergeant Peniston knew they had to go and find out. 134 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,800 I got permission to proceed off base to investigate. 135 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:50,320 Following military rules, 136 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,320 the Americans had to leave their weapons behind. 137 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,800 One part of me wanted to go ahead and go out there 138 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:57,520 and figure out what we were dealing with 139 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,520 and the other part of me was saying, 140 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:00,800 no, you don't need to go out there. 141 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,120 Just go ahead, stay back at the gate where it's safe 142 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,320 and you don't have to worry about what's going on. 143 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,320 The men went through the forest towards the lights. 144 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:10,320 This is far as we go. 145 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,320 It's not on foot now. 146 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,320 I started to see a defined shape 147 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,320 and at that point, when I realized it wasn't an aircraft crash, 148 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,320 a fire or anything of that sort, 149 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,320 the air was filled with electricity 150 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:30,320 that could feel it on your skin as we approached the object. 151 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,320 You felt like you were moving in slow motion. 152 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,320 Your hair on the back of your head was standing up. 153 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,320 You felt like you had very little control over your body. 154 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,320 Then they saw it. 155 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,320 I wish I had my weapon because I felt totally defenseless. 156 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:49,320 It was about the size of a tank. 157 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,320 It was triangular in shape. 158 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:53,320 Underneath the craft was a high, 159 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,320 intensely white light emulating out of it 160 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,320 and it was bordered by red and blue light and alternating. 161 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:03,320 When nothing happened, 162 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,320 the men deciding the object wasn't hostile 163 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,320 got up to take a closer look. 164 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,320 On the upper left side of the craft was an inscription 165 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:15,320 measured six inches high of symbols. 166 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,320 They looked familiar but I couldn't ascertain why. 167 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,320 The Americans watched for about 20 minutes. 168 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,320 Slowly started moving back, 169 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:25,320 weaving in around the trees. 170 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,320 Got about 40 feet away, then it raised up into the air 171 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,320 and it shot off as fast as you could blink. 172 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,320 On their return to the air base, 173 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,320 the men were called in by the officer in charge. 174 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,320 Well, what happened out there last night? 175 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,320 We know radar saw something. 176 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,320 Now I want you to tell me in your words exactly what you saw. 177 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,320 Well, sir, Burroughs was the first to see. 178 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:49,320 As we were standing there reporting in, 179 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,320 then it hit me and I realized, 180 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,320 what in the world am I doing here standing in front of my lieutenant 181 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,320 getting ready to explain this situation that I just observed. 182 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,320 I thought, there goes the career, Jim. 183 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,320 Had markings on the gate. 184 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,320 Gentlemen, he says, I need to go over to the woods, 185 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,320 he says, and take a look at the area in daylight 186 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:10,320 to see if you can find any more physical evidence. 187 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,320 Anything. 188 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,320 We found branches on the ground. 189 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,320 We found indentations in the ground. 190 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,320 The local Suffolk police went out too. 191 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:22,320 An officer found the indentations but reported 192 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,320 they'd been caused by animals burrowing. 193 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,320 I asked him why and he says because he's not going to put anything 194 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,320 other than that in his report. 195 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,320 We found that just totally absurd. 196 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:38,320 The ground was frozen and it was just impossible for that to happen. 197 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:43,320 Then the airmen remembered that the object they'd seen was triangular. 198 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,320 They measured the distance between the indentations 199 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,320 and discovered that they formed a perfect triangle. 200 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,320 The activities soon came to the attention of the deputy base commander, 201 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,320 Lieutenant Colonel Charles Holt. 202 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:57,320 Well, it's the aliens I feel sorry for. 203 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,320 I wouldn't want a close encounter of any kind with burrows. 204 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:01,320 Who's been having close encounters? 205 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:05,320 Sir, well, I guess you could say we were having a few Christmas festivities. 206 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,320 Oh, yeah? 207 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,320 Well, Burrows and Peniston said they were out chasing a UFO in the forest. 208 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:12,320 Are you serious? 209 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:13,320 Well, that's what they said. 210 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,320 Has anybody confirmed it wasn't an aircraft? 211 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,320 Nothing I know of. 212 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,320 Whatever they saw, I want it in the log. 213 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:21,320 Okay. 214 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,320 I personally knew the individuals that have reported it. 215 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,320 I knew there were very credible people. 216 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:26,320 I was sure something had happened. 217 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:27,320 It was obviously something. 218 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,320 I certainly wasn't convinced it was a UFO, but I didn't know what it was. 219 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,320 There was only one way to find out. 220 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,320 Huge portable floodlights known as light holes were rigged in the forest, 221 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,320 ready for anything which might appear the next night. 222 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:44,320 But as darkness fell, the light holes began to malfunction. 223 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,320 Lieutenant Colonel Holt was interrupted at a Christmas dinner. 224 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,320 The duty flight attendant came in, and he was quite shaken, 225 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,320 and insisted upon speaking myself and the base commander 226 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,320 about a matter of utmost urgency. 227 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,320 He said, it's back. 228 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:00,320 And I said, what's back? 229 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,320 And he said, the UFO is back. 230 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:04,320 What's back? 231 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,320 I assembled a small team of experts, 232 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:11,320 and we set off in the forest really to debunk it. 233 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,320 About 30 men followed the lights into the forest, 234 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,320 armed with special equipment, including a night vision scope, 235 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,320 Geiger counter, and a tape recorder. 236 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:22,320 Right, this way. 237 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,320 I'm certainly glad we made the tape, 238 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:25,320 because if we hadn't made the tape, 239 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,320 even I would have trouble believing what happened that night. 240 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,320 But would anyone else believe it? 241 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:32,320 Right, this way. 242 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,320 It appears that he may be moving a little bit this way. 243 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:40,320 It's brighter than it has been. 244 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,320 It's coming this way. 245 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:44,320 It is definitely coming this way. 246 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,320 I knew there was something there. 247 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,320 There had to be something there. 248 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,320 But I also was firmly convinced there was a logical explanation 249 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,320 for what was going on. 250 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,320 Portable floodlights, known as light holes, 251 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:03,320 positioned in the forest, mysteriously refused to work. 252 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,320 It's very unusual to have a problem with the light all. 253 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,320 That night, the light all wouldn't work, 254 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,320 even when they swapped that and got other ones from the base. 255 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,320 In addition, we had problems with our radios. 256 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,320 All three frequencies we were using were intermittent, 257 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,320 and did not work properly that night. 258 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,320 But other equipment was working, 259 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,320 a night vision scope, a Geiger counter, and a tape recorder. 260 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,320 The sound in this reconstruction is taken from the actual tape 261 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,320 they claim to have recorded that night. 262 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:30,320 There was no doubt about it. 263 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:32,320 There was some type of strange flash in the red light of here. 264 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:33,320 It's yellow. 265 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,320 I saw a yellow tint in it, too. 266 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,320 Weird. 267 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:39,320 It appears that he may be moving a little bit this way. 268 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,320 It's brighter than it has been. 269 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,320 It's coming this way. 270 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,320 It is definitely coming this way. 271 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,320 It pulsated as though it were an eye winking at you. 272 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:52,320 And around the edges, it appeared to have molten metal dripping off it, 273 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,320 just like falling to the ground. 274 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:56,320 But I didn't see any evidence of anything on the ground. 275 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:58,320 I just couldn't believe what I was saying. 276 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,320 None of us could. 277 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,320 Here I am a senior official that routinely denies this sort of thing 278 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,320 and diligently works to debunk them, 279 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,320 and I'm involved in the middle of something that I can't explain. 280 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:13,320 The Geiger counter was measuring levels 25 times normal background radiation. 281 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,320 It jumped up to 7 tenths. 282 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,320 7 tenths right there in the center? 283 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:18,320 Uh-huh. 284 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,320 We're getting very positive readings. 285 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,320 You're getting readings on the tree you're taking samples from? 286 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,320 We're clicks, max. 287 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:25,320 That's the strongest point on the tree? 288 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:26,320 Yes, sir. 289 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,320 The night vision scope showed strange readings, too. 290 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,320 We're picking up each reflection off the trees. 291 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,320 Working directly overhead, 292 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,320 one can see an opening in the trees, 293 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:40,320 plus some freshly broken pine branches underground underneath. 294 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,320 Looks like someone came off about 15 to 20 feet up. 295 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,320 The men stayed in pursuit through the woods for six hours. 296 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,320 The object suddenly exploded, 297 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,320 a silent explosion, 298 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,320 and broke into three to five white objects and rapidly disappeared. 299 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:54,320 A mile away, 300 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,320 Elman John Burroughs was with the broken down light holds. 301 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,320 All of a sudden, out of the distance, 302 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,320 a blue light streaked past us. 303 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,320 Passing the light off, they came on. 304 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,320 They passed through the open window on the truck, 305 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,320 going off into the distance, and the light all went out. 306 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,320 As we moved out of the forest, 307 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,320 we noticed three objects in the sky. 308 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,320 The objects in the sky were moving about. 309 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,320 Sharp, angular movements, very high speed. 310 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:21,320 This is it. 311 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,320 It's looking for something. 312 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,320 I kept getting on the radio and calling the command post. 313 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,320 Thunder, this is Stopper. 314 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:29,320 Call Radar and ask them what they've got. 315 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:30,320 30 to go. 316 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,320 I wanted to know if they were finding anything on the radar scope. 317 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,320 One of the objects in the sky was sending down beams, 318 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,320 beams of light, beams of energy. 319 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:39,320 I'm not sure what they were. 320 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,320 But at the same time I could hear on the radio, 321 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,320 voices talking about the beams coming down on the base. 322 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,320 Then the beam shone straight at them. 323 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,320 At this stage, my skepticism was that the light was not there. 324 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:53,320 The light was not there. 325 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,320 The light was not there. 326 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:57,320 The light was not there. 327 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,320 At this stage, my skepticism had definitely disappeared. 328 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,320 I was really in awe. 329 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,320 Almost as rapidly as it appeared, it went. 330 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:11,320 An extraordinary story. 331 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,320 But what could be behind it? 332 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,320 Some of what the airman saw can be explained, 333 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,320 astronomers say, by a rare coincidence of events 334 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,320 in the sky that night. 335 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:26,320 One of these was the re-entry of a Russian rocket. 336 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,320 This came in and burnt up in the Earth's atmosphere. 337 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,320 It was seen by thousands of eyewitnesses 338 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:34,320 all over South-Eastern England. 339 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,320 And the second was a brilliant natural fireball, 340 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,320 a piece of interplanetary rock burning up in the atmosphere. 341 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:44,320 Another astronomer thinks further confusion was caused 342 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,320 by a third factor, a lighthouse on the nearby coast. 343 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,320 Although it's six miles away, it only looks as though 344 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,320 it's a few hundred yards away in between the trees. 345 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,320 And as the airman moved around, 346 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,320 the lighthouse beam, too, would have appeared to move 347 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,320 in between the trees and retreated in front of them 348 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,320 as they moved forward, which is exactly the way they described it. 349 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,320 That theory was backed up when the tape was played 350 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:06,320 against the flashing of the lighthouse. 351 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,320 Right on misposition here, straight ahead in between the tree. 352 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,320 There it is again. 353 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,320 Watch. 354 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,320 Straight ahead off my flash, like this. 355 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,320 There it is. I see it, too. 356 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,320 The two matched, but the Americans were well aware of the lighthouse 357 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,320 and say that wasn't what they saw. 358 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:24,320 A lighthouse doesn't move through the forest. 359 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,320 A lighthouse doesn't go up and down, doesn't explode, 360 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,320 doesn't change shape, size, doesn't send down beams of light 361 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,320 from the sky. 362 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,320 The Rendlesham Forest encounters became the talk of the airbase. 363 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,320 Lieutenant Colonel Holt knew he had to act. 364 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,320 I really didn't know quite how to handle it. 365 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,320 I reported it to my superior, and I was quite concerned, 366 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,320 to be honest with you, what his reaction would be. 367 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,320 But he was very supportive. 368 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,320 He was told to write a memo to the British Ministry of Defence. 369 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,320 Including the underside. 370 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,320 I sent the memo, but I never heard. 371 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,320 I kept checking and asking, but I never got a response. 372 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,320 But other Ammons say secret investigations were taking place. 373 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,320 After the incident happened, there seemed to be 374 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,320 some strange activity going on in the base. 375 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,320 I'm really not sure what it was, but it wasn't normal activity. 376 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:19,320 At that time, we noticed that there was many unscheduled flights coming in. 377 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:22,320 They told me that I was supposed to keep it quiet 378 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,320 and not to take the issue any farther. 379 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:28,320 According to a former US military intelligence officer, 380 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:30,320 the flights were ordered by his colleagues. 381 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:35,320 There's a total blackout of any information leaving the base. 382 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,320 Even the senior officials on the base were not told 383 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,320 about these flights coming in and leaving. 384 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:46,320 These flights contained teams of specialists. 385 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,320 They were together specific data in their fields of expertise. 386 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,320 All of that information then was to be sent to Washington, D.C. 387 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,320 where it would be assessed and accumulated 388 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,320 in a finalized, highly classified report. 389 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,320 Whatever conclusions may have been reached, 390 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:05,320 Lieutenant Colonel Holt wasn't told. 391 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,320 He's mystified as to why, as a senior officer, 392 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,320 his report never even received a reply. 393 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,320 To this day, I'm very puzzled why nobody ever came back 394 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,320 and asked for additional information, asked questions, 395 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,320 or even interviewed me. It doesn't really add up. 396 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,320 But news of the sightings began to leak out. 397 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:25,320 Local investigators began to take matters into their own hands. 398 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,320 We asked the local people if they'd heard anything and seen anything. 399 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:34,320 And most of the local people said that they'd seen the lights over the forest. 400 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,320 A few days later, though, they seemed less forthcoming. 401 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:41,320 They'd all been told to keep quiet. 402 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,320 And two of the local people who lived near the air base 403 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:49,320 told us originally what they'd seen from their bedroom window. 404 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,320 And then when we went back, they'd got M.O.D., 405 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,320 property, private, keep out, and they'd got barriers around the house. 406 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,320 The local investigators managed to get a copy from the U.S. government 407 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:03,320 of the Deputy Commander's memo. 408 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,320 In Britain, it prompted a question in Parliament. 409 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,320 I have seen the memorandum to which my honorable friend refers. 410 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,320 I'm ready to give information about any such reported sightings 411 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,320 that are found to be a matter of concern from a defense standpoint. 412 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:19,320 But there have been none to date. 413 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:25,320 The case intrigued Lord Hill Norton, 414 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,320 a former chief of staff at the Ministry of Defense. 415 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,320 One can't help feeling that something is being concealed. 416 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:37,320 Either the Americans and indeed the deputy base commander 417 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:42,320 were hallucinating, or they believed that something had landed there 418 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,320 and they had taken photographs and records of it. 419 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:50,320 And in either event, it must be of interest to the defense of the United Kingdom. 420 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:54,320 Sergeant Jim Peniston is not only convinced by what he saw then. 421 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,320 A cover-up could explain what he says happened after he left the U.S. Air Force. 422 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,320 As time went by, a year or two, 423 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:06,320 I had noticed that my mail was being tampered with, opened and resealed. 424 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:12,320 And we also got to the one point where we found a listening device within my home. 425 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,320 Soon after the stories surrounding the Suffolk Air Base's surface, 426 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,320 a large swathe of Rendlesham Forest was cut down, 427 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,320 locals believed because of the radiation left behind. 428 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,320 When we asked why the trees were cleared so quickly, 429 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,320 we were told because of the traces that were left on them. 430 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,320 And we tried to find out who had taken the trees away. 431 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,320 We were told that they were just taken. 432 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,320 The air bases have gone too. 433 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,320 With the end of the Cold War, the Americans left. 434 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,320 But the mystery won't go away. 435 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:55,320 The ministry had doggedly denied that anything untoward occurred there, 436 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,320 and I simply don't believe it. 437 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:03,320 Therefore, somebody, I don't know who it is, is sitting on information which by now should be public. 438 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,320 If a secret report is in Washington, what could it contain? 439 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,320 The former intelligence officer claims he knows. 440 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:16,320 That finalized report concluded that real objects were seen, 441 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:22,320 that these objects were a result of a highly evolved advanced technology. 442 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:27,320 The technology was so advanced that we cannot to this day replicate it. 443 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,320 That there was an intelligence involved, 444 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,320 and that that intelligence did not originate on Earth. 445 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,320 And according to the radar operator who first saw an object, 446 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,320 it's far from being the only UFO incident. 447 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:49,320 These things are being picked up by radar operators throughout the whole world, 448 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,320 not just in Britain. 449 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:53,320 And we're not told what they are, 450 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,320 and we're not expected to ask questions about what they are. 451 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:03,320 The Ministry of Defence admits they have more than 8,000 cases of UFOs on file. 452 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,320 As for Lieutenant Colonel Charles Holt, 453 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,320 although he never heard any more about his UFO report, 454 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,320 it didn't as he feared damage his career. 455 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:17,320 Soon afterwards, he was promoted from deputy commander to commander of the air base. 456 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:22,320 Rather strange, you might think, if he'd been suspected of not telling the truth. 457 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,320 We're going under cover now, but see you again soon. Good night. 458 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:54,320 .