The forest remembers.
On the cold nights of December 1980, lights descended into Rendlesham Forest and changed the lives of the men stationed at RAF Woodbridge forever. What began as a routine security patrol spiralled into one of the most debated UFO incidents in British history — complete with radiation readings, military tapes, frantic witness accounts, and a memo that the world wasn’t supposed to see.

In this episode of The Eclectic, we walk the forest paths in the dark, retracing the steps of Penniston, Burroughs, Cabansag and Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt. Was it an extraterrestrial encounter? A lighthouse illusion? A Cold War hoax? Or something stranger still?

Prepare for an episode of crackling tension, eerie detail, and the deep unsettling question that hangs over Rendlesham to this day:
What really came down in those trees?

Primary Documents & Official Sources:

• Lt. Col. Charles Halt, Halt Memo (13 January 1981), released via FOIA
• The Halt Audio Tape (18 minutes), available via MoD archives & Ian Ridpath
• Witness Statements:
• Airman 1st Class John Burroughs
• Staff Sgt. Jim Penniston
• Airman Edward Cabansag
• Master Sergeant J.D. Chandler
• Lieutenant Fred A. Buran

(Taken 2 January 1981)

Newspaper & Media Coverage:

• BBC News interviews with Halt and Rendlesham witnesses (multiple years)
• BBC Suffolk — Kevin Conde “hoax claim”
• Omni Magazine, 1983 article quoting Colonel Ted Conrad
• TV documentary interviews (Sci-Fi Channel, 2003)

Investigative Analysis:

• Ian Ridpath:
• “The Rendlesham Forest UFO Case”
• “The Halt Tape Analysis”
• “Orford Ness Lighthouse Correlation”
• Dr. David Clarke, British UFO researcher
• MoD Files (declassified, multiple documents referencing the incident)

Books & Extended Sources:

• Left at East Gate — Larry Warren & Peter Robbins
• You Can't Tell the People — Georgina Bruni
• The Rendlesham Forest UFO Mystery — Jenny Randles
• UFOs: The Definitive Casebook — David Clarke

Miscellaneous:

• Historical Orford Ness lighthouse timing data
• 15th-century cartographic references to Hy Brasil
• Interviews with forester Vince Thurkettle