The date is late December, 1980, and US military forces have been invited to Britain on behalf
of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
After the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan the year before, all of NATO is on edge and
US troop presence in Europe has been increased as a precaution.
The US Air Force and the Royal Air Force both operate two air bases known as Woodbridge
and Bentwaters, home to several squadrons of fighters, bombers, and unknown to the public,
a small stockpile of American nuclear weapons meant to be employed against the Soviet Union
in case of war.
Strange lights have been reported in the sky by both military and civilian personnel over
the preceding few weeks, but nobody has paid much attention to them, being explained away
as military aircraft or simple meteors.
Deputy base commander Colonel Charles Halt however has been witness to these objects,
and is troubled by his, or any of his staff's, inability to explain their presence.
He resolves to investigate the phenomenon if an opportunity ever presents itself.
He would not have to wait long.
On the night of December 26th, US Air Force security police notice strange lights in the
forest outside the small air base.
The lights seem to fluctuate as they move through the treetops, and the airmen fear
that an aircraft has suffered some form of malfunction.
They radio for permission to investigate the site, which is off base and technically outside
of their jurisdiction as American security police.
Nonetheless, fearing a serious emergency with a military or civilian aircraft, the airmen
are given permission.
Four security policemen thus set off into the forest to investigate, though one of them
is convinced that there has been no crash, as he believes he saw the lights actually
land safely on the forest floor.
This security policeman, staff Sergeant Bud Stefens refuses to leave the base perimeter
and investigate the site, terrified by what he believes he had seen.
Airman First Class Cabansag, Staff Sergeant Jim Penniston, and Airman First Class John
Burroughs thus drive into the forest alone.
It's not long before they spot a bright, shining light coming through the trees.
They attempt to follow it with their vehicle but are unable due to the difficult terrain,
and are forced to proceed on foot.
As they move closer to the mysterious light though, their radios begin to malfunction,
so Sergeant Penniston orders Airman Cabasang to remain by the vehicle where the radios
are unaffected so he can relay back to central security control if need be.
The two airmen notice that animals on a nearby farm seem to be in a highly agitated state,
further setting the men on edge as they continue forward through the thick brush.
Radio comms even back to Cabasang, barely a hundred meters away, completely fail, and
Sergeant Penniston orders Airman Burroughs to head back to the tree line so he can maintain
a radio link back to Cabasang.
Burroughs however is so afraid that he refuses to leave Sergeant Penniston's company, and
the two continue on together.
Now just fifty meters away, the men get a look at the source of the light.
It's a metallic object, glowing brightly and causing the air to be charged with electricity.
The men's hairs start to stand on end as they approach even closer, making out more details
of the luminous object.
Despite the light, the skin of the craft seems to be black and metallic, and is triangular
in shape measuring three meters in width and two in height, roughly the size of a tank.
White light seems to be emitted from both the top and bottom, with flashing blue and
red lights along the side of it.
Sergeant Penniston uses a camera he has brought with him to snap photos of the object, and
notices that there seems to be no seams, rivets, or other signs of a manufactured origin- it's
as if the entire craft was made out of one solid piece of metal.
Touching the object with his hand, he's surprised to find it warm, and as he slides his hand
along the smooth metal, discovers a series of raised symbols etched along the left side.
As he moves his hand along the symbols though, something incredible happens.
The craft emits a blinding white light, causing the men to stumble backwards.
Sergeant Penniston is so afraid the craft is going to explode, that he ducks for cover
behind a thick oak tree.
Suddenly, the craft is completely engulfed in white light and lifts up off the ground,
quickly shooting through the trees and up into the night sky.
The men immediately report back to base and are told that they have misidentified some
natural phenomenon.
Penniston however has kept detailed notes of the entire encounter in his logbook, which
he presents at a debriefing.
The men are told simply to forget what they think they saw.
The photos taken are confiscated and never seen again.
Base Deputy Commander Colonel Charles Halt hears about the UFO when he returns to base
the following morning.
He orders Airman Casabang to report to his office and debriefs him personally, but with
no further evidence the case remains a curiosity and nothing more.
Until just 24 hours later.
Colonel Halt is at a party attended to by both British and American officers when he
receives a call- the UFO is back.
Halt wastes no time, and immediately leaves the party, assembling a patrol to investigate
the sighted craft once more and hopefully debunk it.
Upon entering the forest, Halt and his men discover that other patrols have already arrived,
but are experiencing difficulties with the electronics in their patrol vehicles and their
radios.
Nobody has seen the exact whereabouts of the craft however, so Halt takes his team towards
the original landing location from two nights ago.
As they arrive, they spot a glowing red object moving through the forest ahead of them.
Halt, who is carrying a mini tape recorder, begins making notes as he observes
the craft.
As the men investigate the light in the distance, they notice that the farm animals nearby which
had been going crazy, seem to have quieted down, as if something was terrifying them
into silence.
Undaunted, the men push on and run straight into a flashing red light directly ahead of
them.
The men spot the light moving slowly towards them and incredibly spitting off what appear
to be chunks of molten metal as the light moves.
Undaunted, the American airmen move towards the light again.
Colonel Halt and his men move towards the light, and to conserve tape the Colonel stops
recording.
The men push through the woods and cross a small creek, when incredibly, they spot not
just one, but multiple lights.
As the men watch, they suddenly spot numerous lights, almost as if they have been lured
into the midst of their own personal light show.
Incredibly, one of the craft seems to emit a beam of light that lights the ground a few
dozen meters in front of the men.
On the recording the other men with Colonel Halt can be heard excitedly cursing and muttering
in fear when the Colonel stops the tape again.
By now, he has had enough and believes he and his men may be in danger, so he orders
them to return to the base.
Incredibly, the lights continue to put on their lightshow, with one even flying over
the airbase and being spotted by the Colonel and his men beaming a light down to an unspecified
location on the base.
Shortly after the incident, the British Ministry of Defense and the United States Office of
Special Investigations conducted an investigation into the incident, declaring that there existed
nothing of any notable concern that had occurred that night.
Many, including Colonel Halt himself, believe that the governments of the United States
and Great Britain covered up the incident and suppressed much of the evidence, though
the Colonel's own recording was kept safe and released to the public in the 2000s.
Much of the physical evidence, such as indentations at the landing site and radiation counts recorded
by Colonel Halt and his team would be explained away as being nothing more than rabbit burrows
or normal background radiation spikes.
However, if we are to believe Colonel Halt's version of events, then this might be nothing
more than disinformation meant to silence any discussion about the incident, or to at
least ruin the credibility of the witnesses.
In the end, the best evidence we have is the Colonel's tape itself, and it's clear on the
tape that whatever happened that night, a half-dozen American airmen, and a deputy commander
of an American air base, all believed that they were truly witnessing physical phenomenon
taking place before their very eyes.
Whether it was alien or not, or perhaps simply a mass delusion, we may never know.
Wanna see more evidence of military encounters with extraterrestrials?
Check out Actual Video of US Military Intercepting UFOs, or check out this other video instead!