Talk:Rendlesham Forest incident

Dr Fil’s latest edits (August 2013)
I have reworded the intro in the light of Dr Fil’s latest criticisms. My explanations are as follows: 1, As far as I am aware it was not an atomic bomber base in 1980 - it was a fighter wing. 2, The fact that the MoD files are consistent with earlier MoD statements is not a matter of opinion, it is clear fact. 3, “Col Halt and others continue to disagree...”. Well of course they do, but this is weasel waffle that attempts to smokescreen the criticism of the case and adds nothing factual. And “principles” should have been “principals”.

Deputy commander Halt at Bentwaters now has statements from radar operators

 * Rendlesham Forest UFO sighting 'new evidence' claim. 13 July 2015. BBC News. From the article:
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 * Col Charles Halt told the BBC he saw unidentified objects at Rendlesham Forest in December 1980. He says he now has statements from radar operators at RAF Bentwaters and nearby Wattisham airfield that an unknown object was tracked at the time. Col Halt claimed it was seen by himself and base security staff. The 75-year-old, who was deputy commander at the Bentwaters base and now lives in the US state of Virginia, said some former service people had not wanted to speak until they retired but had now provided written statements to him.
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 * Rendlesham Forest UFO sighting: New evidence 'proves authorities covered up paranormal activity'. 13 Jul 2015. By Ruth Halkon. Mirror Online. From the article:
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"At Wattisham, they picked up what they called a 'bogie' and lost it near Rendlesham Forest.
 * He said: "I have confirmation that (Bentwaters radar operators)... saw the object go across their 60 mile (96km) scope in two or three seconds, thousands of miles an hour, he came back across their scope again, stopped near the water tower, they watched it and observed it go into the forest where we were.
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 * --Timeshifter (talk) 13:26, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
 * "Radar" is not currently a word found in the article. Maybe someone can add it? I don't have the time for serious editing of the article. I prefer to bring references here for more patient writers. --Timeshifter (talk) 13:35, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
 * RAF Wattisham was a major RAF front line operational fighter base during the Cold War, post 1976 - responsible for air defence and interception of USSR intruder aircraft over the southern North Sea. It was exclusively operated by the RAF and had NOT been shared with the USAF/USAAF since WW2. Referring to it as an 'airfield' and not as a major airbase is absurd and since Col. Halt MUST have been aware of its existence, somewhat suspicious of attempted weasel words. Is the suggestion that this little old 'airfield' must have lacked decent radar and therefore that their 'lost bogie' report can be interpreted pretty much any way - like 'proving' the existence of a UFO?. There are further claimed 'reports' from 'Wattisham radar operators' - in some of Col Halt's later ravings, IIRC - that American Air Force personnel arrived at Wattisham and with zero explanation 'confiscated' the radar record tapes. Frankly, it's vanishingly unlikely that USAAF personnel would even have been allowed entry to a sensitive operational RAF facility like this (except under close supervision) and frankly ludicrous that they'd 'confiscate' anything and be allowed to leave. The Rendlesham saga is full of absurdities like this. 86.149.56.160 (talk) 23:23, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Another factor to consider is that a typical airfield surveillance radar rotates at around 12 rpm meaning that the radar data on the screen is refreshed every 5 seconds. So it is not credible to claim that an object was observed making manoeuvres in 2 or 3 seconds. So either Halt and his sources don’t know what they are talking about, or they hope that we don’t. Skeptic2 (talk) 12:05, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

Changing stories?
I'm not the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to this incident.....but just about every time I've seen these guys recount their story....something in it changes. I was watching Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation (Season 1 Ep 5: "The Atomic Connection") today on the History Channel, and one of them (John Burroughs) started talking about his missing time and illnesses and so on since then. I've seen him interviewed before and he didn't mention any of that. On Unsolved Mysteries, in 1991, he didn't mention that.

I'm not the only one who has noticed this....a BBC article mentions this sort of thing as well:

Does anyone know if they mentioned this sort of thing early on? And if not, should this be included?Rja13ww33 (talk) 23:31, 7 August 2020 (UTC)

Possible Hoax Section Misrepresented
Just read David Clarkes blog post linked to this section - he calls the hoax claim false after interviewing SAS/Base Commander, this section instead sounds like it was pushed by him. Heads up to the folks that edit this artile. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:643:8800:6DC0:14C3:75C9:A030:357 (talk) 06:32, 8 August 2020 (UTC)

The efforts to discredit tell us all we need to know
It's reassuring to see how much effort goes into trying to discredit the Rendlesham incident, especially given how paper thin the supposed explanations are. I say leave this page exactly as it is as an example of how badly the UK and US governments have papered over the cracks. My personal thoughts are that a UFO cover story was concocted right at the start to explain away a major emergency on the edge of the base. Something very embarrassing to the USA. Something involving a damaged nuke weapon in the woods for example. Rather than die down the story has grown wings over the year. While an outlandish story is good cover it attracts too much attention to Rendlesham/Bentwaters. 86.166.237.215 (talk) 19:52, 12 July 2024 (UTC)