In late December of 1980, what is sometimes considered the most well-known and disturbing UFO encounter in England happened in Rendlesham Forest around the duel RAF-USAF airbases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge near Ipswich in Suffolk. Christmas night, a UFO had touched down in the forest and one of the investigating military men had gotten so close as to touch the craft. Two nights later, another set of mysterious lights was seen dropping into the forest and now the Deputy Base Commander, Lt. Colonel Charles Halt, has taken personal charge to get to the bottom of these untoward events.

Gathering more security personnel and lighting equipment, he also called in Sgt. Monroe Nevilles of the Disaster Preparedness Unit who included a camera and Geiger counter in his gear while Halt picked up a tape recorder, torch, and a night vision scope. Upon arriving at the East Gate, he found confusion and chaos. The lighting equipment refused to work properly and replacements encountered the same difficulty. Lt. Commander Halt still went to investigate.

Heading out to the Eastern edge of the forest, he began working his way in. He and his team soon found an area where the trees had their branches snapped off along the sides facing inward to a small central clearing. There were once more, three triangular indentations in the ground. It was when Sgt. Nevilles' checked his Geiger counter that the site's mystery was exposed. The radiation levels in the center were very high, registering four clicks on the counter while even the back sides of the trees and the area only a few feet out from the "landing zone" only registered the normal background radiation count.

As they were examining this area, suddenly all the animals on the nearby farm began to raise a cacophony of sound as thought they had become frightened. Looking up, the soldiers saw a dark red glowing object, pulsing in the sky above them no more than a few hundred yards away. While skeptics try to say all they saw was the light from a distant lighthouse, Lt. Colonel Halt distinctly mentioned that they could also see the lighthouse beacon. After a minute or so the object then disappeared only to quickly reappear, heading out into the field beside the forest edge.

As they once more took up pursuit of the object, they noticed the farmhouse emitting a strange glow itself and the air around them again developed an uncomfortable static electrically charged feeling. This new object was described as looking somewhat like an eye, with a darker "pupil" inside the ring of dark red winking light. It also looked to the men that there was golden light "dripping" off the object as though it were molten gold, although they could find nothing on the ground to explain the effect. By now the object was surrounded by over twenty of the search crew. As they were discussing the possibility of drawing closer, the object suddenly exploded into several disparate white lights.

It was then that the most disturbing aspect of the entire encounter began. One of the bright white objects began to emit a beam of light, completely straight and undiminished by distance; like a laser light as Lt. Colonel Halt described. This light began to play across the forest and eventually into RAF Woodbridge itself, directing itself into the ordinance warehouse where the USAF had nuclear weapons stored for the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing. Later reports from the men stationed in the building indicated that the "light" actually appeared inside the building and played across some of the atomic weapons.

Radio traffic around the base was full of reports of the light beams coming down from the glowing objects in the sky. There were reports that the beams were following a search-grid pattern as thought looking for something. An unconfirmable rumor is that the beams of light that passed through the thick walls of the Weapons Storage Area had actually disabled the ordinance. Throughout the event Lt. Colonel Halt had been recording the occurrence. That the men were in a heightened state of excitement is clearly heard as the objects then began to pass quickly past them traveling North before all but one took up station some thousands of feet up. The one still off to the South was still hovering over RAF Woodbridge and emitting the white light beams into the base.

Lt. Colonel Halt decided it was time for his men to return to base as there was no more activity on the ground. By the time they got there, the objects were gone. This second night of activity was witnessed by hundreds of military personnel, not just a handful of guards. The Deputy Base Commander himself had taken part in the hunt and had audio recordings of the search through the Forest and the actions taken by the UFO's as they watched.

While it was released decades later that the Ministry of Defense had in fact investigated the men and the evidence surrounding these events, at the time they only issued the standard statement that there was no concern regarding national security and said little more. This statement was issued despite the fact that the unidentified craft seemed to be very interested in the atomic weapons stored at RAF Woodbridge.

As the sun rose on the morning of December 28, 1980, it found confusion and an enduring mystery for the military men who experienced the events. This had not been some random sighting by a single individual but a series of events both investigated and experienced by the full range of military personnel from lowly airmen to high ranking officers. To this day it is still unknown who or what controlled the craft or what they were truly looking for on the twin airbases in Suffolk, England.

Late Christmas night of 1980 had been eventful for the personnel of the twin Airbases of RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwoods, currently on loan to the United States Air Force, in Rendlesham Forest not too distant from the city of Ipswich in Suffolk. An unearthly flying craft had been spotted and tracked by the guards at RAF Woodbridge as the strange lights had dropped into the Forest. Security, including the on-duty Shift Commander had ventured into the woods and found it only to have it suddenly fly off into the sky when Staff Sargeant James Penniston actually touched the side of the craft.

The following day the Deputy Base Commander of the Woodbridge-Bentwood airbase complex, Lt. Colonel Charles Halt, was skeptical of the reports he got of the previous night's activities. It was, however, his job to know about everything that went on in the bases under his command. Despite knowing the people involved were dependable and honest soldiers, he found the entire incident hard to credit but he took the reports and interviewed the men personally. The next evening, December 27, 1980 found him in attendance at a Combat Support Group awards dinner as events conspired to shake his disbelief.

This night A1C Gregory Battram and three others were on patrol at the back gate of RAF Woodbridge when they saw lights in the sky that did not conform to any type of aircraft they were familiar with. The lights dipped into the forest and their red coloration looked like a fire among the trees. A1C Battram knew that in light of the previous incident they had to investigate. He contacted Central Security Control for permission to go into the forest and the fire department in case what they saw was a blaze.

Parking their vehicle at the edge of the forest they began to walk towards the lights. They noticed a "thrumming" sound being carried through the air and began to experience the tingling of what felt like a high electromagnetic field, the hair on their arms and heads trying to stand on end. Coming to the far edge of the Forest they witnessed the lights, orange, red, white, and blue, coning from the center of what appeared to be a circular patch of ground fog. Becoming uncharacteristically scared, the men decided to return to the airbase and report their findings.

Meanwhile another group, led by Sgt. Adrian Bustinza, had been alerted to this second UFO sighting and had headed into the forest as well. Encountering A1C Battram's group, they decided to go get the higher-ups involved in any further attempts. Lt. Bruce Englund was with Sgt. Bustinza's group and he immediately headed to the location of the awards dinner to inform his superior officers. Reporting to Base Commander Ted Conrad. Lt. Englund told him, "It's back. The UFO is back!" Commander Conrad ordered Lt. Colonel Halt to go "...put an end to this nonsense."

Heading back to the base, Lt. Colonel Halt began assembling a team to get to the bottom of all the excitement and confusion running rampant over the two airbases. Little did he know that soon the encounter would escalate dramatically.

Begun during World War II the British built an airbase in Rendlesham Forest about twelve miles outside of the city of Ipswich in Suffolk. By the time they leased RAF Bentwaters to the United States Air Force in 1951 they had another RAF Airbase beside it called Woodbridge. This twin base complex became home to the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing and the 67th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadrons. Rendlesham Forest had been allowed to grow as an extra protective barrier for the airbases.

Near midnight of Christmas Day, December 25, 1980, the bases were still celebrating with only a skeleton crew on duty and no aircraft flying. On guard duty at the back gate, referred to as the East Gate, Airman First Class John Burroughs and Staff Sargeant Bud Steffens were on patrol duty. Airman Burroughs was the first to see strange lights appear and hover over the Forest at tree-top level near the edge of the Forest beside the Airbase. neither man having ever seen such light display from aircraft they took a jeep out of Woodbridge to investigate.

It quickly became obvious that the flickering red, yellow, and green lights were much closer to the base that they at first thought. Then a large white beam of light was emitted and began sweeping the base perimeter. The two airmen quickly decided they needed backup and sped back to the East Gate. Their call, seeming unbelievable to the recipients, was passed up the line until it reached Staff Sargeant James Penniston at Central Security Control. Believing the report indicated a crashed aircraft SSgt. Penniston was driven to the East Gate where SSgt. Steffens told him the craft, if that is what it was, had not crashed but had seemed to land in the forest.

Getting permission from the Shift Commander, the men, including two other Security officers, headed back out along a logging road toward the area where the lights were last seen. Leaving Airman First Class Edward Cabansag with the vehicle to act as radio relay, the other men entered the forest to find the lights. By this time the men knew that CSC Radar had been following an unknown radar contact which had also been confirmed with the radar at Heathrow Airport. The signal had been lost about five miles from the base, most likely due to the contact dropping below radar range.

Back in the forest the men realized something was definitely wrong. Despite the lateness at night there was a lot of animal movement. They then lost radio contact with A1C Cabansag and the base and began to experience an electrical static charge building around them. It was then they came upon the object sitting in a clearing. It was cone-shaped, about 10 foot in height and the same width at the base. It appeared to be sitting on some type of fixed legs. As SSgt. Penniston moved closer, the feel of electricity in the air grew stronger.

Standing next to the object SSgt. Penniston reported the top part was giving off a bright, white light with two other lights, red and blue seemingly molded into the side of the object on either side with the blue light fading in and out from black to grey back to blue. The exterior of the object looked like smooth, opaque, black glass. He noted that there were symbols somewhat like writing on the side, about three inches tall in a string about two foot long or more. Touching them, he noted that rather than painted on, they had the feel of etching or engraving done into the smooth exterior. At his touch, however, the white light grew instantly much brighter and the craft rose up off the ground, moving slowly up and through the branches of the surrounding trees. It took a couple of minutes to clear the trees and at about two hundred feet it paused for a moment then, in an instant, it was gone. At no time did the object make a sound.

With its departure, radio communications were again possible. The two airmen had become somewhat disoriented within the electrical static field. They seemed to see another set of similar lights about a half mile further into the forest, but after traveling about three hundred yards, turned around and rejoined A1C Cabansag and returned to the base to make their report. The shift commander told them they should stay quiet about what they had seen but then told the airmen, "you saw something, Heathrow tower confirms you saw something. Now you should go out and look for some physical proof of what happened."

SSgt. Penniston acquired the materials for making a plaster cast and he and A1C Burroughs returned that morning to the landing spot. Finding three identical equidistant shallow cone-like depressions in the soil, the casts were made as Penniston, shaken by the encounter, wanted some physical proof that he had actually experienced the event. He requested a transfer from the Airbase shortly afterward, while A1C Burroughs spend a number of nights after the encounter, waiting in the forest for the craft to reappear.

Of all the reports that stream in to police and UFO investigators, most end up being merely a misidentification by the witness of the various running and operational lights on conventional airplanes. While the average person can easily identify a commercial aircraft's running lights under normal circumstances, sometimes weather or an odd angle of approach will give the illusion of strangeness that is all that's needed to let the imagination of the believer run wild. It is crucial that those interested in watching the sky for intruding, possibly alien, craft educate themselves on the standard patterns of aircraft lighting to minimize the wasted time and energy of investigating cases of mistaken identity.

Many of these standard features can be easily noted when the plane is flying low, especially when nearing a runway. If you want to look for UFO's at night, a good pair of binoculars will help prevent many mistakes. The red and green wingtip flashing lights are standard on most aircraft. There are also white and red strobe lights on both the top and bottom of the craft that are supposed to stay on from engine start to chocking after it lands. These are, however, sometimes turned off in cloudy conditions as the reflection and glare off clouds can be a distraction for the pilots.

Landing lights are turned on at 10,000 feet whether it is nearing an airport or just reducing altitude for whatever reason. This can make an otherwise dim looking lighted object suddenly flare up in intensity as it is equivalent to suddenly turning on the headlights at the bright setting in an automobile. These bright lights are on during takeoff as well and are turned off when the airplane reaches the 10,000 foot mark. In foggy or dusty air this can illuminate the lights to appear the craft is shooting "beams" out in front of it. Additional taxi lights come on when the landing gear are deployed. Some commercial jetliners also have a pilot operated control that adjusts the brightness on one side or the other. Most commercial jetliners also leave the "logo" lights on the tail to clearly expose their company name for identification although some companies turn them off after takeoff.

Helicopters always carry at least one bright white light on the belly and generally the red strobe on the tail section. While many helicopters do not muffle their engine sound and can be heard for miles, this is not universal. Not only do some provide quiet running engines and wider, sound depressing rotors, many military helicopters have extra stealth approach technology to keep them unheard until they are almost on top of you. Military craft also use fewer lights during on-duty operation which makes them harder to spot. Since helicopters are, by nature, very maneuverable, they can change direction swiftly as well as hover.

Because normal aircraft are subject to the same kinds of style variations as automobiles, even the standard light placement has its variations. For a serious amateur ufologist, time spent near a busy airport at night, both commercial and as close as you can to military ones, can slowly grant you familiarity with the light patterns you can dismiss as terrestrial. This way you will be much more likely to be able to pick up on and better report those instances when the lights you see in the sky are definitely not conforming to any pattern or standard behavior.

Unknown objects continue to be seen in the skies over our planet. Their origin and purpose remain a mystery that begs to be solved. As is common among humans, they turn to their governments for answers. But, despite numerous official investigations, any answers that might have been found have not been disclosed. We are left with the ubiquitous statement that, "they are no threat to national security." This answer is both devoid of factual information and frightening in its vagueness and implication. When governments fail to provide, it is left up to the individuals to seek after the knowledge that has been denied them through official channels.

As the last United States Airforce investigation, Project Blue Book, was being wound down to its conclusion in December of 1969, a civilian group in Quincy, Illinois was being formed. Such investigators as Walter Andrus, John Schuessler, and Allen Utke began the Midwest UFO Network. With a membership comprised in large part from former associates of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, they began in May of 1969 to develop a means by which they as civilians might be best able to apply scientific research to the investigation of these increasing trespasses in our airspace by these unknown craft.

As the organization grew and extended its influence across the country, it soon became known as the Mutual UFO Network to indicate its cooperation with other civilian UFO research groups. Currently consisting of nearly three thousand members worldwide. Regional directors are responsible for the investigations of reported UFO sightings in their areas to coordinate field research and interviews, and share their findings with the rest of the network. MUFON holds an annual convention where researchers can gather and discuss the best ways to investigate and report on their findings.

MUFON, while the largest civilian UFO investigation network, is part of the UFO Research Coalition which includes J. Allen Hynek's Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) and the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR). They seek to fulfil the MUFON mission statement of scientific UFO studies for the benefit of humanity through investigation, research, and education. They share funds and resources so that sighting can be as fully investigated as possible and the results known. They feel it is as important to identify and inform about misidentification of natural objects as they are to probe those sightings that cannot be fully and rationally explained.

MUFON maintains a vast quantity of information freely available online to help educate people on the UFO phenomena. It includes not only observed classifications and data on unknown objects but information on how best to identify the natural things and manmade objects that are easily misconstrued by the uninformed. They encourage the population of this planet to join in the hunt for answers and provide instruction on how best to gather all possible information on sightings and how to report them. Discussions on the possible origins and intentions of these objects are given an open-minded acceptance so that the government-influenced stigmata can be eliminated. They hope that by sharing this knowledge it may help determine just what it is that leaves us looking to the sky and wondering what it was we just saw go by.

How many of you belive in UFO's
How many of you have seen a UFO

May have possibly seen a UFO, wondering if it may have anything to do with the recent stock market crash.

Do they really exist or is it just a spoof? There is absolutely no end in sight when it comes to the truth about aliens and UFO’s. However there is one thing which cannot be argued about, that is the fact that there are thousands of people from different parts of the world that have seen UFO’s and not only this, they have video evidences confirming their experiences.

The famous incident of Phoenix Lights in Arizona is one of the most popular and spectacular incidents in the history of UFO’s. This strange event took place on 13 Mar 1997; the most amazing thing about this incident was that it was witnessed by thousands of people in Arizona. The event was videotaped and can easily make a skeptical person a believer.

Many people prefer to keep their experiences with UFO’s a secret as they fear that they will be laughed at. Some even fear more sever reactions from the near and dear ones. Many people have also experienced UFO sightings and they have been frightened very badly that they never told anybody about it. It is very hard to say really, as many people who have witnessed such events in the sky are reluctant to report it. Either the witness believes that there are far more logical explanations or merely thinks that no other person will believe him, if he told anyone. But yet, there are many UFO sighting that are reported and become center of conspiracy theories by those who believe that our beautiful planet is visited by aliens coming from other planets.

Whether you believe in UFO’s or not, there are still a large number of unanswered questions which makes the non- believer question it themselves.

The alien theory and the UFO theory go hand in hand. There are numerous reports of alien abductions. It may seem crazy, but there are many believer of this theory.

A lot of people think that UFO’s are simple flying saucers. This is the best descriptions that they have come up with. However others suggest these as unidentified flying objects, they may be a hot air balloon, a helicopter an air plane or just a metal object or some absurd thing in sky.

The discussions and debates on UFO sightings continue, and there have been video and audio recordings, it is still uncertain to tell whether these UFO’s or unidentified flying objects are indeed from the space. Many claim that the photographs and the videos of UFO are nothing but doctored or manipulated videos and evidences.

Some people are so sure they saw a UFO or were probed by one that I thought maybe they're speaking truth. Do you think that they may have actually seen an object from the future and not an alien. A object that is man's future attempt in time travel that's not working well yet?

How many of you belive in UFO's
How many of you have seen a UFO