Coordinates: 
52.088°N 1.449°EThe
Rendlesham Forest incident is the name given to a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights and the alleged landing of a craft or multiple craft of unknown origin in
Rendlesham Forest,
Suffolk, England, in late December 1980, just outside
RAF Woodbridge, used at the time by the U.S. Air Force. Dozens of USAF personnel were eyewitnesses to various events over a two- or three-day period. It is the most famous
UFO event to have happened in Britain,
[1] ranking amongst the best-known UFO events worldwide. Along with the
Berwyn Mountain UFO incident, it has been compared to the
Roswell UFO incident in the United States, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's Roswell".
[2]
The
Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated the event posed no threat to national security, and that it therefore never was investigated as a security matter. Later evidence indicated that there was a substantial MoD file on the subject, which led to claims of a cover-up; some interpreted this as part of a larger pattern of information suppression concerning the true nature of unidentified flying objects, by both the United States and British governments (see the
UFO conspiracy theory). One person to take this view was eyewitness and Deputy Base Commander Colonel Charles Halt (
see below). Another was former NATO head and UK
Chief of the Defence Staff Lord
Peter Hill-Norton, who stated whatever happened at this USAF base was necessarily of national security interest. However, when the file was released in 2001 it turned out to consist mostly of internal correspondence and responses to inquiries from the public. Sceptics note that the lack of any in-depth investigation in the publicly released documents is consistent with the MoD's earlier statement that they never took the case seriously.
[3][4] Included in the released files is an explanation given by defence minister Lord Trefgarne as to why the MoD did not investigate further.
[5] The sightings have been explained as misinterpretation of a series of nocturnal lights – a fireball, the Orford Ness lighthouse and bright stars.
[6]
