Assuming that is correct, I find it bizarre that Halt doesn't mention the first night at all on the tape, at least to say that they had not seen the lights the previous night.
We might as well speculate that he saw some lights on the first night, but found he couldn't take notes in the dark and therefore took the tape recorder with him on the second night. For the tape, Halt wasn't concerned with narrating what had happened before; rather, he wanted to create a record for himself of what he was witnessing right then.
Maybe- but surely all the Security Police on night shift would have had service police notebooks, torches (flashlights) and wristwatches.
Always thought it a bit odd that timings provided throughout the RF incident seem so approximate, and durations of lights not accurately recorded. Halt could have delegated note-taking to his driver on the first night (if that happened as Clarke outlines), time-keeping to someone on the second.
(UK service police vehicles usually carried clipboards with sheets of A4 so notes/ sketches could be scrawled and later transcribed to the note-taker's police notebook, which was an accountable document).
It's got to be unlikely that functions at the Officer's mess were interrupted two nights running by a Security Policeman entering and saying "They're back" or similar words, and each time the deputy base commander thought it was his job to investigate in person (and none of the other officers volunteer to take his place)- if this happened, it looks a bit Halt-targeted.
Even if Halt didn't question the reports of lights, it seems strange that not one other officer present thought,
"This is a bit odd, on-duty personnel disrupting our off-duty function again. I'll make a point of reading the witnesses' statements, just to make sure no-one's buggering us about forgotten that there are limits to teasing the officers".
We don't know of any witness statements, or claims made, about lights etc. on the night of 26-27th December, other than (AFAIK) David Clarke's timeline, https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/rendlesham-forest-ufos/, which he seems unsure about
Sometime between 2100 and 2200 on [26 December?] members of the Woodbridge SP shift appeared at a Christmas party at the O’Club
-David Clarke's parentheses.
Other than (Englund?) conveying this message, nothing seems to have been documented, or later revealed, about who originally claimed "they're back" and what they saw (still applies if these events actually happened night of 27 December, or on both nights).
Even if Halt felt that a commissioned officer should verify the sightings, the Security Police would have had commissioned officers familiar with the perimeters of the Bentwaters/ Woodbridge bases, and they would probably have had more recent training in operating "in the field" than Halt. I'd guess most of the A-10 pilots were officers, and had good eyesight (and some familiarity with the night sky).
The most serious possibility that unexplained activity in Rendlesham Forest could represent would be some sort of hostile action (if we discount humanity's 1st contact with ETI for the moment), in which case Halt would be needed to do his job on-base.
I don't think we can tell for sure with our current evidence, but parsimoniously I think it's more likely Clarke (and maybe Col. Conrad) got the date wrong in 2010 for the "They're back" incident at the Officer's Club -Clarke claims the 26th, but with a question mark.
In Ridpath's timeline, "The UFO is back" is reported to the Officer's Club on the evening of the 27th, and this is the catalyst for Halt to investigate. Clarke's timeline doesn't provide a reason for Halt to go out late p.m. 27th/ early a.m. 28th.
If we combine the Clarke and Ridpath accounts (which would be problematic, I think) and decide that functions at the Officer's Club were interrupted 2 nights running with very similarly-worded reports, with Halt responding in person each time, it might be asked if this was targeted at Halt (the new boy, maybe noticed to be interested in the events of a.m., 26th December), independent of/ exploiting the sightings of a.m., December 26. That none of his brother officers volunteered to accompany the 2IC or take his place might seem curious on one occasion, but twice, we might question the inter-personal dynamics at play.
This is less of an issue if it occurred only once (probably the 27th).
“There were no conspiracies, no secret operation, no missile accident, and no harsh interrogations by OSI [Office of Special Investigations, USAF]... ...If I have any regrets, it is that I should have challenged Lt Col Halt’s account of the events on the night of 28 December. However since I wanted to avoid the appearance of shaping the story, I was reluctant to require any changes to his letter to Don Moreland [sent to MoD on 13 January 1981].
Colonel Ted Conrad, base commander (Halt's senior officer), speaking to David Clarke in 2010 (ibid.)
Even if Halt felt that a commissioned officer should verify the sightings, the Security Police would have had commissioned officers familiar with the perimeters of the Bentwaters/ Woodbridge bases, and they would probably have had more recent training in operating "in the field" than Halt. I'd guess most of the A-10 pilots were officers, and had good eyesight (and some familiarity with the night sky).
Yes, all USAF pilots are commissioned officers/university graduates. A-10 pilots have to met the same vision requirements as any other USAF pilot. The early A-10s were very basic aircraft with limited night attack capability. In the late 70s/early 80s, the two-seat A-10N/AW was developed as an night/all weather attack variant of the aircraft, but the project was canceled and the sole prototype retired.
Also a comment about the role of deputy/vice commanders in USAF units. Routinely they are responsible for taking care of issues within the organization, while the boss handles those outside the organization such as liasoning with other organizations or up-the-chain of command.
I was a deputy director of a couple different organizations, not a good job. You usually wind up doing anything the commander/director doesn't want to do. I can certainly believe Halt was detailed to go with SPs, doubt the boss wanted to do it.
It's got to be unlikely that functions at the Officer's mess were interrupted two nights running by a Security Policeman entering and saying "They're back" or similar words
That's why nobody has proposed that.
It's either a) Halt makes a hasty exit, collects equipment and a crew, and is in the forest 4 hours later, or b) Halt makes a hasty exit, checks out the SP's story, and talks to Conrad in the morning about doing a full investigation the next night (with the tape).
Personally, I think Conrad's sequence of events is more likely.
The 'Security Police' involved on the first night were Fred ‘Skip’ Buran, John Burroughs, Ed Cabansag, J. D. Chandler, and Jim Penniston. As far as I can tell, these individuals were not involved on the third night.
The party on the third night included Halt, Nevels, Englund and Ball. If any other Security police were involved on the third night I don't know who they were.
That's why nobody has proposed that.
It's either a) Halt makes a hasty exit, collects equipment and a crew, and is in the forest 4 hours later, or b) Halt makes a hasty exit, checks out the SP's story, and talks to Conrad in the morning about doing a full investigation the next night (with the tape).
Personally, I think Conrad's sequence of events is more likely.
Just speculating a bit, but if the Conrad sequence is right, this flap went on for a day longer than the other version. Which makes me think somebody convinced Halt and maybe Conrad that there was more to this than a lighthouse.
Penniston, Burroughs and Cabansag went into the forest early Friday morning (Penniston later claimed Cabansag stayed behind as the radio relay, but MSgt Chandler's account and Cabansag's have Chandler as the radio relay). They see lights and Burroughs and Cabansag claim it was a beacon or a light house, only Penniston mentions a craft of some sort, though he can never get closer than 50m. That's the first encounter.
In Conrads telling, somebody comes to the Friday evening Christmas party saying the lights are back and Halt goes out on a ride along to check it out. He comes back unimpressed. Nevertheless, Halt then spends Saturday getting together a team and some gear, and it's unclear, but appears to go out and investigate the "landing site", maybe with Conrad himself. This investigation goes on into the wee hours of Sunday morning when the recording is made.
In this scenario, it seems Conrad gets convinced, possibly on Saturday, that there is something more than a light house involved. I don't see Halt just taking it upon himself to spend a day and a half farting around in the forest, when he had not seen anything of note the night before. I think it's Penniston. From Ridpath's summery of Clark's interview (bold by me):
3. Col Ted Conrad, Halt’s superior officer, debriefed Penniston in the days after the event. Conrad told researcher David Clarke in 2010 June that Penniston confirmed that he did not get close enough to the object for a detailed look, confirming what Penniston said in his written statement. According to Conrad, Penniston said he followed the light through the trees to an open field whereupon it disappeared beyond a small rise in the direction of a farm house. That is consistent with the statements of Burroughs and Cabansag, although the detail about the farmhouse is not mentioned in Penniston’s own typewritten statement.
I need to read through Clark's stuff a bit more time permitting, but if "days after the event" was more like "day after" than maybe it was Penniston's claim of landing marks and a craft that convinced Conrad that Halt need to go back out into the woods.
In the more known version of the story, Halt is interrupted at the party, goes and gets a team together with equipment and heads out and make the recording all in one night. It's all a bit frenetic. In the Conrad version, Halt goes out from the party, sees nothing and goes home. Its the next day before he even gets the team and stuff assembled. Much less frenetic, but also much more purposeful. There is something out there that we need to check on.
-Conrad's account is via Clarke, who is clearly uncertain if "They're back" was on the 26th.
I strongly suspect that if there had been sightings on three nights (as Clarke's timeline implies), with Halt taking a look on both the second and the third night, Halt would have said so.
But Halt's memo to the MoD doesn't state that (although it seems he gets his dates wrong, saying the 27th and 29th, not the 26th and 28th which seems much more likely, e.g. from the Suffolk police logs).
Halt describes sightings on two days, with an intervening calendar day.
Just speculating a bit, but if the Conrad sequence is right, this flap went on for a day longer than the other version. Which makes me think somebody convinced Halt and maybe Conrad that there was more to this than a lighthouse.
Penniston, Burroughs and Cabansag went into the forest early Friday morning (Penniston later claimed Cabansag stayed behind as the radio relay, but MSgt Chandler's account and Cabansag's have Chandler as the radio relay). They see lights and Burroughs and Cabansag claim it was a beacon or a light house, only Penniston mentions a craft of some sort, though he can never get closer than 50m. That's the first encounter.
In Conrads telling, somebody comes to the Friday evening Christmas party saying the lights are back and Halt goes out on a ride along to check it out. He comes back unimpressed. Nevertheless, Halt then spends Saturday getting together a team and some gear, and it's unclear, but appears to go out and investigate the "landing site", maybe with Conrad himself. This investigation goes on into the wee hours of Sunday morning when the recording is made.
In this scenario, it seems Conrad gets convinced, possibly on Saturday, that there is something more than a light house involved. I don't see Halt just taking it upon himself to spend a day and a half farting around in the forest, when he had not seen anything of note the night before. I think it's Penniston. From Ridpath's summery of Clark's interview (bold by me):
3. Col Ted Conrad, Halt’s superior officer, debriefed Penniston in the days after the event. Conrad told researcher David Clarke in 2010 June that Penniston confirmed that he did not get close enough to the object for a detailed look, confirming what Penniston said in his written statement. According to Conrad, Penniston said he followed the light through the trees to an open field whereupon it disappeared beyond a small rise in the direction of a farm house. That is consistent with the statements of Burroughs and Cabansag, although the detail about the farmhouse is not mentioned in Penniston’s own typewritten statement.
I need to read through Clark's stuff a bit more time permitting, but if "days after the event" was more like "day after" than maybe it was Penniston's claim of landing marks and a craft that convinced Conrad that Halt need to go back out into the woods.
In the more known version of the story, Halt is interrupted at the party, goes and gets a team together with equipment and heads out and make the recording all in one night. It's all a bit frenetic. In the Conrad version, Halt goes out from the party, sees nothing and goes home. Its the next day before he even gets the team and stuff assembled. Much less frenetic, but also much more purposeful. There is something out there that we need to check on.
Seems like an obvious question, but to the best of our knowledge, were the base police daily logs and/or written reports by any of the responding SPs ever FOIA requested? I can't ever remember seeing either. They might clear up who was where when.
Conrad is uncertain whether the party was on the 26th or the 27th. If the party was on the 27th, then Penniston was debriefed on the 28th and Halt took his tape into the forest on the following night (28th/29th).
Now compare what Halt wrote and signed:
That's the exact same timeline.
27th in the morning observations, 27th evening "they're back", 28th (the following day) investigation, night of 28th/29th Halt's tape.
Now Conrad seems to think Halt got it wrong, and everything happened a day earlier, but he's not certain.
“Frankly at this point, Lt Col Halt and I were discussing what level of involvement was required from my office. We knew that silence would likely lead to allegation of cover up. With the rumor mill already operating it was a matter of time before the press got the story. We did not want the press to report the appearance of misinformation or cover up. We decided that a brief in-house investigation was in order. If we could find any credible evidence to justify a request for more high-tech investigators, then we would be in a position to pass the entire episode on to the British authorities. If any meaningful evidence were not found, we would document that fact and close the entire episode down by providing our facts to authorities in a low key manner. Events dictated the latter approach.
Its the next day before he even gets the team and stuff assembled. Much less frenetic, but also much more purposeful. There is something out there that we need to check on.
That version does not ring true to me. You might well go outside and investigate if you were involved in running a military base and it was reported that something weird was flying around. Laying aside aliens, an unknown something flying around is a potential espionage attempt or even attack. Needs checking out
I'm not sure that you'd gear up to go investigate it the next night, thinking maybe it will come back again, unless you suspected it was a recurring phenomenon so it would be there most any night, and were pretty confident it was not a threat so there was no rush.
To me it feels analogous to the Kumburgaz, Turkey, UFO in a way. Awfully convenient that the UFO not only DOES hang around for however many nights are needed, but is EXPECTED to do so by the witness(es.)
That's the exact same timeline.
27th in the morning observations, 27th evening "they're back", 28th (the following day) investigation, night of 28th/29th Halt's tape.
The Service Policemen's statements about the first sightings all say the 26th (except Penniston, who doesn't give any dates or timings).
Buran, approx. 03:00 26th December, Burroughs night of 25-26th December, around 03:00, Cabansag 26 December, Chandler 03:00 26 December 1980. http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/rendlesham2c.html, where copies of the statements may be viewed.
The Suffolk police station log's first entry, logging the call from RAF Bentwaters about the first night of sightings, is also dated 26th December.
There were a number of "fireballs" reported in the skies of southern England on the night of 25-26 December;
Ian Ridpath provides an excerpt from The British Astronomical Association’s Meteor Section Newsletter no. 4 (1981 February):
I'm not sure that you'd gear up to go investigate it the next night, thinking maybe it will come back again, unless you suspected it was a recurring phenomenon so it would be there most any night, and were pretty confident it was not a threat so there was no rush.
The Service Policemen's statements about the first sightings all say the 26th (except Penniston, who doesn't give any dates or timings).
Buran, approx. 03:00 26th December, Burroughs night of 25-26th December, around 03:00, Cabansag 26 December, Chandler 03:00 26 December 1980. http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/rendlesham2c.html, where copies of the statements may be viewed.
The Suffolk police station log's first entry, logging the call from RAF Bentwaters about the first night of sightings, is also dated 26th December.
It supports the idea that Halt's memo dates are a day off; but it doesn't necessarily support Clarke's claim (with its question mark) that the "They're back" happened on the evening of the 26th, which would mean there were three nights of sightings.
If Halt's memo is internally consistent- a day out on both dates, but otherwise correct (as he saw it), it gives us two nights of sightings, early a.m. 26th December and the night of 27-28th December.
It supports the idea that Halt's memo dates are a day off; but it doesn't necessarily support Clarke's claim (with its question mark) that the "They're back" happened on the evening of the 26th, which would mean there were three nights of sightings.
If Halt's memo is internally consistent- a day out on both dates, but otherwise correct (as he saw it), it gives us two nights of sightings, early a.m. 26th December and the night of 27-28th December.
Halt doesn't mention the party, but he does mention investigations by day, so there's no reason to assume the party episode would happen after the daytime investigation.
Is there a problem with 3 nights of sightings? Do you suppose they turned the lighthouse off that one night?
That's obviously a reasonable question (well, the first bit! *)
As far as I know, the only reason we might think that there were any sightings on night 2 (Dec. 27) is from David Clarke's timeline, 'agreed' in conversation with Col. Conrad. https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/rendlesham-forest-ufos/
On Clarke's website, Col. Conrad does mention his uncertainty about the dates,
(David Clarke): What is the source of the dating/chronology of the events set out in your letter?
(Ted Conrad): I believe the chronology…is the correct one. It is based on Halt’s letter and my own rather tenuous recollections of those days. If the known time line is respected, a shift of a day one way or the other shouldn’t matter much.
(Emphasis added).
It does matter; not least because the fireball seen across south England at approx. 02:50, 26th December would not be visible on the 27th. And like many other things discussed here, if a witness gets a detail demonstrably wrong, it might give us call to question their account (but certainly not dismiss it out of hand).
We also know the dates in Halt's memo were wrong.
Also, Conrad states,
Take your pick for day 1, either 0300 26 Dec. or 27 Dec.
We know it was the 26th December 1980. (Suffolk police logs, airmen's statements).
Conrad appears to go on to contradict himself (although in fairness to him, he was up-front honest about the limits of his recall):
One other significant thing happened on 28 December 1980. Maj Zickler finally convinced Sgt [James] Penniston to answer some questions for me.
After a sincere guarantee that his report would have no ill effects on his career, Penniston reluctantly told his story...
...Just to reiterate, if Penniston’s encounter on day 1 was at approximately 0300 hrs. the notification at the party was 18 hours later at approx. 9:00 PM, also on day 1. Penniston’s interview occurred the morning of day 2, and shortly there after we decided to investigate.
Day 1 is the 26th December. If Penniston was interviewed on day two, that has to be the 27th December.
Conrad cannot be right about Penniston being interviewed on day two, and day two being the 28th December.
So Conrad's account has to be, in part, faulty.
In the same article, Clarke writes
In presenting Col Conrad’s detailed narrative of the events, I have altered the dating to reflect this agreed chronology
...and indeed Clarke's chronology/ timeline shows Penniston talking with Conrad on the 27th.
But Clarke' source for his chronology
...agreed with Col Conrad in September 2010
is Col. Conrad.
The chronology reported by Conrad has been changed, by Clarke, to fit better with what Clarke knows already (i.e. "day 1" was on the 26th).
But that isn't made all that clear to the reader.
We have absolutely no contemporaneous witness accounts of sightings on the 27th; compare with the witness statements (and ongoing re-telling) by those present on the 26th, and our knowledge of Halt et al.s' "sightings" of the 28th (and Halt's ongoing re-telling of events).
Halt's memo states there were sightings on the 27th and 29th: He does not mention any sightings on the 28th.
-We know Halt was a day out; the events he referred to almost certainly occurred on the 26th and 28th.
It was two nights later that Col. Halt decided to take the investigation into his own hands (contrary to the popular telling that says there were events on three nights in a row, there are no reported events on the second night).
Earlier, on 26 and 28 December, United States Air Force (USAF) security personnel stationed at nearby RAF Woodbridge had reported seeing strange lights in the surrounding forest.
Evidence for 3 nights of sightings is very weak. Maybe I'm being a bit too sceptical, but I feel we should avoid increasing the claimed number of days that sightings were made unless there is a better reason to do so.
*You nearly got me there, Mendel - but I know that they turned the lighthouse off. And on again. And off. And on again, and....
As far as I know, the only reason we might think that there were any sightings on night 2 (Dec. 27) is from David Clarke's timeline, 'agreed' in conversation with Col. Conrad. https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/rendlesham-forest-ufos/
On Clarke's website, Col. Conrad does mention his uncertainty about the dates,
(David Clarke): What is the source of the dating/chronology of the events set out in your letter?
(Ted Conrad): I believe the chronology…is the correct one. It is based on Halt’s letter and my own rather tenuous recollections of those days. If the known time line is respected, a shift of a day one way or the other shouldn’t matter much.
I'd emphasize the shift of one day. If there was no third night, then the day of interviewing Penniston and deciding on an investigation (mentioned by both Halt and Conrad) has no motive.
It does matter; not least because the fireball seen across south England at approx. 02:50, 26th December would not be visible on the 27th. And like many other things discussed here, if a witness gets a detail demonstrably wrong, it might give us call to question their account (but certainly not dismiss it out of hand).
We also know the dates in Halt's memo were wrong.
And the Clarke/Conrad timeline gets this right. Conrad was uncertain here, not wrong.
I also don't think it's warranted to dismiss a witness testimony altogether and replace it with speculation simply because there was a misremembered detail.
Please try to put all the events in the Clarke/Conrad timeline (quoted here) in your preferred order. Does it make sense?
*)
