December 1980, RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk (base loaned to USAF). Two separate nights of close-encounter events, documented in National Archives file DEFE 24/1948. NIGHT 1: Three unarmed USAF airmen investigated what they believed was an air crash in Rendlesham Forest. They found a glowing metallic object, triangular in shape, approximately 2-3 metres long and 2 metres high. It illuminated the entire forest with white light. It had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. It appeared to hover on legs. As the airmen approached, the object manoeuvred through the trees and disappeared. The following day, marks were allegedly found on the ground and on trees at the landing site. NIGHT 2: Lt Colonel Charles Halt — deputy base commander — took a handpicked team of men into the forest. UFOs were again witnessed. On January 13, 1981 — two weeks after the incident — Halt sent a memo to the MOD UFO Desk headed simply “Unexplained Lights.” A National Archives presenter noted: “Why did he wait two weeks? The event happened before Christmas. It’s like saying ‘I’ll tell you the aliens landed before Christmas but I waited two weeks for the Base Commander to come back from his holiday.'” MOD official response: “Nothing of defence interest.” No investigation was conducted. The Rendlesham File (released 2001) opens with Halt’s memo. The remaining 200 pages consists almost entirely of letters from ufologists worldwide demanding more information. A private briefing on the case was given to retired Admiral Lord Hill-Norton, former Chief of Defence Staff, who became obsessed with the incident and filed multiple Parliamentary Questions about it in 1996-97.