The Halt Memo — “Unexplained Lights” (Rendlesham Forest, 13 Jan 1981)
- Author: Lt Col Charles I. Halt, USAF, Deputy Base Commander, RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge.
- Document: single-page memo to the UK Ministry of Defence, subject line “Unexplained Lights,” dated 13 January 1981 (~2.5 weeks after the events). On official USAF letterhead; not classified.
- Provenance: released under the US FOIA in June 1983 to Robert Todd (Citizens Against UFO Secrecy / CAUS); the USAF had discarded its own copy and obtained another from the UK MoD; the original is held at The National Archives, Kew. Verbatim text via Ian Ridpath’s archive (ianridpath.com/ufo/appendix.html), captured 2026-05-29. Parenthetical items are Halt’s.
- One of the genuinely authentic, on-the-record primary documents cited by Richard Dolan (contrast the contested MJ-12 material). Relates to the Rendlesham Forest incident.
SUBJECT: Unexplained Lights
TO: RAF/CC
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Early in the morning of 27 Dec 80 (approximately 0300L) two USAF security police patrolmen saw unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge. Thinking an aircraft might have crashed or been forced down, they called for permission to go outside the gate to investigate. The on-duty flight chief responded and allowed three patrolmen to proceed on foot. The individuals reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest. The object was described as being metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, approximately two to three meters across the base and approximately two meters high. It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank(s) of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it maneuvered through the trees and disappeared. At this time the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy. The object was briefly sighted approximately an hour later near the back gate.
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The next day, three depressions 1.5 inches deep and 7 inches in diameter were found where the object had been sighted on the ground. The following night (29 Dec 80) the area was checked for radiation. Beta/gamma readings of 0.1 milliroentgens were recorded with peak readings in the three depressions and near the center of the triangle formed by the depressions. A nearby tree had moderate (0.05-0.07) readings on the side of the tree toward the depressions.
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Later in the night a red sun-like light was seen through the trees. It moved about and pulsed. At one point it appeared to throw off glowing particles and then broke into five separate white objects and then disappeared. Immediately thereafter, three star-like objects were noticed in the sky, two objects to the north and one to the south, all of which were about 10 degrees off the horizon. The objects moved rapidly in sharp, angular movements and displayed red, green and blue lights. The objects to the north appeared to be elliptical through an 8-12 power lens. They then turned to full circles. The objects to the north remained in the sky for an hour or more. The object to the south was visible for two or three hours and beamed down a stream of light from time to time. Numerous individuals, including the undersigned, witnessed the activities in paragraphs 2 and 3.
(Signed) CHARLES I. HALT, Lt Col, USAF Deputy Base Commander