RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters
Twin Suffolk airbases run by the US Air Force, whose personnel reported lights in neighbouring Rendlesham Forest in December 1980.
- Location
- Suffolk, eastern England, either side of Rendlesham Forest
- Modern country
- UK
- Type
- Royal Air Force stations used by the US Air Force
- USAF use
- 1951–1993 (81st Tactical Fighter Wing)
- Known for
- Rendlesham Forest incident, December 1980
- Today
- Woodbridge: British Army (Rock Barracks); Bentwaters: business park
What are RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters known for?
RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters were neighbouring airfields in Suffolk, eastern England, separated by Rendlesham Forest. Both opened during the Second World War; Woodbridge was built as an emergency landing field for damaged bombers. From the early 1950s until 1993 they were leased to the United States Air Force and operated as a pair, home to the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing.
In late December 1980, US security personnel at RAF Woodbridge reported strange lights in the forest just outside the east gate. The deputy base commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt, later sent a memo to the UK Ministry of Defence describing the lights and ground marks. The memo, released in 1983, made it Britain's best-known UFO case, sometimes called 'Britain's Roswell'.
The Ministry of Defence concluded the events were of no defence significance. Sceptics such as Ian Ridpath attribute the main light to the Orford Ness lighthouse. After the USAF left in 1993, Woodbridge became a British Army barracks and Bentwaters a business park and film location.
US Air Force personnel at RAF Woodbridge reported the Rendlesham Forest lights in 1980.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeRendlesham Forest and the Halt Memo
- PersonCharles Halt
- PersonIan Ridpath
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'RAF Bentwaters'Reference
- The National Archives (UK), 'UFO reports' (RAF Woodbridge, December 1980)Reference
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