The Rendlesham Forest Incident of 1980 has captured the attention of people all over the world for the past 35 years. There is nothing like tales of an alleged UFO sighting, landed spacecraft or strange lights swooping around the woods to fire the imagination.
Many conferences, lectures and seminars have taken place on the Rendlesham Forest Incident all over the world throughout the years. Such events continue to this day. Many of them have a ticket price so that followers can hear experts on the topic speak.
A large number of people have written books that dig into the events of December 1980 and beyond. There are also many websites that cater for the interests of people who want to know more about alleged extra-terrestrial visitations to our planet. There is no shortage of material to feed the voracious appetite of those who hunger for ‘the truth’. More in-depth information about the incident can be found by clicking here.
However, the one burning question about the events of late December 1980 has never really been answered. Was the Rendlesham Forest Incident a top-secret military mission that went wrong or was the craft, which allegedly landed there, alien to our world?
One thing is for sure, any mention of the Rendlesham Forest Incident will start a lively discussion in any pub as people debate that very question.
Rendlesham Forest continues to be the scene of alleged UFO sightings to this very day and from time to time, local newspapers carry reports of lights hovering over the forest, often in a triangular formation.
The forest is a short drive from where I live. It is one of my favorite places to walk because it is so peaceful. I am one of those people who does believe that an incident did take place in the woods in December 1980. I am also one of those who believes that any beings, landings or strange lights involved were of this world.
My own belief is that the US military, at the time, found it convenient for the Rendlesham Forest Incident to be clouded by the mystery and intrigue of possible alien visitation. From my reading, it appears that many of the expert accounts from those at the very core of the incident were from the US military air-bases on the edge of the forest.
Stories of Strange Images Taken in Rendlesham Forest
Following intriguing conversations I have had with Rendlesham Forest Incident enthusiasts recently, I decided to approach the forest with a more open mind. Some of the things I was told, on a dark winter’s night over a cup of tea, would make most people’s hair stand on end. Some of the pictures I was shown of alleged paranormal activity in the woods defy immediate rational explanation. But of course, that does not mean there isn’t one.
As a professional photographer of many years, I am familiar with the ways that ‘spooky’, ‘genuine’ looking photographs can be produced, especially since digital photography was introduced to the masses. However, much as I wanted to find plausible explanations for what I was seeing, I was at a loss to do so.
The conversation and the images sparked my curiosity and I began to visit the woods more frequently to study specific areas and find out more about them.
A Walk in Rendlesham Forest
On Sunday February 15th 2015 in the mid-afternoon, I went to Rendlesham Forest with my husband and a friend to take straight-forward pictures – nothing ‘spooky’ of course as I do not believe I have the gift to capture such elusive beings. There are, I am told, people whose cameras pick up apparitions that do not appear on the SD cards of other photographers shooting in the same direction. While my mind is open to this possibility for other people, I feel that my camera and I are not ‘tuned in’ to that wavelength…if one does indeed exist.
Having said that, on that Sunday, while wandering amongst the trees and off the beaten track, we did find something very strange lying on the forest floor. What we saw could add fuel to a touchy subject that is already hotly debated around the world in UFO circles and beyond.
Half buried in earth and pine needles was a ‘thing’ that cannot easily be described. Whatever the thing was, it was oozing a large globule of glistening bright green gloop from one end. It stopped me in my tracks and my imagination went into overdrive. Had I been wrong about extraterrestrials? Suddenly, the forest felt different.
Rendlesham Forest, to me, has always simply been a beautiful place to walk; nothing more, nothing less.
I was living abroad in 1980 when the world famous UFO incident occurred and I have never taken much interest in it.
I returned to live in the UK in late 1983. Like many local people, I have simply enjoyed the forest for what it is for many years without really paying attention to the rumours and stories that are kept alive by the constant world-wide UFO chatter.
When the US Air Force occupied the adjacent military airfields on either side of the forest, I, like many others, enjoyed watching the A-10s flying in and out. The Americans left in the early 90s at the end of the Cold War. They had been a huge part of local life since 1952 when they first arrived to take over the bases and as I said earlier, military personnel featured heavily in accounts of the incident in 1980.
When US military operations ceased at the twin airbases, an uncharacteristic quietness descended on the area as the control tower and buildings on the once busy airfield were mothballed.
The Americans left but the stories and rumours about what happened during the world-famous ‘Rendlesham Forest Incident’ in 1980 remained and only became stronger with time. Local people who witnessed the incident, or in some cases just the aftermath of it, continued to write about it and talk to whoever was interested.
Rendlesham Forest is a deeply atmospheric place; there is no getting away from it.
As you walk down the old crumbling road that leads straight to the east gate of the old base, there is forest to the left and airfield to the right.
As daylight fades, a dense gloom permeates the forest. It makes looking into the mass of silent trees quite creepy. With the sun falling away behind the old hangars on the airfield, they become huge black, imposing shapes. The forest becomes filled with gloom; so no matter where you look, it is really easy for your imagination to take over and to start spinning stories in your head.
On our first sunset visit a couple of weeks before finding the green ‘gloop’, I had stared into the darkening wood and I could see the odd movement of who knows what. Animals? Birds? People? But with two fearless and down-to-earth men at my side, I wasn’t much bothered.
The silence at sundown is quite eerie. It is broken here and there by bird call and the occasional echoing voices of children still out playing in the woods. By the time we left the forest that day, it was completely dark and very peaceful. I had no reason to change my opinion of the Rendlesham Forest Incident. However, I did have more respect for people whose opinions and experience is vastly different to my own. I accept that other people have had experiences here that cannot be explained.
More trips to Rendlesham Forest followed at different times of day.
On the day we found the ‘thing’ in the woods, we had gone there earlier in the afternoon to stay longer and walk further in.
The ‘thing’ really did stop me in my tracks because it was green and nothing like anything I had ever seen before. We had been joking irreverently about ‘little green men’ moments before, so my imagination was primed. The globule I laid eyes on was held in some kind of skin which had burst at one end. My companions had moved on and I yelled for them to come back. One of them, Joe, came back to look. His first response was, ‘that’s really weird, don’t touch it.”
I squished the burst skin a bit with my foot and more of the green goo oozed out. It had a jelly like quality with a very strange, glistening texture. There did not seem to be any odour. I took a picture and asked Joe to squish it more while I filmed. More goo flowed out. Joe then picked up a stick and poked at it, breaking the globule open. There were chunky white lumps inside.
Whatever ‘it’ was, was shaped like a long fat snake. It had clearly been there a long time and had been partially buried.
We stood there debating what on earth it could be. The gloop was very green and the outer skin was also green. We left it and walked on. We could not come up with any reasonable explanation for what it could be.
While we agreed amongst ourselves it surely had to be something with mundane origins on our own planet, we also realised that there may be people throughout the world who would have more adventurous ideas.
There are many aspects of the forest that could easily fuel imaginative stories of landing craft from another place. To me, the green goop was potentially another aspect.
The little alien faces on posts along the tourist’s ‘UFO Trail’ through the woods do much to encourage the legend of possible alien visitation. The fake flying saucer further into the forest has much the same effect and if you are in that frame of mind, it is entirely possible that you could ‘see’ practically anything in the woods.
We continued our walk and along the way encountered a huge dip in the landscape that raised questions. Is this a natural indentation or has something landed here? We laughed and joked our way around the forest for another hour or so and then headed back to the car.
After returning home, the origin of the green gloop began to bother me and I wished I had taken more pictures and probed the ‘thing’ a bit more.
The Return To Investigate the Green Gloop in Rendlesham Forest
So a couple of days later, Joe and I returned to investigate further. Armed with protective gloves, a jar for a specimen and a big stick for protection – a little humor doesn’t hurt – we ventured into the woods.
After an hour of fruitless searching in entirely the wrong place, a call to my husband, who was doing more sensible things in the real world, put us on the right track and we found the gloop. I took pictures which you can see here.
If anyone has any ideas on what this green thing is, please feel free to comment and let me know. I am really keen to hear from Rendlesham Forest Incident experts who can explain what this gloop could be. Thank you.
Rendlesham Forest Update On Green Gloop
We can now reveal that the mystery object in Rendlesham forest was a discarded nappy/diaper.
Yes that’s right, it was carelessly discarded junk left behind in a beautiful forest.
Brenda Butler, a well-known Ufologist and Researcher of the Paranormal is a regular visitor to the forest. She has told us that she has seen hundreds of discarded nappies/diapers left in the forest. What a shame that this is happening in such a well-loved place.
We found and puzzled over the same slime during a recent visit to the area to conduct a radiation survey of the area.
And did you realise what it was Tim?
Hi
I visit the area once a year on holidays and frequently take photographs of anything and everything. However, back last September my partner and I took a photography on a cheap smartphone that we still cant explain. On enlarging the photos (2 in sequence) it appears to show what looks like an odd shape humanesque figure. I’m desperate to get the picture enlarged / analysed. Is there anywhere you could recommend? Please email me if you wish to have more info.
The best advice I can give you is to try and find a forensic photographer to study the images. It will be very expensive. You might want to try the South Wales Police (I assume that will be the Force that deals with the Bridgend area) I know there was a pretty good Scientific Investigation Unit there where the CSI’s worked out of a couple of years back. Don’t know if it is still there or if they would even entertain private work. You usually need to know someone to do that kind of work. I will say though that forensic analysis of digital images isn’t that great because you just end up with pixels that contain limited information. Forensic analysis of images taken on film which is then scanned to create a digital file is much more successful so really, you are wasting your money even if you can find someone to look at your pictures. There is a company called Forensic Image and they enhance CCTV footage maybe you could try them. I think they are forensicimage.co.uk or something similar. I am no longer involved in that kind of work myself so can’t help. Good luck.
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