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## **Incident ID**: INC-1980-RF1
**Date**: 26–28 December 1980
**Location**: Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, United Kingdom (adjacent to RAF Woodbridge / RAF Bentwaters)
**Reporting Agency**: United States Air Force (initial reports to RAF Bentwaters command); Supplemental reporting and documentation by Ministry of Defence (UK) and independent investigative parties
**Status**: UNRESOLVED
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## Executive Summary
A sequence of visual and instrumental observations was recorded by United States Air Force security personnel and officers in the early morning hours of 26–28 December 1980 near the boundary between RAF Woodbridge and Rendlesham Forest. Initial visual contact with a set of lights was logged on 26 December and was followed by at least one organized patrol on 28 December led by a senior officer. Photographic records, contemporaneous written memoranda, audio recordings, physical ground surveys, and radiation measurements were produced and archived by military personnel and later examined by independent investigators. Chain-of-custody documentation was maintained for a subset of physical photographs and written reports. One localized pattern of ground disturbance and vegetation scorching was documented and photographed; that pattern was measured and logged and was not accompanied by identifiable entry or exit tracks consistent with standard vehicle or human approach. That single fact remains without logical explanation in the present record.
All narrative statements in this file were compiled from contemporaneous memoranda, audio transcripts, radio logs, photographic captions, and later interviews with primary-reporting personnel. Passive voice was used in original materials and is maintained in this record.
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## Chronology of Observed Events and Administrative Actions
- 26 December 1980, 23:30–24:00 local time: A series of visual contacts with luminous phenomena were logged by multiple patrols assigned to the perimeter of RAF Woodbridge. Weather conditions were recorded in base logs as clear skies with a light northerly breeze; ambient temperature was logged at approximately 2°C. Exterior flood lighting on the perimeter fence was noted as operational at the time of initial sighting. No precipitation was recorded. Radio traffic was reported as intermittent due to routine guard rotations.
- 26 December 1980, 23:50 local time: A security patrol was dispatched to investigate a bright light observed to the north-east of the base perimeter. The patrol was composed of two uniformed security personnel, height ranges recorded in base personnel files as approximately 1.75 m and 1.80 m, each wearing standard-issue dark cold-weather jackets and reflective belts. Distances from patrol vehicle to observed light were estimated by the patrol at approximately 150–200 meters. The object was described in initial reports as stationary and producing a beam that illuminated tree trunks across a clearing. No engine noise was recorded on radio at the time of
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