LONDON, England -- It could have been an "X-Files" episode: More than 20 years 
ago, U.S. airmen reported seeing a "strange glowing object" near a British air base.

The bizarre sighting, which occurred near RAF Woodbridge in eastern England in the 
early hours of December 27, 1980, is detailed in the government's restricted 
"Rendlesham File."
  

  
The report, dozens of pages long, is only now being released as part of an opening- 
up of the inner workings of the UK government.

In the report, entitled "Unexplained Lights," a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel told 
how he witnessed an object emitting a "red sun- like light" moving through the trees of 
Rendlesham forest.

Two U.S. security patrolmen first spotted "unusual lights" outside the back gate of 
RAF Woodbridge, according to Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt's report.
After gaining permission, the two men and a third patrolman investigated the lights.

"The individuals reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest," wrote Halt, 
who was deputy base commander at RAF Bentwaters, adjacent to Woodbridge.

"The object was described as being metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, 
approximately two to three metres across the base and approximately two metres 
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 manoeuvred through the trees and 
disappeared. At this time the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy."

An hour later, the UFO was spotted near the back gate to the base.

Halt's report continued: "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."

The next morning, Halt and his men discovered three circular depressions, seven 
inches in diameter, in the ground.

Radiation measuring 0.1 milliroentgens was recorded in the depressions -- a level 10 
times higher than normal, according to the file. [...]

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http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/29/uk.ufo/index.html