Britain's biggest UFO event. Note that the documents for this were released by the freedom of information act to include the report by the LT on duty as well as the measurements of the the depressions left in the ground.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3zmWp7gbYo
en.m.wikipedia.org
From Wikipedia on the Rendlesham forest incident:
The most plausible sceptical explanation is that the sightings were due to a combination of three main factors.
[34] The initial sighting at 03.00 on 26 December, when the airmen saw something apparently descending into the forest, coincided with the appearance of a bright fireball over southern England, and such fireballs are a common source of UFO reports.
[5] The supposed landing marks were identified by police and foresters as rabbit diggings.
[35] No evidence has emerged to confirm that anything actually came down in the forest.
According to the witness statements from 26 December, the flashing light seen from the forest lay in the same direction as the Orfordness Lighthouse. When the eyewitnesses attempted to approach the light they realised it was further off than they thought. One of the witnesses, Ed Cabansag, described it as “a beacon light off in the distance” while another, John Burroughs, said it was “a lighthouse” (see
Statements from eyewitnesses on 26 December, ).
Timings on Halt's tape recording during his sighting on 28 December indicate that the light he saw, which lay in the same direction as the light seen two nights earlier, flashed every five seconds, which was the flash rate of the Orfordness Lighthouse.
[36]
The star-like objects that Halt reported hovering low to the north and south are thought by some sceptics to have been misinterpretations of bright stars distorted by atmospheric and optical effects, another common source of UFO reports. The brightest of them, to the south, matched the position of
Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
[14]
In his 6 January 2009
Skeptoid podcast episode titled "The Rendlesham Forest UFO,"
scientific sceptic author
Brian Dunning evaluated the original eye-witness reports and audio recordings, as well as the resulting media reporting of this incident. After a lengthy analysis Dunning concluded:
Col. Halt's thoroughness was commendable, but even he can be mistaken. Without exception, everything he reported on his audiotape and in his written memo has a perfectly rational and unremarkable explanation...