30 Year Anniversary of Rendlesham Approaches
The eerie and disturbing tape of several men in uniform of the US Air Force spotting a mysterious object in the distance is now making the rounds and causing many to wonder about the possibility of the incident’s connection to an extraterrestrial visit, though not for the first time since it occurred in Rendlesham forest in 1980. The group was assembled to investigate reports thought to be of a crashed plane, but when they got out into the forest, what they discovered was beyond explanation. Though clips of the tape have been accessible for years, this latest surge of popularity in news media comes at the 30 year anniversary of the event. And a lot has changed since then.
Thirty years ago UFOs were still emerging in popularity once again. Mass sightings did not happen frequently at all, and even when they did they were largely not reported. At least not until years later. The Phoenix Lights incident would not happen for another seventeen years, and the hit series The X Files would not provide pop culture an outlet to draw from when referencing the paranormal. In the world of 1980 there was no Unsolved Mysteries, though Leonard Nemoy was still narrating the hit documentary series “In Search Of…” with UFOs gaining ground marginally on the airwaves. Even the hit book “Chariots of the Gods” was still considered new, though it is largely considered one of the integral pieces of UFO literature today. It was in this world of 1980 that Col. Halt , Airman First Class John Burroughs, 81st LE, Airman Edward N. Cabansag, Master-Sergeant J. D. Chandler, and Staff-Sergeant Jim Penniston found themselves confronted by a series of unexplainable events, recorded then on audio tape and later in a memo to become famously known as the Halt Memo in UFO literature.
The tape is still as troubling and mysterious today as it was in 1980 when it was first recorded. Those involved are clearly perplexed by what they are seeing. There is no breaking of rank as these frightened men still address those of superior rank as sir, and yet they are completely baffled. The transcript has been scrutinized for years and to date we still do not have any answers.
But even if the answers are elusive, perhaps the best we can hope for at this point is perspective. Several military officers have come forward to illustrate to the world that UFOs have had an interest in nuclear sites. It’s still unknown why, but the eyewitness testimony has exploded in the media like a pressure cooker left on the stove too long. It’s the sort of secret you can’t keep forever. And perhaps there is more to this that has yet to come out.
When dealing with cases such as these, it’s important to keep in mind that the military officials involved are highly trusted. They are mentally fit enough to be handling our nuclear weapons and overseeing their protection. And if the oversight of nuclear weapons has as a prerequisite sanity, perhaps we can say the unequivocally that the sighting of a mysterious craft or light in the sky is not beyond the scope of sanity, but the manifestation of something utterly and undeniably strange. In the name of keeping the Rendlesham Forest Incident alive, let’s examine those tapes once again.
