UFOs - Leslie Kean [96]
Shortly after midnight on Christmas night—the early morning of December 26, 1980—Staff Sergeant Steffens briefed me that some lights had been seen in Rendlesham Forest, just outside the base. He informed me that whatever it was didn’t crash … it landed. I discounted what he said and reported to the control center back at the base that we had a possible downed aircraft. I then ordered Airman First Class Edward Cabansag and Airman First Class John F. Burroughs to respond with me.
When we arrived near the suspected crash site it quickly became apparent that we were not dealing with a plane crash or anything else we’d ever responded to. There was a bright light emanating from an object on the forest floor. As we approached it on foot, a silhouetted triangular craft about 9 feet long by 6.5 feet high came into view. The craft was fully intact, sitting in a small clearing inside the woods.
As the three of us got closer to the craft, we started experiencing problems with our radios. I then asked Cabansag to relay radio transmissions back to Central Security Control (CSC), and he stayed back while Burroughs and I proceeded toward the craft. At first I was confused, not understanding what I was seeing. This was truly unbelievable. Then fear struck me, but I told myself that I had to stay focused. Was this a threat to the base and to us? I had to determine that first and foremost.
When we came up on the triangular-shaped craft, there were blue and yellow lights swirling around the exterior as though part of the surface and the air around us were electrically charged. We could feel it on our clothes, skin, and hair. It felt like static electricity, which made your hair stand up and dance on your skin. But there was no sound at all coming from the craft. Nothing in my training prepared me for what we were witnessing. This was no type of aircraft that I’d ever seen before.
After ten minutes without any apparent aggression, I determined the craft was nonhostile to my team and decided to approach further. Following security protocol, we completed a thorough on-site investigation, including a full physical examination of the craft. After my first walk-around of the craft, astonishment and awe overwhelmed me. All fear was gone. During this process, I took photographs, made notebook entries, and relayed messages through Airman Cabansag to the CSC, following required procedures. The feelings I had during this encounter were like nothing I had ever known before.
On one side of the craft were symbols that measured about three inches high and two and a half feet across. These symbols were pictorial in design; the largest symbol was a triangle, which was centered in the middle of the others. They were etched into the surface of the craft. I put my hand on the craft, and it was warm to the touch. The surface was smooth, like glass, but it had the quality of metal, and I felt a constant low voltage running through my hand and moving to my mid-forearm.
The drawing I made of the landed craft for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Collection of James Penniston
After roughly forty-five minutes, the light from the craft began to intensify. Burroughs and I then took a defensive position away from the craft as it lifted off the ground without any noise or air disturbance. It maneuvered through the trees and shot off at an unbelievable rate of speed. It was gone in the blink of an eye.
In my logbook, which I still have, I wrote “Speed Impossible.” I subsequently learned that other personnel based at Bentwaters and Woodbridge, all trained observers, had witnessed the takeoff.
At that moment, I knew that this craft’s technology was far, far above what we could ever engineer.