Rendlesham Forest Case on BBC Radio 4-Aug 11 2010

[ethel]

Caught this short piece on the BBC's 'Today' programme this morning.

Presenter Evan Davies ventured into the woods with author Mark Pilkington and known UFO sceptic (sorry, skeptic if you're the other side of The Pond) Ian Ridpath.

Hopefully the audio is available worldwide - my company IP address originates in France & I managed to listen so hopefully you should be ok elsewhere too.

news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/ne ... 903442.stm

Cheers,

David.

[aneaglesangel]

Aw says "not found" darn it! I'll see if I can find it somewhere else. But have you noticed? Seems as if UFO's are in the news an awful lot lately!

[ethel]

Sorry, they moved it not long after I posted the link..

try this: bit.ly/9wbi5w

:-)

[aneaglesangel]

Aw! You're the best! Thanks hon! I'll go check it out! Hugs!

Edit: OK, I read this and I'm a bit unsettled over what this guy said. I find it hard to believe that a bunch of soldiers could have "panicked" or "imagined" things out there. They are trained to be in worse situations than landing in England. I don't think they saw a lighthouse and called it a "UFO!" I also find it hard to believe that they mistook stars for UFO's. I'm sure even the best trained soldier can get a bit confused when they're in an unfamiliar place, but so confused they mistake a lighthouse for a UFO? Come on, give me a break! I find this guy's explanations a bit more far fetched than the UFO stories!

I had a UFO sighting last summer. As I stood watching what looked like large mylar balloons, my older son noticed me staring into the sky. He came over and also witnessed what I did. Even as I stood there and watched one of these "balloons" flit off to the north at a speed that my eyes couldn't follow the other two "balloons" stayed stationary. I tried hard to call them balloons myself. I guess my mind couldn't wrap around what I was seeing. As I made note of what I saw to my son and tried to tell him they must be balloons, my son said, nope, he didn't think so. He pointed into the sky and showed me that the "balloon" that had sped off toward the north, had rejoined the other two. Then all three sped off so fast, the human eye could not follow the movement, and disappeared.

Now what makes me think that those things weren't balloons is how one sped off north by itself. If they were balloons, and were influenced by the wind, all three of them should have sped north. Also if it were the wind, the speed in which it traveled would have been impossible. It would have floated off slowly and my eyes would have been able to follow them. Also, if they were mylar balloons, I wouldn't have been able to see them, they were too high. They were high enough, that at times, you could see the clouds pass in front of them. So by that reference, they were much larger than mylar balloons, but looked small because of distance. Also, that balloon that took off, it came back and joined the other two, right back into triangular formation. Then they sped off so quickly our eyes couldn't follow them. I don't think mylar balloons are capable of those speeds unless someone straps a rocket engine to one of them.

I'm sure it would be easy to try to disprove my sighting. Someone could say that they were weather balloons. That my eyes were playing tricks on me. That I'd done to much fishing and was hallucinating. But you see, my oldest son saw these too. I can't be sure it wasn't some type of military experiment with some unknown craft, but for some reason, I don't believe that. What I do believe is that I probably did see UFO's that day. The biggest factors are that the first balloon took off north, then came back and returned to the original formation, and then later, the speed in which they all took off.

Guess I'll never know for sure. But either way, I don't think all sightings are so easily explainable. Just because you think you can re-create circumstances, usually you can't duplicate them exactly.

I wonder, do you think we'll ever have real proof that these UFO's have actually been visiting earth? And if we do, how quickly do you think the government cover-up will happen? (I say lightning fast, LOL!)

[ethel]

Glad you could get to hear it - much BBC stuff gets blocked outside of the UK due to copyright issues.

Sounds distinctly like you saw something 'abnormal' to me. Surely balloons would be affected equally by any gust of wind if they were initially travelling at a similar height from the ground?

Like you say - unless they are under some form of control, they 're unlikely to be able to move independently of one another, particularly with regards to one zooming off & then subsequently re-joining its 'friends'..

Weird..

So far as the Radio 4 piece goes, it did seem as if they had a somewhat biased agenda from the outset as they took one confirmed sceptic plus someone whose view tend that way from the sounds of things out into the forest.

Perhaps if they'd called someone such as Peter Robbins for a bit of balance or one of the many US ex-military people who have come forward to tell what they experienced (or at least believe they experienced) those 30 years ago it might not have been such a dismissive piece of radio.

It's not like the BBC to be quite so one-sided - they're normally quite even handed on most things..

..oh well..

So, next time SSC are doing a UFO-related show are you going to call in with your experience?

D.

[aneaglesangel]

I'm not all that familiar with the BBC, but I do know a couple of people from England, and it seems that the English are a bit more open about things such as this than the people from the states are. Even some of your TV commercials are a bit too much for us and could never be aired here. LOL! But it does seem as if governments all over the world are afraid to open up the UFO can of worms. I never did like the idea of governments hiding information from the people. I never saw it as a good idea. I can understand that they think it will cause mass hysteria, but I don't think that's the only reason. Maybe they've just gotten so used to hiding things, it's become a habit, who knows?

The only thing about bringing in the original witnesses is, this was a long time ago. Are they still credible witnesses? Do they remember clearly? It could be a tough thing. Some of them may be suffering health problems by now, and maybe some of them aren't willing to appear to speak of this. I bet they caught some hell when they told the story the first time. The government doesn't like their soldiers to talk, LOL! I think all in all this is a tough one. Though I'm thinking all UFO cases are tough, especially since none of the governments want us to even think that UFO's exist.

Sometimes I wonder about the secrecy. Maybe the governments don't want us to know UFO's exist because they're already in contact with them. Maybe all the government officials are really aliens and they plan to take over the world!! Or maybe they're working on a ray gun that will turn us into senseless worker drones. That way we keep working and we never complain about how the rich man is ruling the world. Or maybe they're just biding their time waiting for the right moment to blow us all up and take over the world.....

Almost forgot. Matt Moniz, the UFO hound that he is, already interviewed me about the sighting. I don't mind calling in, but aren't you sick of my voice yet??

[ethel]

Aw, Luann, how can you say such a thing - we'd NEVER tire of hearing your voice..! ;D

Seriously, next time there's a UFO theme I'd like to hear you talk about it, especially if Matt M is there to help add to the story.

What did he make of it by the way?

As regards Rendlesham, this is the 30th anniversary of the incident & I understand that there are plans to mark this with events in the area.

I for one am very hopeful that this will re-kindle some interest in the story and get people digging into it again.

There have of course been some excellent pieces of work on the subject - the most comprehensive being probably Larry Warren & Peter Robbins' 'Left at East Gate' but it'd be good to have some more attention focussed on what is undoubtedly one of the most important potential UFO cases not just in the UK, but the world.

No matter what you believe, if only a fraction of what is alleged to have happened all those years ago is true then something very odd took place over those few nights.

Like you say though - we're unlikely to find out in a hurry - too many people with too many agendas..

D.

[aneaglesangel]

LOL! You mean you don't mind hearing my Yankee accent?? I'll have to try to keep track of the shows and see if I can call in during a UFO show. I feel at a loss since I'm more of a ghost person, hm, does that make sense, I'm not a ghost, but a person who studies ghosts, is that better? I'm interested in UFO's and follow the news when I hear about a sighting, but I don't really know all that much about them. I do believe they exist, so I think it would be interesting to speak to Matt about it one of these days.

I think that's really great that t hey want to have a celebration for the anniversary of this event! I can't imagine them every doing such a thing in America, ya know, we hide things, and pretend they didn't happen over here. But I think it does show that as far as UFO's are concerned, people are getting more open to the possibilities. Though I see England as being more open to things in general than here in the states. Maybe we'll catch up to ya one of these centuries!

I have been biding my time about calling in (though I couldn't get the show Saturday night, so I thought there was no show, LOL) because I've been thinking they might need me when they release the Bridgewater Triangle evidence. I've also been very busy. My team is larger now, and great things are happening on all counts. So yeah, I've been a tired founder lately, LOL! I will make an announcement about the changes to the team, but for now, just know, we've got some great people and I'm very happy about the new and improved Whaling City Ghosts!

If they do a celebration of the anniversary, are you close enough to go? If so, please take some pictures, I'd love to see this event! Have a great week, hon! Hugs!

[ethel]

How great to hear that WCG are getting busier - congratulations.

I'm looking forward to catching up on what you're getting up to. Whilst I'm more of a UFO person I guess, I definitely find the ghostly side of things fascinating (I wouldn't be here if I didn't) and would love to go along on an investigation one night - someday maybe..

Getting to Suffolk for the Rendlesham event wouldn't take very long for me as I'm probably only 2 - 3 hours away at most - it's whether the wife would let me out to play.. ;D

If I do go I'll be sure to get as much material as I can though - the whole case fascinates me.

If you do chat to Matt about the UFO subject again, don't forget he was involved with testing soil samples from the field where (allegedly) the craft landed - should make for an interesting chat..

Anyway, take care - catch you soon.

D.

You take care

[ethel]

Unsurprisingly, those involved at the time of the incident aren't too impressed with Evan Davies' report..

rendlesham-incident.co.uk/news/bbcs-debunking-article-sparks-uproar/

[aneaglesangel]

Want me to put in a good word for ya with the wife??

I remember Matt talking about soil samples he had taken from a landing site. As far as I can remember, I believe that no plant will grow in the soil. I find that pretty weird if ya ask me. Funny thing is, I see Matt mostly when my team is joining the Spooky Crew for an investigation. We never get to really talk about things. Which stinks because I love to get a good mind and pick the hell out of it! So poor Gabby gets her brains picked instead. Hey! Somebody's got to get their brains picked, right?

Being in the paranormal field, I know how hard it is to convince people of things that you have witnessed. Many of the people I know in real life are skeptics and don't believe at all. My old boss used to say, there's no such things as ghosts, when you die, they bury you, and you rot. That actually bothered me, and I still spend some of my time trying to convince him that there are really ghosts. I find it fun and challenging at the same time. All of his workers (he manages a body shop) love to see me coming and always ask what my team has been up to. So between his workers and myself, sooner or later, we'll turn him around. LOL!

As much of a ghost person that I am, I still find the UFO phenomena interesting and I'd love to see all of this brought out in the open. I think humans have a lot to learn and being open and honest and exploring this with open minds I think will bring more answers than lies and secrecy!

Keep us posted, and if you get to go, I'd love to see pictures and hear all about it! Hugs!