Fortunately we were able to find a camp site right in the heart of Rendlesham forest,(for those who may be interested, it was approx £20 per night for a pitch 6mx6m), which really made things easier for us.
We didn't do anything much at all the first day and night, having just travelled down from Yorkshire, 200+ miles, we were pretty much tired out by the time we had spent a couple of hours setting the tent up and getting sorted.
The second day we were planning our trek into the forest, and it would be tonight and in the dark.
We had decided to keep gadgets and stuff down to a minimum, so only packed one full spectrum camcorder, one I.R Sony night shot, plus our Yukon image intensifier/night vision scope, a couple of EMF detectors, one digital camera and a voice recorder, two head torches, 1x high power monocular, and finally 2x 1000 lumen torches.
So off we trekked, from the campsite, out of the front gates and into the dark (I must emphasis that we decided to not use our torches at any point and rely on the image intensifier to get us to the landing site and back). The time was approx 10.45pm. The weather was a bit misty, with fine drizzle as we walked off up the road towards and past the road that goes down to "The East Gate". As we passed a solitary house on our left, we knew the path to the landing site was near.
Approximately 20 yards after the house, our eyes had adjusted somewhat to the dark and we saw an opening and pathway off to our right hand side and strode off the road and onto the public footpath that heads off in a pretty much straight line for about 1km.
It was very slow going due to the fact we were relying on just our eyes for the most part, with the occasional stop to look through the scope, here and there. Occasionally it would be so dark, forward progress halted, especially when you were walking with rows of trees either side of you, blocking what moonlight there was and rendering it into near complete darkness. Quite a few times I did think that this was insane here, just the two of us, you know how it is when the old imagination goes into action! :-)
So as we got near to the track that takes a right off the main track, I had the misfortune of nearly coming a cropper on a section of the track that suddenly dropped away by about 2 foot! I thought I was off down into a ditch, but on closer inspection, half of the track simply dropped down, probably where rain had carved a flow through in heavy rain. A few words were exchanged about how problematic that would have been, if I had broken an ankle etc etc....then we sauntered off down the right hand off shoot, which may I add, was so dark you couldn't see a hand in front of your face... we ground to a halt yet again to survey the route, through the night vision scope.
As we stood there in total darkness, we heard what I can only describe as a metallic bonging sound, almost like a 45 gallon drum being hit with a rubber hammer type of sound... we both said at the same time, "What the hell was that !?"...We stood a few seconds listening, our senses working in full swing, but nothing was apparent and it didn't happen again, so we slowly started off again...
50 yards further we took another right turn, now this was the short path into the "landing Area"... You seem to go in ever decreasing circles to this area. Again making slow progress because it was so dark, but now we could begin to make out a dark shape, which was the mock-up of the UFO that was witnessed back in December 1980.
As we got closer, we scanned the area through our night vision equipment, and as I stepped forward, I kicked the fake UFO and a noise rang out that sounded all too familiar, the noise I described earlier? The 45 gallon drum bonging sound!
So what in the hell had kicked the UFO, 2 or 3 minutes before we arrived at the scene?
No idea...but it was suggested it could be a deer, but I had kicked it with a bit of force to make the sound, its constructed of steel, a hollow shell but probably about 3 mil or so in thickness....Hmmmm...
In the landing zone, the fake UFO is in a clearing about 60 foot in diameter and there are a few information boards dotted round the perimeter of the site.
We took a few shots and stayed for about 10 to 15 minutes before deciding to head back to the campsite, retracing our steps back.
Apart for my mystery sound of someone or whatever, kicking the UFO, we didn't have any odd happenings.
The following day we did the entire route in daylight, which is approximately 3 miles round.
If you haven't been, it's well worth a visit.
Leaflets are available of the Rendlesham Forest UFO Trail from the Forest information centre near the main car park 9The leaflet and information is free of charge, but the car park is not).
Free car parking is available further up the road, at the entrance to the "East Gate" area/road (or was at the time of our visit).
We didn't do anything much at all the first day and night, having just travelled down from Yorkshire, 200+ miles, we were pretty much tired out by the time we had spent a couple of hours setting the tent up and getting sorted.
The second day we were planning our trek into the forest, and it would be tonight and in the dark.
We had decided to keep gadgets and stuff down to a minimum, so only packed one full spectrum camcorder, one I.R Sony night shot, plus our Yukon image intensifier/night vision scope, a couple of EMF detectors, one digital camera and a voice recorder, two head torches, 1x high power monocular, and finally 2x 1000 lumen torches.
So off we trekked, from the campsite, out of the front gates and into the dark (I must emphasis that we decided to not use our torches at any point and rely on the image intensifier to get us to the landing site and back). The time was approx 10.45pm. The weather was a bit misty, with fine drizzle as we walked off up the road towards and past the road that goes down to "The East Gate". As we passed a solitary house on our left, we knew the path to the landing site was near.
Approximately 20 yards after the house, our eyes had adjusted somewhat to the dark and we saw an opening and pathway off to our right hand side and strode off the road and onto the public footpath that heads off in a pretty much straight line for about 1km.
It was very slow going due to the fact we were relying on just our eyes for the most part, with the occasional stop to look through the scope, here and there. Occasionally it would be so dark, forward progress halted, especially when you were walking with rows of trees either side of you, blocking what moonlight there was and rendering it into near complete darkness. Quite a few times I did think that this was insane here, just the two of us, you know how it is when the old imagination goes into action! :-)
So as we got near to the track that takes a right off the main track, I had the misfortune of nearly coming a cropper on a section of the track that suddenly dropped away by about 2 foot! I thought I was off down into a ditch, but on closer inspection, half of the track simply dropped down, probably where rain had carved a flow through in heavy rain. A few words were exchanged about how problematic that would have been, if I had broken an ankle etc etc....then we sauntered off down the right hand off shoot, which may I add, was so dark you couldn't see a hand in front of your face... we ground to a halt yet again to survey the route, through the night vision scope.
As we stood there in total darkness, we heard what I can only describe as a metallic bonging sound, almost like a 45 gallon drum being hit with a rubber hammer type of sound... we both said at the same time, "What the hell was that !?"...We stood a few seconds listening, our senses working in full swing, but nothing was apparent and it didn't happen again, so we slowly started off again...
50 yards further we took another right turn, now this was the short path into the "landing Area"... You seem to go in ever decreasing circles to this area. Again making slow progress because it was so dark, but now we could begin to make out a dark shape, which was the mock-up of the UFO that was witnessed back in December 1980.
As we got closer, we scanned the area through our night vision equipment, and as I stepped forward, I kicked the fake UFO and a noise rang out that sounded all too familiar, the noise I described earlier? The 45 gallon drum bonging sound!
So what in the hell had kicked the UFO, 2 or 3 minutes before we arrived at the scene?
No idea...but it was suggested it could be a deer, but I had kicked it with a bit of force to make the sound, its constructed of steel, a hollow shell but probably about 3 mil or so in thickness....Hmmmm...
In the landing zone, the fake UFO is in a clearing about 60 foot in diameter and there are a few information boards dotted round the perimeter of the site.
We took a few shots and stayed for about 10 to 15 minutes before deciding to head back to the campsite, retracing our steps back.
Apart for my mystery sound of someone or whatever, kicking the UFO, we didn't have any odd happenings.
The following day we did the entire route in daylight, which is approximately 3 miles round.
If you haven't been, it's well worth a visit.
Leaflets are available of the Rendlesham Forest UFO Trail from the Forest information centre near the main car park 9The leaflet and information is free of charge, but the car park is not).
Free car parking is available further up the road, at the entrance to the "East Gate" area/road (or was at the time of our visit).