A Cold War Enigma
I've already got the story of the Rendlesham Forest incident, but a new documentary called 'Capel Green' could open new lines of investigation into the incident, so here's an update including information from the upcoming Capel Green documentary...
In the waning days of December 1980, Rendlesham Forest, a 5.8-square-mile expanse of coniferous woods in Suffolk, England, became the stage for one of history’s most compelling UFO incidents. Near the U.S. Air Force bases RAF Woodbridge and Bentwaters, both on high alert during the Cold War, strange lights pierced the night sky. Over three nights, December 26 to 28, USAF personnel reported glowing orbs, beams targeting nuclear weapons storage areas, and a landed craft in a farmer’s field called Capel Green.
Known as Britain’s Roswell, the incident involved credible witnesses, physical evidence, and allegations of a military cover-up. The 2025 Capel Green documentary, directed by Dion M. Johnson and premiered July 20, 2025, at The Oatmill Cinema Complex, unveils new witnesses, unseen documents, and claims of filmed footage, reigniting debate over this 45-year-old mystery.
The events unfolded against a tense Cold War backdrop, with Bentwaters rumored to house nuclear warheads, amplifying the incident’s significance. Witnesses faced ridicule, coercion, and health issues, while the UK Ministry of Defence claimed no national security threat, releasing a 2001 file with minimal investigation details, fueling cover-up theories.
Precursor to the Unknown
In February 1980, Airman Lori Rehfeldt, a 22-year-old with the 81st Security Police Squadron at RAF Bentwaters, stood watch at 03:00 on RAF Woodbridge’s runway. Alongside Airman Keith Duffield, she saw a glowing object, 25 feet above the ground, silently explode, split into three parts, streak across the runway, and vanish upward. Rehfeldt, who later retired as an Army Major after 27 years of service, described feeling an energy shift, as if the base itself reacted.
She reported interactions with a Mantid and Gray entity, a detail she shared on her podcast, God, Aliens, and a Cuppa Coffee, co-hosted with her sister, Donna Schreiber. Her 2013 Facebook page, Rendlesham Lone Ranger UFO Sighting, became a hub for UFO discussions. Rehfeldt’s account, featured in Georgina Bruni’s You Can’t Tell the People and Jim Penniston’s The Rendlesham Enigma, sets the stage for the December events, suggesting Rendlesham was a hotspot for unexplained phenomena.
This precursor sighting, rarely discussed until recent years, hints at a pattern of activity predating the main incident, with Rehfeldt’s testimony in the 2025 documentary adding depth to the Capel Green narrative.
The Capel Green Landing
On December 26, 1980, around 03:00, a security patrol near RAF Woodbridge’s east gate, including John Burroughs and Jim Penniston, spotted lights descending into Rendlesham Forest. Thinking it was a downed aircraft, they investigated, finding a metallic, glowing object with colored lights moving through the trees. Penniston, a sergeant, later claimed he touched a craft covered in hieroglyphic-like symbols, experiencing a telepathic binary code download, a detail he shared years later. Farm animals nearby went frantic, and the object vanished.
The next night, December 27, more lights and floating spheres appeared near Bentwaters. Deputy base commander Lieutenant Colonel Charles I. Halt led a team, recording audio of pulsating lights and elevated radiation levels at landing marks in Capel Green. On December 28, the most dramatic event unfolded in a farmer’s field just beyond the forest’s eastern edge. Airman First Class Larry Warren, Michael Stacey Smith, Gary Baker, Steve Longero, and others witnessed a black, glossy, triangular craft, described as an obsidian gemstone with pulsating, pie-shaped lights. Some approached, noting time distortions, eerie silence, and non-human entities. Warren claims the event was filmed on video and 16mm cameras, with photographic stills, but the footage remains missing, sparking cover-up allegations.
Security police commander Adrian Bustinza saw the craft weaving through trees and hovering, while Ed Cabansag noted a glowing light near a farmhouse, later aligning with the Orford Ness lighthouse but inconsistent with the craft’s behavior. Burroughs suffered health issues from a beam exposure, later acknowledged in a 2024 Congressional UAP hearing, with Senator John McCain securing his treatment. Smith and Baker, long silent due to military protocol, spoke for the first time in the 2025 documentary, likely the two unnamed USAF officers mentioned in August 2025 X posts, corroborating Warren’s account of entities and suppressed footage.
Key Witnesses and Their Struggles
Larry Warren, the first whistleblower, faced intense backlash after going public in 1983, battling press scrutiny, military superiors, and online detractors. His life story, central to the documentary, mirrors Falkville’s Jeff Greenhaw or Portage’s Dale Spaur, marked by a relentless fight for truth despite personal cost. He insists the Capel Green craft and entities were real, with filmed evidence suppressed by authorities.
Lori Rehfeldt, now in Tucson, Arizona, continues advocating for UFO disclosure via her podcast and conferences (e.g., 2020 UFO Congress). Her February 1980 sighting, detailed in the documentary, suggests a broader pattern of activity at Rendlesham, with her Mantid/Gray encounter adding an otherworldly layer.
Michael Stacey Smith and Gary Baker, USAF security officers with the 81st Security Police Squadron, witnessed the Capel Green craft and entities. Their first on-camera testimonies in the 2025 documentary, possibly linked to August 2025 X posts about two officers breaking silence, describe a silent, physics-defying object. Their delayed accounts, due to fear of repercussions, add credibility to claims of a cover-up.
Steve Longero, another security officer, confirmed seeing non-human figures and a craft, aligning with Warren’s narrative. His interview with Ross Coulthart for NewsNation emphasizes the documentary’s revelations.
John Burroughs, incapacitated by a beam on December 26, suffered health issues, including cancer, attributed to the incident. His case, raised in 2024 UAP hearings, underscores physical impacts, with experts estimating a 70 percent chance the documentary could spark further Congressional inquiries.
Jim Penniston and Charles I. Halt provided detailed accounts, with Penniston’s binary code claim and Halt’s audio recording of radiation and lights adding hard evidence. Adrian Bustinza and Ed Cabansag further corroborate the multi-night phenomena, though Cabansag’s lighthouse reference is contested by the craft’s dynamic behavior.
Ray Boeche’s Research
Ray Boeche, a Nebraska pastor and MUFON investigator, never witnessed Capel Green but shaped the narrative through his research. His interviews with Warren, Burroughs, and others, and his book Anatomy of a Phenomena, explore military cover-ups and interdimensional entities. Referenced in the documentary, Boeche’s work suggests the craft’s silent lights, time distortions, and nuclear interactions point to a non-physical phenomenon, possibly tied to Suffolk’s ancient barrows and occult lore. His spiritual lens adds a haunting, metaphysical twist, questioning whether Rendlesham was alien or something beyond human comprehension.
The Capel Green Documentary
Directed by Dion M. Johnson and produced by Indigo Transmit Films, the Capel Green documentary, with research by former detective Gary Heseltine (involved in the 2005 London terror investigations), premiered July 20, 2025, at The Oatmill Cinema Complex, outperforming major films and topping UK box office charts. It blends interviews with Warren, Rehfeldt, Longero, Smith, Baker, and others, some speaking on camera for the first time, with CGI reenactments matching witness sketches of a triangular craft with pulsating lights.
Unseen documents, including maps, diagrams, and internal memos, reveal bypassed military protocols, hinting at suppression. A lavish BluRay/DVD hardcover edition includes rare photos and documents, produced in limited numbers. The film’s impact, amplified by a 2024 Congressional UAP hearing mentioning Burroughs’ injuries, could drive renewed investigations, with some experts predicting a 70 percent chance of new hearings.
The documentary counters skeptics, dismissing claims of a lighthouse (Orford Ness, flashing every five seconds) or a meteor, as physical evidence like landing marks and elevated radiation levels, recorded by Halt, contradicts these explanations. Kevin Conde’s 2001 claim of creating lights with a modified police vehicle lacks corroboration and fails to explain the craft or entities.
A Timeline of the Mystery
The Rendlesham Forest Incident and Capel Green documentary unfolded as follows:
- February 1980: Lori Rehfeldt and Keith Duffield witness a glowing UFO split and vanish over RAF Woodbridge’s runway, sensing an energy shift.
- December 26, 1980: John Burroughs, Jim Penniston, and others investigate lights in Rendlesham Forest, finding a metallic craft with hieroglyphs. Burroughs is hit by a beam, later causing health issues.
- December 27, 1980: Charles I. Halt records pulsating lights and radiation at landing marks, with more spheres near Bentwaters.
- December 28, 1980: Larry Warren, Michael Stacey Smith, Gary Baker, Steve Longero, Adrian Bustinza, and others see a triangular craft and entities in Capel Green, allegedly filmed.
- 1983: Warren goes public, facing backlash; Boeche begins researching witnesses.
- 2000: Rehfeldt contributes to Georgina Bruni’s You Can’t Tell the People, detailing her sighting.
- 2001: UK Ministry of Defence releases a file with minimal investigation details, fueling cover-up claims.
- 2013: Rehfeldt launches her Rendlesham Lone Ranger UFO Sighting Facebook page.
- 2015: Penniston and Burroughs report PTSD, with Penniston claiming a binary code download.
- 2024: Congressional UAP hearings mention Burroughs’ health issues, raising nuclear weapon concerns.
- July 20, 2025: Capel Green documentary premieres, featuring new witnesses (Smith, Baker, Longero) and documents.
- August 2025: X posts report two USAF officers, likely Smith and Baker, revealing a hidden Capel Green landing.
Theories of the Unseen
Was the Capel Green craft an alien vessel, drawn to Bentwaters’ nuclear arsenal, as Warren and Burroughs suggest? A secret NATO test, conducted under Cold War secrecy, as skeptics propose? Or an interdimensional phenomenon, as Boeche theorizes, tied to Suffolk’s ancient, haunted landscape of barrows and henges? Witness accounts of time distortion, telepathic downloads, and non-human entities defy conventional aircraft.
The missing footage, alleged interrogations with sodium pentothal, and bypassed protocols, as shown in the documentary’s documents, point to a cover-up, echoing Portage and Falkville cases. The Clods nickname and Rehfeldt’s energy shifts hint at occult forces, perhaps ancient visitors contacting Neolithic sites, as local folklore suggests. The craft’s silent, pulsating lights and physical evidence (landing marks, radiation) challenge lighthouse or meteor theories, leaving a mystery that questions reality itself.
Cultural Legacy
Rendlesham’s impact transcends UFO lore, dubbed Britain’s Roswell for its credible witnesses and physical evidence. It inspired books (Nick Pope’s Encounter in Rendlesham Forest), TV series (The X-Files), and films, including a 2025 Raindance Film Festival documentary by Mark Lee, narrated by William B. Davis.
The Capel Green documentary, with its box office success and Congressional buzz, has reignited public skepticism, akin to Watergate, questioning government transparency on UAPs. Suffolk locals report ongoing sightings, with a 2019 witness describing a reddish ball, suggesting Rendlesham remains a paranormal hotspot. The incident’s blend of military testimony, nuclear context, and occult whispers ensures its place in global UFO mythology, a tale as haunting as the forest’s ancient shadows.
Watch the latest Capel Green Trailer in 4K below
Dive into the official 4K trailer for the Capel Green documentary, featuring witnesses like Lori Rehfeldt, Larry Warren, Michael Stacey Smith, Gary Baker, and many more, as it unveils never-before-seen secrets of Rendlesham Forest.
What Do You Think?
The Capel Green mystery pulses with questions darker than Rendlesham’s woods. Do you believe Warren, Rehfeldt, Smith, and Baker saw aliens, or was it a Cold War experiment? Could Boeche’s research and the missing footage reveal a cosmic truth, or is it buried in a cover-up? If you stood in Capel Green that night, would you approach the craft, touch its glyphs? Share your thoughts and experiences on X.com @THEODDWOO or Reddit r/ODDWOO.