Rendlesham Forest UFO Landing

Landing site. Tony Nicholls (Atlas Obscura User)

Often billed as the “British Roswell,” the Rendlesham Forest incident was an alleged UFO encounter that took place at this Suffolk site in December of 1980. At the time, the location was a short distance from an American Air Force base, and the alien spacecraft was supposedly witnessed by a number of military personnel.

The Rendlesham Forest incident was a fairly well-documented episode. Details of the event spread like wildfire through the country, even though, according to an information board at the site, then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is alleged to have said “Don’t tell the people.” It began with the sighting of strange lights moving around in the woods. Then some troops claimed to see the craft itself, described as a triangular shape with three legs.

Nowadays, Rendlesham Forest is a picturesque Suffolk woodland popular with families. The walk from the parking lot and visitor center to the UFO “landing” site is very pleasant, around three to four miles round trip. To avoid any confusion about the location of the event, someone has kindly placed a replica of the sighted spacecraft at the spot, which also makes for a more interesting photo opportunity than just a woodland clearing.

Know Before You Go

To get to the site, navigate to the Rendlesham Forest visitor center rather than the landing site on the map. Parking is £4 (as of August 2018). If you park up before you enter the paid parking zone, just past the military site fence on the right), there is a shorter walk to the site.